Developer: Masaya Publisher: Dreamworks Release: 1990 Genre: Action
The NES library covered pretty much all genres but conspicuously absent were games starring giant robots. No, Probotector does not count. If you explore the Famicom library you will find far more SD Gundam games than should be legal. I guess I can see the reasoning; with the system’s limitations they wouldn’t be all that big (although Godzilla: Monster of Monsters says otherwise). With the advent of 16-bit that all changed. Dreamwork’s Target Earth was an odd game to see a localization however western gamers received an awesome title as a result. Whether or not they ever finished it is a different story altogether.
Originally titled Assault Suit Leynos in Japan there is an extensive backstory that was sadly edited and altered during localization. 100 years ago an expeditionary group of humans were sent into space and seemingly forgotten. After an unexplained number of years this group feels rejected and adapt cyborg technology. They dub themselves the Chron in the process. The Chron invade Earth in modern times as an act of revenge and to transform everyone into cyborgs like themselves. To be fair the gist of the plot is the same and only some bits of characterization are missing. Compared to most action games at the time there’s a good deal of context given for your actions especially considering how short the dialogue exchanges are. Unfortunately it would set a trend that would continue with its spinoff Cybernator on SNES.
As an Assault Suit pilot you can equip up to six weapons simultaneously from a selection of seventeen. However these options open up depending on your mission performance. The default machine gun and its more powerful variant is the only option with unlimited ammo so you’ll have to be a bit conservative. This is because there are no power-ups in the levels. Most of your options cover the usual suspects such as a spread gun, grenades, and laser. However there are a few support items such as extra armor, a shield, and boost pack to jump higher. Your health bar regenerates when left alone; exploiting this is the only way to survive. On top of all of your armaments every stage has a number of NPC soldiers and ships that assist you. They die pretty fast when left alone but they do add to the game’s war like atmosphere.
Each of the 8 levels has a mission objective and it is here the game truly shines. These aren’t simple reach the exit fare but are fairly involved. The first level starts as a simple base defense but midway you must destroy an approaching warship within a small window of time. Probably the most frustrating but in a weird twist my favorite is stage 3. Here you must destroy another enemy warship except this one is in orbit. You have full freedom of movement and the ship is under heavy guard. Success hinges on making strafing runs and descending to the Earth’s atmosphere to recover where the smaller mechs won’t follow. Even after that is accomplished you still must reach one of the three departing shuttles. This variety is holds up to the game’s closing moments but I doubt 90% of players ever knew that.
It is no exaggeration when I say that Target Earth might be one of the most difficult games ever. From the game’s opening moments the enemy attacks are relentless and never let up. The regenerating health mechanic means very little seeing as you will rarely find a safe spot to use it. Because there are no power-ups during a given mission you’ll have to be stingy with special weapon ammo. That completely defeats the purpose of having such a large cache of weapons.
There is some great mission variety here unfortunately the difficulty ruins it. You have one life and two continues to see this monster to its conclusion which, to be frank, is bullshit. With a few lives you could use trial and error to slowly progress. But as is you need perfect execution or its back to the start screen. The rote memorization necessary to finish each level kills some of the fun.
Yet even with all of that I still really like Target Earth! Brainless action games were a dime a dozen back then. However the varied levels, blatant Mobile Suit Gundam style atmosphere, and the action in general really help to set Target Earth apart from the rest of its contemporaries. It is so good in fact that I would recommend using a few game genie codes in order to enjoy the game. How often do you hear someone say that?
In Closing
Target Earth is good with all the elements to be great. However the high difficulty will deter the majority of gamers tackling this beast. If the difficulty were toned down this would have been one of the best action games for the Genesis. As it is I can only recommend it if you plan on cheating in order to see all of its content.
