REVVIN' UP YOUR ENGINE, LISTENIN' TO HER HOWLIN' ROARING
Up there with the Best of the Best.
Well, the "Trashfall" is, by the moment, over. So, that means there's not gonna be trash shmup reviews for a while, also I have to complete the last Space Invaders reviews yet.
Let's head into the Danger Zone event, and when it's about going "Up there with the Best of the Best" of arcade classics, that means E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force by Jaleco.
Your weapon choosing time is marked by the EDF Mass Driver, so make a fast choice.
Both XA-1 and XA-2 have the same weaponry, but it's important to know the weapons available for your missions.
VULCAN: The basic all-rounder with a basic 3 way spread. It's power is average and with a simple 3 bullet fire rate while the Satellite formation is in "Union", but in the other modes they fire a weaker, frontal fire.
LASER: The full frontal weapon. It fires a large beam of considerable power in "Union" formation, while splitted, they fire thin beams. Regardless of the mode, the beams can pass through enemies. Unfortunately, their fire rate is slower than the laser, allowing the enemy to hit you.
ATOMIC: The Power type weapon. Fires a missile that generates an explosion or a series of them upon impact. The size of the blast can take out multiple enemies and even small bullets. However, all this power has its flaws. It has the worst fire rate of all weapons and here's the catch: Beams and large bullets can destroy the projectile.
HOMING: The chaser weapon. It fires bullets that track on enemies. While in "Union" formation, one tap of the button fires two shots (six by holding the button), any splitted formation will fire 3 shots from each Satellite, but the provisional fire from the XA-1 will act as backup. It's only flaw is that the fire power is the weakest of the four.
The XA series might have their own weapons, but also two support units known as Satellites. These units act as a shield and support for the main units, but they have more attack formations that you'll unlock as you progress in the game.
UNION (DEFAULT): The main and default configuration. The Satellites are attached to the XA-1/2 and is on this mode where you can use the chosen weapon at full power.
ROLLING/ROLL (DEFAULT): This formation detaches the Satellites and they orbit around the ship just like the Claw/CRAW from the Thunder Force series, making them effective against enemies above and below your ship. Using this or any other formation will change the weapon's behavior and strength.
SHADOW (LEVEL 3): The Satellites detach and stay behind the XA moving on the same way as the ship, just like the Options in Gradius.
HOMING (LEVEL 5): This one makes the Satellites chase targets and don't leave them until they leave the screen or they're destroyed. Their effectiveness depends on which weapon is being used on the stage.
Magma Diver, 4 years before Neon Genesis Evangelion.
E.D.F. is an horizontal shooter in the pure classic arcade style: Fast paced, simple bullet patterns, but pulling challenge on how and when to fire against you and revealing unexpected turn of tides during boss battles because some of the boss attacks could throw you a surprise attack that you won't expect like the second boss "Blue fireball" or the ceiling-floor fire attack of the third boss that might trap you if you don't know what's up.
But what makes E.D.F. different from unique shooters is its mechanics: While most games utilizes power ups to increase the ship's strength, E.D.F. utilizes a basic element of RPG games: Experience gaining and level up. Killing an enemy will fill the player's experience gauge to a certain point. After filling the bar, the ship's power will level up. At the third and fifth levels it will unlock new formations for the Satellite. Another feature was the inclusion of shield points rather than a bar or spare ships. If your three points go down, the game ends, but you're granted the chance to continue the game and selecting another weapon before pressing Start. The main fun factor of this game is the bonus points obtained by killing complete enemy formations. If you shoot down an entire group of enemies without letting anyone escape you'll be getting bonuses from 1,000 to 5,000 points.
The weapon selection feature while basic with its 4 weapon variety, it becomes strategical when the game is played in co-op 2 Players mode, as they can select a full offensive (both Atomic) or one takes the upper hand and the other goes defensive (1P-Vulcan, Player 2-Homing), allowing 10 possible combinations.
