About time I played another SG-1000 game.
Longplay
Unlike other versions of the game, this game was completely re-programmed for the SG-1000, due to Sega not wanting to allow third party developers to make games for the system due to it being viewed internally as "a moment of weakness."
On the right side of the screen you have your top and current score at the top, followed by the charge meter, the current scene (level) you are on, and the amount of lives you have left. Each scene has their own enemy, and when all of the enemies are gone, either through being destroyed or moving all the way past the bottom of the screen, a new enemy shows up and you'll enter the next scene.
The D-Pad moves your ship around. Button 1 allows for a double laser shot, while Button 2 allows for a single laser shot that fires rapidly when held down. The single laser uses a charge meter shown on the lower-right corner of the screen. When you hold down Button 2 for the single laser for rapid fire, you'll use up the energy on the charge meter. To add to the charge meter, shoot at enemies and defeat them with the double laser with Button 1. The more charge you have, the more you can use the rapid fire.
You have six types of enemies to defeat. The first are these yellow four-point stars that move around diagonally and fire bombs, which can drop straight down or downward at an angle. Avoid the bombs and take them out with your double laser. These enemies will follow you around, so it can be a little easy to hit two of them at once if you luck out.
The second enemy are blue birds that fly around diagonally and do so in a scattered formation rather than in a straight line like the four-point stars. They will drop bombs at you in addition to overlapping with each other, making them vulnerable to both types of laser fire. Some of them will fly upwards instead of falling past the bottom of the screen, so keep an eye on your surroundings.
The third enemy is the green saucers. They will fly towards you and fire lasers downwards in addition to bombs. They will fly towards your position, and that makes them especially vulnerable to the rapid-fire single laser. Fire away, but watch out for any ammunition coming your way. Just like the birds, they can also double back and fly back upwards.
The fourth enemy look like spinning target reticles...or fidget spinners. I'll just call them fidget spinners. They move like the four-point stars, right down to the bombs they drop. They are also pretty easy to defeat with the double laser.
The fifth enemy is a swarm of what looks like tiny dragons. They move and attack much like the birds do, but they also come down in groups of four and they can also wrap around the screen, going from one side to the other without warning. Stay away from the sides as they descend.
The sixth enemy is a bunch of green ships that almost look like shuttlecocks (at least to me). They will alternate between flying downward and flying diagonally, and they can also loop back up to the top from the very bottom of the screen. Take out whatever you can, and if you think you're going to lose a life, don't go after an enemy. Just watch out for the ships and the bombs.
After six scenes, you'll start another loop. The enemies will get more aggressive the further you go, and to make matters worse, the three lives you start with are the only ones you get.
This game, despite being programmed completely by Sega despite being a game by Jaleco, is a solid arcade shooter for the SG-1000. The graphics, while a bit on the basic side, have a certain charm to them, and the movement of the ground below you in the background, especially the way that it shifts as you move your ship around the screen, is really good for the time, as it has this nice quasi-3D effect in addition to what feels like parallax as you move from side to side. The enemy's attacks may be a little hard to see against the background at times, though. The sound is as arcade-y as it is going to get, and I have no complaints in that department. The gameplay is reliably responsive, and it usually doesn't feel like the game's fault whenever I lose a life. As for replay value, your mileage may vary, but I personally had a fun time with this one. All in all, this is a solid entry for the SG-1000 library that you should definitely give a shot.
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