M.U.S.H.A./Aleste: Full Metal Fighter Elinor (MD, 1990)
Graphics-8 Sound-8.5 Control-8 Challenge-7.5/8.5*
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-8 Originality-6
Overall Score-8
*Hard
+
Refreshingly easy for a shooter (normal)
intense and fairly varied action
difficulty options
great art direction
option formations (front, back, rolling (spins around), three-way, free-roaming, reverse)
adjustable ship speed, some impressive effects for the time, nice intro and ending, keep the pods in your inventory after respawning, you don't die in one hit if upgraded, some new enemies on hard?, unlimited continues, surprise final boss (the black and orange mech - too easy though), mini-bosses, block some shots with the water/blue special weapon
+/-
Respawn on the spot (hard to recover later on since your main weapon gets downgraded to the first level and you don't get any power up)
forgiving hit detection overall (especially at the first form of the final boss)
the pods/gun drones can die (and they will since they drag behind you a bit)
need to stick to one special weapon type to upgrade it
-
A bit short
some trial & error (homing missiles can come back after moving off screen, attacks from behind, boss patterns)
mostly a cakewalk when fully powered up (normal) but much harder if you lose the upgrades
pretty simple weapons system except for the pods (only three different weapons - most Aleste games have 5 or more)
the final boss pattern is a bit cheap (the corridor)
the pods can move off screen (when in "free" formation) where they won't do any damage, some bosses are still too weak on hard (the black and orange mech, the blue mini-boss in the final level), some annoying sfx (green/lightning shot), difficulty spike at the large ship (second to last level) and the red mini-boss in the last level on hard (the latter is a bit easier with a fully ugpraded lightning weapon), minor slowdown (thunder storm segment), no samples used for the drums in the soundtrack
Level Design-8 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-8 Originality-6
Overall Score-8
*Hard
+
Refreshingly easy for a shooter (normal)
intense and fairly varied action
difficulty options
great art direction
option formations (front, back, rolling (spins around), three-way, free-roaming, reverse)
adjustable ship speed, some impressive effects for the time, nice intro and ending, keep the pods in your inventory after respawning, you don't die in one hit if upgraded, some new enemies on hard?, unlimited continues, surprise final boss (the black and orange mech - too easy though), mini-bosses, block some shots with the water/blue special weapon
+/-
Respawn on the spot (hard to recover later on since your main weapon gets downgraded to the first level and you don't get any power up)
forgiving hit detection overall (especially at the first form of the final boss)
the pods/gun drones can die (and they will since they drag behind you a bit)
need to stick to one special weapon type to upgrade it
-
A bit short
some trial & error (homing missiles can come back after moving off screen, attacks from behind, boss patterns)
mostly a cakewalk when fully powered up (normal) but much harder if you lose the upgrades
pretty simple weapons system except for the pods (only three different weapons - most Aleste games have 5 or more)
the final boss pattern is a bit cheap (the corridor)
the pods can move off screen (when in "free" formation) where they won't do any damage, some bosses are still too weak on hard (the black and orange mech, the blue mini-boss in the final level), some annoying sfx (green/lightning shot), difficulty spike at the large ship (second to last level) and the red mini-boss in the last level on hard (the latter is a bit easier with a fully ugpraded lightning weapon), minor slowdown (thunder storm segment), no samples used for the drums in the soundtrack
