PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) AGAIN - Part 1 of 5

You've probably heard of this game before: shoot down aliens in a top-down view, rescue hostage, get to the exit and defeat a big boss for a couple of levels.

Believe it or not, this game is a direct sequel to the arcade game, and North America did not get it.

Last time around, I didn't know that you could pick up a weapon you already had to power it up. Now that I know that, I've decided to play through the game again.

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In the year 2000 AD, a large band of alien beings has invaded Space Colony "Alpha" and taken the crew hostage. But, through the valiant efforts of Ricky and Mary, two young members of "SCOT," the aliens are defeated. All of the hostages were freed unharmed. Now, five years have passed.

An emergency message is received from Space Transport Dagal, which has been invaded by an unknown creature while in flight near Space Colony "Alpha," leaving them unable to continue our mission and needing immediate assistance. The aliens are back!

If you press 1, 2, 1, 2 on the title screen, you'll uncover an options menu where you can choose between Normal and Hard Difficulties. We're playing on Hard.

After choosing between Ricky and Mary - who both play identically - the game begins.

Round 1: Living Area

The Control Pad lets you shoot. Button 1 lets you shoot, while Button 2 opens up a map that you can look up to figure out how many lives you have, how much time you have left before the timebombs go off, where the exit is and where all the hostages (the red dots) are. You are the yellow dot on the map.

The gray squares with the letters give you different weapons. L gives you a laser, FB gives you a fireball, R gives you rapid fire, F is the flamethrower and S is the regular shot. The laser is perhaps the best weapon in the game, as it goes through enemies and can take out multiple enemies at once, unless you're powering up your weapons; in that case, it's the fireball, but you will still have to be careful when using it as it does not track very well.

If you collect a weapon you already have, you will power it up. You can only power it up one time. The laser will become a double shot, the flamethrower becomes longer and more powerful and S becomes a three-way shot. The fireball is the best, as it can home in on enemies, but it does not track very well and you'll need to fire the gun smartly to make the best use of it. 

Use your weapon to kill all the aliens that randomly spawn when you need to. Remember that it takes one hit from anything nasty to lose a life, so don't run into any enemies. Thankfully, the enemies here are pretty easy, as all they do is slowly approach you.

To save hostages, just move into them. Shoot down the doors by shooting at them.

Once you rescue all the hostages, the music will change, and you can make your way to the exit. Once you do, you'll face a boss.

The first boss is a brown blob with a brown face. To beat the boss, shoot at the purple opening while avoiding the gray bullets and purple arcing fireballs that it shoots out. The purple face on the side is shot out like a boomerang from time to time; you can shoot it down to. Just remember to stay on the move to avoid being hit, and watch the timer in the upper-right corner as you do it.

When you have just the face left, move out of the way and try to shoot at it when the head stands still and then lunges at you with a purple Xenomorph-like mouth. The head can only be attacked while lunging forward, not when moving away. It will take some timing, but it can be done.