I have always enjoyed this game,
even back in my elementary school days, when it first came out.
Solar Striker is, by all means a very simple shooter. It does not
have the complex powerup system like Gradius, but rather the game
bears a much more "classic" style of play, where most enemies fall
with a single shot, and where the powerups are only to increase
the damage of each shot, thus only being more effective against
larger baddies or bosses.
That, and your shots just look and sound cooler when upgraded. One
interesting aspect is as the levels progress, you seem to get closer
to a planet, and then the final boss. First you start in outer space,
then to flying above the clouds, then to flying over urban streets,
then skimming over canyons, and finally inside some sort of industrial
structure (there's metal looking stuff everywhere).
Sound: The sounds are not that impressive, but this coming
from me, a person who is used to playing on a Playstation, that
does not mean a whole lot. For Game Boy sounds, they are decent,
but the gunshot sounds could be made to sound a little less traditional.
(make them go *bang* instead of *deihr* or *bouhw*)
Graphics: The graphics are not amazingly impressive. In fact,
they are on the lower end of the "Fantastic Scale". But being one
of the first Game Boy games, it lives up to being . . . uh . . a
Game Boy game. (what else can I say) The bosses are the coolest
looking things, however typical that may be for all shooters. Anyways,
the gunshots, again, could be better.
Gameplay: This is where the game excels above its other qualities.
The gameplay is quite good, even if very simple. Part of the reason
is because it is not really difficult. I would not say it is easy,
because some stuff is tricky, like when the game uses poweups as
lures for traps. The game gets harder as it progresses by simply
increasing the number of shots and baddies that appear on the screen
at any given moment. One of the pleasing features, is that it has
good replay value, where you want to see how far you can get, and
how long you can live. Overall, I would recommend this game to any
person who enjoys shooter games, because it is always something
to play and you find yourself playing it every so often (as opposed
to never, after beating it)
Solar
Striker - Nintendo
