Space Elite Force (Switch - XB1 - Series X|S - PS4|5)

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Sturmvogel Prime
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Space Elite Force (Switch - XB1 - Series X|S - PS4|5)

Post by Sturmvogel Prime »

Well, looks like I've picked a 2 in 1 bundle. This time is Space Elite Force 2 in 1 also called Space Elite Force Combo 2 in 1.



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Sorry, no Nadia this time.

To begin with, let's start with obviously, Space Elite Force.



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A shooter that is out of this world!

Space Elite Force is a "Feito no Brasil" (Made in Brazil) shmup that at first looks like your basic horizontal shooter, but that's only the impression the game gives. The first thing that you'll notice is the controls. You're sent to battle with your regular shot and a missile. But unlike Ginga Force and Super Nova, you can't fire both at the same time. Instead you can tap the missile button and let go to resume your machine gun firing. The game is easy to play but challenging enough as the game with throw mid-speed moderate bullet hell patterns from spirals to sprays and curtains. Fortunately, you're given a ship slowdown button to navigate through the enemy fire, allowing you to cross the bullet sprays without being damaged and still dealing damage to your enemies. Enemy destruction is more than just a survival factor in this game for two reasons. First one is the score multiplication. Like Blazing Star, the game features a score multiplier that increases with the enemies we destroy. Despite navigating through bullet hells, the multiplier has a depleting bar that takes 1 multiplier per bar, allowing you to make a quick recovery and keep increasing the multipler further. The second reason is they drop money and you'll have to pick all the credits you can pick 'cos they're gonna be useful at the end of each stage.



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The Megadeth Principle: "Peace sells, but who's buying?"

After taking down the boss, you'll be on the store where you can power up the weaponry and the damage resistance of your ship. One of the things that I liked of this is that the prices are accessible and they don't do the absurd price rising that requires grinding. A store format done right like in the good old U.N. Squadron. You can also get some additional items from freighters like the Magnet that absorbs the credits dropped for a while, the "x2" that increases the enemies score value and the Supercharge that increases your fire-rate to a "Super Machine Gun" pace for a short time. There's also a store upgrade to increase the frequency of freighters and the duration of the items they give you, not to mention increase the number of credits dropped by the enemies.
Keep in mind. You will have to select the weapon you want to use before you leave (For example, set the cursor on Missiles after buying the Beehive) or else you'll start with a weaker sub-weapon.



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Intense boss fights that demand the best of the player's skills.

One of the main aspects of the game is the HP given. You start with 10 hit points but despite that it's easy enough to survive for newcomers. Also, it's better to avoid any damage possible because getting hit will drop the multipliers drastically.


Along with the regular campaign, the game has two extra modes: Hardcore and Infinity. Hardcore is the expert mode which turns the game into an Arrange Mode of sorts as it reduces the initial HP from 10 to 5 and disables the continue option, sending you back to stage 1. Fortunately, you're warned about this in the Main Menu, so its up to you if you're good enough to take the challenge or not. The second mode is the Infinity which sends you to a random stage with never ending waves of enemies and bosses. The objective there is to find out how far you can reach before getting killed. Ironically, you have to get killed in order to access the Garage/Shop to upgrade your ship and try again. This mode is very useful for those who want to get all the Upgrade-based achievements/trophies.



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War Stars Episode VI.5: All your base are belong to the Mouse.

Graphically, it focus on the 16 bit like retro atmosphere, while the ship designs remain on Master System levels, it is the background which takes the most part of the efforts as they have well made planets and starfields that look really impressive and sometimes extraordinary. Planet Saturn never looked so great in pixel-art.

The music of this game is way impressive, If you like metal bands like Angra, Shaman and Dr. Sin (three of the best Brazilian metal bands), you'll enjoy the music of this game as it breaks with the ambient trance monotony pulling the more intense metal style with some few electronic instruments in some tracks, and what's best, you can hear the music when the game is paused, a signal that the music of this game is worth to hear.


SPACE ELITE FUN FACTS


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Looking for some action, nothing short of bad. I need a quick reaction, 'cause it's late in the evening.
Radar (radar, radar) RIDER! Radar (radar, radar) RIDER!
Radar (radar, radar) RIDER! Radar (radar, radar)


- The car in space might be a reference to the film Heavy Metal (
The "Radar Rider" segment), the cover art of ZZ Top's Afterburner album and the Tesla Roadster car sent to space on a Falcon Heavy rocket.
- The opening sequence crawl is an obvious nod to Star Wars, this is carried in Space Elite Force II.
- Space Invaders is a clear reference to Taito's arcade game.
- After Earth is a reference to the 2013 film of the same name and is the meaning of the "A.E." acronym in the 2000 movie Titan A.E.
- Red Planet is not just a reference to Mars, it is also a nod to the 2000 film of the same name.


Despite its implied simplicity, Space Elite Force is a shmup that is actually fun to play, and good to hear, justifying its re-release on XBOX and PlayStation, earning a well deserved place in your consoles.



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