E.D.F.
- "Enough Doggone Frogger!" Let's play a shooter! "Excited Defender
Freak" "Einhander Doesn't Flow…"
Nope,
you've probably guessed by now that EDF stands for Earth Defense
Force, the elite group of pilots chosen to, well, defend the Earth.
While EDF doesn't break any barriers in the shoot-em-up hall of
fame, it's not too bad of a rainy-day shmup that offers at least
one major innovation, the experience power up bar.
EDF
is your usual alien invader blasting six level "don't bother me
I'm trying to beat this game" shootemup. I have no problem with
that, but since there are so so so soooooo many of this kind, if
you want to jump on the bandwagon of atypical shmups, there had
better be bang up graphics, bosses, music, or level design to make
the game stand out.
Unfortunately,
EDF offers none of this. At the beginning of each level, you can
pick from four different weapon systems: the vulcan, the laser,
the atomic shot, and the homing shot. By now, most shooter fans
should know what each one does. But after the blood pounding weapon
select process, the excitement trails off from here on. Levels are
kinda dull, and bosses aren't that creative.
One
innovative idea with EDF is the powerup system. The more enemies
you destroy, the more exp. you gain on the bottom left hand bar.
Fill the bar and raise up a weapon level. EDF combines a little
role play element with a fast paced shooter, which was interesting.
The ship is given three hits, but they are used up quickly. While
I wasn't too impressed with EDF, it is worth playing through just
to sharpen the old skills for a more qualified game.
There
even was a SNES translation, and if I remember right there were
more weapons and slightly different levels. However I have to say
I prefer the arcade version more, if at all.
Earth
Defense Force - Jaleco