Vulcan-Vulcan
Vulcan-Laser / Laser-Vulcan
Vulcan-Homing / Homing-Vulcan
Vulcan-Atomic / Atomic-Vulcan
Laser-Laser
Laser-Homing / Homing-Laser
Laser-Atomic / Atomic-Laser
Homing-Homing
Homing-Atomic / Atomic-Homing
Atomic-Atomic
The Satellite Formations aren't out of the combination possibilities.
Union-Union
Union-Rolling / Rolling-Union
Union-Shadow / Shadow-Union
Union-Homing / Homing-Union
Rolling-Rolling
Rolling-Shadow / Shadow-Rolling
Rolling-Homing / Homing-Rolling
Shadow-Shadow
Shadow-Rolling / Rolling-Shadow
Homing-Homing
Yes, that's a total of 10 combinations like the weapons. Combined with the weapons, they add an even larger number of possible combat strategies to experiment on each gameplay.
Those are 195 kills.
At the end of each level, your performance will be evaulated with a Kill Count. A small badge counts per 1 enemy while the large ones means 30. This Kill Count grants you both bonus points and an increase on the experience gauge, granting you a slight chance to level up further. While the kills climb, you can choose your weapon for the next level.
The arcade version, was ported to the SNES as Super E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force in 1991, it was very different from the original game. We had to wait 30 years until Hamster and City Connection (Jaleco's rightsholder) released the arcade game on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the Arcade Archives series. Being part of Arcade Archives adds the usual two modes of Hi Score and Caravan to complete the original arcade game. Hi Score Mode is a never ending game where the objective is to reach the highest score possible. The game continues until you are killed. Caravan Mode sends you to a 5 minute game where you have to reach the highest score possible but within the time limit. Both modes lack of continues if your shields are down, and Hi Score Mode only has an "exclusive" trophy for that mode. The score related ones can be unlocked either there or in the regular game (Original Mode). There's a total of six throphies waiting to be unlocked, but the toughest one will be the 1,000,000 points. Good luck on that one.
Arcade brightness that amazes the players.
When it comes to graphics, E.D.F. relies more on bright colors than heavy detailing in some aspects like the first and second stages as they have simple colors and fast scrolling clouds. The cityscape looks more like stars in an empty void with a strange cloud rather than being futuristic. Although things get better from stage 3 onwards as the natural scenery and artificial structures become more the predominant setting and that's where the detailing hits well. We can also see how Jaleco played with digitized imagery like the clouds and the space view of Earth in the opening sequence and the sunset clouds at the ranking screen with a "grainy" look while the XA units are pixel drawn. As for the sound, the soundtrack feels very MIDI-like, something that was quite ahead of its time for small developers during the early 90's as they break the classic electronic chiptunes of the old arcade boards as we can hear good quality percussion sounds like drums and cymballs. I also liked how the soundtrack fits on their respective stages, like in Stage 2, where we hear a fancy-yet-calm 80's Miami Vice-like tune that fits with the midnight city scenery. However, the sound effects most of the times block away some of the "instruments" of the music, and when there's too much sound effects, they block other sounds, for example when you get hit. Not to mention, the music seems to slowdown in some parts of the game when there's too much enemies for the game.
E.D.F.C.F.: EARTH DEFENSE FORCE's CURIOSITIES AND FUN-FACTS
- Please, whatever you do, don't confuse it with Sandlot's series of 3rd person shooters of the same name.
- It is unknown what K.A.L. stands for, but it is obviously connected with the Azyma Empire.
- Hamster's Arcade Archives store description spells Azyma as "Agima".
- The large kanji used by K.A.L./Azyma is also seen in other Jaleco games like Soldam, a puzzle game based on Rod Land.
Only the first part of the Danger Zone.
There's still more intense shmups to review.
E.D.F.: Earth Defense Force is more than just old school shmup that experimented with new features that improved the overall gameplay adding an interesting new twist to all the common concepts of shooting.
The arrival on this game to the PlayStation and the Switch is one hell of an alternative to the SNES port for those who want a complete arcade experience since we have a definitive home and "to go" version of the game.
Good to see Lea like that.
That means E.D.F. is a positive on the "Lea Scale".