Developer: Taito Publisher: Taito Release: 01/14/89 Genre: Shooter
Even as early as the late 80s the shooter genre began to hit a rut. The biggest titles in the genre such as Gradius and R-Type cast a large shadow and many games were content to copy their mechanics. But there were some games that dared to be different. Taito’s Halley’s Comet was original in the arcade as it gave a reason for you to shoot down every enemy possible or suffer the consequences. Seeing an opportunity to revisit its cool story Halley Wars is a sequel that betters the arcade game in every way.
In the 21st century Halley’s Comet is once again approaching the Earth. But as ships and probes try to investigate the Comet they are destroyed. Aliens have been using the comet to invade Earth, causing massive destruction in their wake. As a last ditch effort an advanced star ship is created to destroy Halley’s Comet before it reaches Earth.
The weapon system in Halley Wars is small but effective. The default laser can upgrade four times on its own. This can be supplemented with the “sight hole”, essentially lasers that shoot diagonally from your ship, creating a wide beam. The most common power-up are explosive pods. These look like miniature ships and sort of function like options but are bombs. You can sacrifice one at any time to destroy almost every enemy on screen. Explosive pods attach to the back of your ship and you can hold up to four. Sometimes they also fire weak shots and can also protect you from hits like a shield. However they are not invincible. The game inundates you with explosive pods for a reason, not just because they are useful but because they are necessary to manage Earth’s safety.
The big hook of Halley Wars is its damage meter. For every enemy or comet that streaks past it damages the Earth. Large comets try to assault the planet every few seconds from every angle for the length of the game meaning you will never have a moment’s rest. The larger the object the more damage it inflicts on the planet. Once it reaches 100° it is game over, regardless of how many lives you have! There are no items to reduce the damage per stage, meaning you must do your best not only to survive but to reach each boss with as little damage as possible, as the attacks do not stop while you do battle.
For such a simple feature it has a large impact on gameplay. Normally in a shooter while you try to hit every incoming enemy for points and power-ups and do not think twice if one gets by here it is a detriment. Every target you miss brings you a step closer to unintentional death. Now you have to prioritize and strategize. Do you rush to pick up that power-up or do you wait for it to come to you? If you die the few seconds it takes to respawn will allow some enemies to get by. While it is heroic to try and kill everything it is near impossible. Your weapons are not strong enough even at full power and there will inevitably be times where a bomb is more important than a measly comet streaking by. But that is okay.
I like Halley Wars but it is a bit unfair at times. The weapons could stand to be a little stronger. I get that if they were too strong you could steam roll the game but their weakness saps a little of the fun. The frequent comet attacks grow old by the third level and you must endure it for the entire game. I would have preferred if their spawns were random rather than predictably every few seconds. These issues make the game a little more difficult than normal, especially if you die during a boss battle. I think the game could have used a little more balancing of its various parts to become really special. It is still worth playing in my opinion but man this could have been amazing.
In Closing
Halley Wars surprised me. I expected Halley Wars to be shallow and coast on its premise. Instead I found a solid title that even without the world ending mechanic is a good game. This is another in a long line of games I am surprised did not release in the West. I am sure it would have found its fans. For such a low key release it has seen a bit of life outside the Famicom release, first on the Game Gear and later cell phones. Any version is a good time.
