Have you ever liked a game but can't really explain why? Worse, have you ever liked a game that you know isn't very good? I like Alien Storm. I can't defend it. It's really not a very good game. Something about it appeals to the part of me that irrationally loves beat'em-ups, and though I should know better, I can't help but have fond memories of the damned thing.
You probably won't like Alien Storm at all unless you really, really like Golden Axe. Originally released a year after Golden Axe debuted in arcades, Alien Storm can best be described as Golden Axe with alien hunters and monsters in place of all the beefy warriors and beardy dwarves.
For much of the game, you walk from left to right, zapping enemies as you come across them. Your character choices may look different (there's a robot, a lady in a yellow diaper, and a red-jumpsuited Elvis), but they all control the same. The B button is your attack button, with attacks varying depending on how far you're standing away from an enemy. The C button rolls (or jumps, if you push it in the middle of a run), and A is your special attack that drains way too much weapon energy to ever be practical or useful.
At first, it seems like you're in for a straight-up Golden Axe clone, with a slightly more interesting storyline that features jerky midget aliens harassing innocent humanfolk. Halfway through the first level, though, your perspective switches to first-person, and the aliens come at you straight on, shooting gallery style. It's a fun if unchallenging break from the normal gameplay. Later levels feature shoot'em-up sections where your characters run impossibly fast and jump huge chasms while chasing down enemies and bosses.
(Actually, what's up with all three of this week's VC games switching gameplay gears and becoming horizontal shooters during certain levels? Surely this means something important!)
Alien Storm is fun in parts, but it only ever comes in small quantities. The brawler parts are decent, the first-person sequences are kind of sloppy and not really at all difficult, and the running shooter bits are too short to be memorable.
So, really, I'm not sure what it is I like about Alien Storm. Maybe it's the constant shifts in style. Maybe it's the gameplay itself, which becomes rhythmic and even a bit soothing, somehow, once you get into the dull groove of zapping enemies over and over while they lie on the ground. Maybe the fact that I loved nearly every game I played as a kid is carrying over to my adult years, and any game I have fond memories of is safe from normal critical judgment.
At least it's funnier and has better pacing than Golden Axe, though. You've got to give it that much.
There's no way I'd be able to sleep at night if I told people that Alien Storm was worth eight dollars, so please don't buy it. Watch this video instead, and imagine that you are the one controlling it. Perhaps you can even pick up a controller and press the buttons along to what's going on! YouTube as a whole is more fun that way, actually.
