maxlords
09-29-2005, 05:56 PM
Ok, it’s high time another import gets tossed into the Sleeper and why not hit one of the most ignored consoles for importing…the Famicom! For the Famicom today we have one of Konami’s best (and most ignored) shooters of all time, Crisis Force. Don’t ask me why Konami chose not to port this little-known gem to the NES, as it’s easily as good or possibly even better than Gradius or Lifeforce. Nonetheless, it’s a Japanese exclusive and fairly rare to boot!
Crisis Force is a vertical shooter, two player simultaneous and fairly fast. Now when you pop it in, you’re expecting something along the lines of, say, Abadox or Gun-Nac. But prepare to be blown away! First off, the colors are very vibrant for the Famicom. Sure it has a limited color palette, but man did Konami ever manage to make the most of it. In single player mode, you’ll play a blue ship, and with two, the second player plays a red one. The next thing you’ll notice is an amazing amount of parallax scrolling. I’ve actually rarely seen as much parallax in most SNES games, so how Crisis Force manages it on the Famicom, I just can’t fathom. Within the multi-scrolling backgrounds, enemies lurk waiting to surprise you, attacking not only from the air but from the ground and sea as well.
All of this may sound average for a vertical shooter. However, there are several nifty factors that make Crisis Force more than just average and instead one of the greats. To begin with, it’s blazing fast. Way faster than pretty much every other NES shooter. At some points you’re barely able to dodge enemies and obstacles. In addition, there’s one other really important factor, and that’s the cooperative mode. In two player mode, the two ships interact with each other, refracting each other’s bullets into different patterns and augmenting each ship’s power. If you collect enough power-ups, the ships actually combine to form one super ship, with one player controlling the ship and the other controlling the direction that the ship fires and the firing. Whoever collects the final combination power-up is the one that controls the ship. These factors make Crisis Force an almost unprecedented shooter for multiple players.
With a variety of levels ranging from deep chasms to mountain ranges to oceans, Crisis Force has a bit for every type of shooter fan. Huge bosses attack you every level, and the music keeps up a frantic pace as you blast everything that moves. There really isn’t much of a downside to Crisis Force, other than the fact that when you play it, it does have a bit of slowdown and you can tell the Famicom is virtually maxed out, as there are some pixel dropouts here and there and minor graphical glitches. But overall expect a fast-paced action packed vertical shooter that would almost be more at home on the Super NES than the Famicom! If you can find this one (and good luck as it’s fairly rare) expect to pay anywhere from $5-20 for a loose cart and $10-50 for a complete copy. The price seems to fluctuate from month to month on it, so if you’re patient, snag one cheap! If not, you still won’t regret it as it’s one of the most playable games on the Famicom and well worth the cost! Check it out if you get a chance! You will of course need a convertor to play it on a US system!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/2c17599f.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/ca3d81a5.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/649d6cb4.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/35449712.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/3f55e353.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/235a3b66.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/175b63bf.jpg
Crisis Force is a vertical shooter, two player simultaneous and fairly fast. Now when you pop it in, you’re expecting something along the lines of, say, Abadox or Gun-Nac. But prepare to be blown away! First off, the colors are very vibrant for the Famicom. Sure it has a limited color palette, but man did Konami ever manage to make the most of it. In single player mode, you’ll play a blue ship, and with two, the second player plays a red one. The next thing you’ll notice is an amazing amount of parallax scrolling. I’ve actually rarely seen as much parallax in most SNES games, so how Crisis Force manages it on the Famicom, I just can’t fathom. Within the multi-scrolling backgrounds, enemies lurk waiting to surprise you, attacking not only from the air but from the ground and sea as well.
All of this may sound average for a vertical shooter. However, there are several nifty factors that make Crisis Force more than just average and instead one of the greats. To begin with, it’s blazing fast. Way faster than pretty much every other NES shooter. At some points you’re barely able to dodge enemies and obstacles. In addition, there’s one other really important factor, and that’s the cooperative mode. In two player mode, the two ships interact with each other, refracting each other’s bullets into different patterns and augmenting each ship’s power. If you collect enough power-ups, the ships actually combine to form one super ship, with one player controlling the ship and the other controlling the direction that the ship fires and the firing. Whoever collects the final combination power-up is the one that controls the ship. These factors make Crisis Force an almost unprecedented shooter for multiple players.
With a variety of levels ranging from deep chasms to mountain ranges to oceans, Crisis Force has a bit for every type of shooter fan. Huge bosses attack you every level, and the music keeps up a frantic pace as you blast everything that moves. There really isn’t much of a downside to Crisis Force, other than the fact that when you play it, it does have a bit of slowdown and you can tell the Famicom is virtually maxed out, as there are some pixel dropouts here and there and minor graphical glitches. But overall expect a fast-paced action packed vertical shooter that would almost be more at home on the Super NES than the Famicom! If you can find this one (and good luck as it’s fairly rare) expect to pay anywhere from $5-20 for a loose cart and $10-50 for a complete copy. The price seems to fluctuate from month to month on it, so if you’re patient, snag one cheap! If not, you still won’t regret it as it’s one of the most playable games on the Famicom and well worth the cost! Check it out if you get a chance! You will of course need a convertor to play it on a US system!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/2c17599f.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/ca3d81a5.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/649d6cb4.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/35449712.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/3f55e353.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/235a3b66.gif
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/maxlords/175b63bf.jpg