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

Well, at least I beat this boss before. At least I was able to easily figure things out a little more quickly this time.

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Round 5: Mother Alien

You'll start in a chamber where you can select any weapon you want. If you don't have it already, get the laser. Once you go north, you'll face the final boss.

The weak point is the boss' face, but as you fire at it, you will also have to move away from the hands. The left one hits first, then the right. There will also be cavities in the shoulders that open up and reveal worms that slowly crawl towards you. They won't be the only enemies, as the head will also spawn the red aliens from Round 2. Thankfully, all these body parts can be destroyed, and when you destroy the hands, you'll be able to freely move around. Of course, you'll want to keep firing as you move around; this will allow you to destroy the shoulders in addition to the hands.

Once the hands are down, the body will move up and down, while the head will also shoot out gray balls. You'll want to shoot at them as they move from the sides of the screen towards the head and destroy at least one so you can get away from the rest of the balls. For best results, shoot south to make it easy to get away. In the meantime, the boss will spit balls, first to the left, then to the center, then to the right, then back to the center, then back to the left before repeating the pattern. Keep shooting at the head without getting shot at yourself, and eventually you'll beat the Mother Alien and beat the game!

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) AGAIN - Part 4 of 5

I couldn't get the no-death run. Maybe next time.

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Round 4: Command Room

Despite the more natural appearance of the level on the map, the actual appearance of this level is that of a hellscape.

The two enemies for this round are red worms and white heads with tails. The worms come out of the red circles in the room, and they won't go down until all of the individual segments do. Once again, the laser will come in handy. The white heads with spawn out of where the white faces in the wall are. Because of this, the southeast and southwest corners have some rather tight squeezes.

The southwest corner of the round is the toughest part to get around in, due to the narrow floors near bottomless pits and the white head enemies spawning in very strategic points. You'll need to be ready to aim, shoot and immediately move forward after. Also, the one room with the hostage in the southeast corner is also hard to get around in, and you may get hit by an enemy while getting the hostage here at least once.

To beat the boss, run around the room clockwise and shoot at the boss while also shooting down the worm enemies that the boss spawns. Once again, you'll want the laser here, as the laser will tear the worm enemies apart.

I should have used the Laser this time around instead of the powered-up Fireball. Apparently I had better luck with the laser the first time around.

If you beat this round on the Normal difficulty, the game ends with a bad ending. If you beat this round on the Hard difficulty, however, you'll get one last round.

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) AGAIN - Part 3 of 5

This is the point where the game's kid gloves come off. Be ready to fight.

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Round 3: Engine Room

Unlike the first two rounds, this round is more of a maze than usual. It's also much harder due to the level design. If the narrow trails and bottomless pits don't get you, the green aliens jumping towards you will, as they hop a good distance and they can track where you are before firing projectiles at you. This can make things dicey, especially if you are on a narrow path with bottomless pits on both sides. Despite being the only enemy in this level, they can be very nasty. Even with the 

The boss is a gray creature with eight feet and two rotating eyes that spawns worms every so often. The laser makes this boss so easy; just keep firing to take out the arms and the eyes, and watch for the worms. Once the legs are down, you can take down the boss very easily.

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) AGAIN - Part 2 of 5

If you know what you're doing, you'll be able to zip in and out of this level even faster than you did the first one. From here on out, the game is not gonna be that easy.

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Round 2: Hold Area

Don't walk into the pits. You will lose a life as soon as you do.

The enemies here are red aliens that come out of eyeball-shaped sacs (that can't be destroyed and will kill you if you touch them) and metal slimes.

For best results, work on getting all the hostages on the west side of the stage first before going east.

To beat the boss, shoot down the shrapnel shots that the boss sends your way, then go all the way south and shoot at the boss while avoiding the laser. You may have to deal with more shrapnel, but you can easily shoot down any shots that come your way. If you have the homing fireball, you can stay in the upper-right corner, face the boss and just keep shooting.

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.

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

It's time for the final battle!

First | Previous

Round 5: Mother Alien

You'll start in a chamber where you can select any weapon you want. If you don't have it already, get the laser. Once you go north, you'll face the final boss.

The weak point is the boss' face, but as you fire at it, you will also have to move away from the hands. The left one hits first, then the right. There will also be cavities in the shoulders that open up and reveal worms that slowly crawl towards you. They won't be the only enemies, as the head will also spawn the red aliens from Round 2. Thankfully, all these body parts can be destroyed, and when you destroy the hands, you'll be able to freely move around. Of course, you'll want to keep firing as you move around; this will allow you to destroy the shoulders in addition to the hands.

Once the hands are down, the body will move up and down, while the head will also shoot out gray balls. You'll want to shoot at them as they move from the sides of the screen towards the head and destroy at least one so you can get away from the rest of the balls. For best results, shoot south to make it easy to get away. In the meantime, the boss will spit balls, first to the left, then to the center, then to the right, then back to the center, then back to the left before repeating the pattern. Keep shooting at the head without getting shot at yourself, and eventually you'll beat the Mother Alien and beat the game!

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) - Part 4 of 5

As we go deeper into the ship, everything goes from bad to worse.

First | Previous | End

Round 4: Command Room

Despite the more natural appearance of the level on the map, the actual appearance of this level is that of a hellscape.

The two enemies for this round are red worms and white heads with tails. The worms come out of the red circles in the room, and they won't go down until all of the individual segments do. Once again, the laser will come in handy. The white heads with spawn out of where the white faces in the wall are.

The southwest corner of the round is the toughest part to get around in, due to the narrow floors near bottomless pits and the white head enemies spawning in very strategic points. You'll need to be ready to aim, shoot and immediately move forward after. Also, the one room with the hostage in the southeast corner is also hard to get around in, and you may get hit by an enemy while getting the hostage here at least once.

To be the boss, run around the room clockwise and shoot at the boss while also shooting down the worm enemies that the boss spawns. Once again, you'll want the laser here, as the laser will tear the worm enemies apart. 

If you beat this round on the Normal difficulty, the game ends with a bad ending. If you beat this round on the Hard difficulty, however, you'll get one last round.

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) - Part 3 of 5

In this stage, you'll have quite a few narrow spaces to move through. The enemies here don't make things any more pleasant, either.

First | Previous | Next | End

Round 3: Engine Room

Unlike the first two rounds, this round is more of a maze than usual. It's also much harder If the narrow trails and bottomless pits don't get you, the green aliens jumping towards you will, as they hop a good distance and they can track where you are before firing projectiles at you. This can make things dicey, especially if you are on a narrow path with bottomless pits on both sides. Despite being the only enemy in this stage, they can be very nasty.

The boss is a gray creature with eight feet and two rotating eyes that spawns worms every so often. The laser makes this boss so easy; just keep firing to take out the arms and the eyes, and watch for the worms. Once the legs are down, you can take down the boss very easily.

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) - Part 2 of 5

Compared to the first round, this round is a little more hectic, but I was able to get through this one quite a bit faster.

First | Next | End

Round 2: Hold Area

Don't walk into the pits. You will lose a life as soon as you do.

The enemies here are red aliens that come out of eyeball-shaped sacs (that can't be destroyed) and metal slimes.

For best results, work on getting all the hostages on the west side of the stage first before going east.

To beat the boss, shoot down the shrapnel shots that the boss sends your way, then go all the way south and shoot at the boss while avoiding the laser. You may have to deal with more shrapnel, but you can easily shoot down any shots that come your way.

PrinceWatercress plays Alien Syndrome (Game Gear) - 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.

Next | End

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 their 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. 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.