Developer: Now Production Publisher: Hudson Soft Release: 07/05/91 Genre: Shooter
I never liked the Star Soldier games on the NES. With far superior competition in the form of Zanac, Life Force, and Gun-Nac they were simply too repetitive to hold my attention. That all changed with the Turbo-Grafx. The series went through a rebirth of sorts and are all generally excellent. Almost every iteration hit the US with one notable exception. Final Soldier, the middle child of the 16-bit games never left Japan and I cannot see why. It is not a quality issue as the game is awesome. And it sure as hell was not due to a glut of shooters in America. If crap like Deep Blue can be localized there’s no reason why this was not. Either way Final Soldier is a worthy entry in the series and a pretty good game worth a spin.
In the 23rd century a time warp opens over the Atlantic Ocean, signaling a massive alien invasion. As they deal with the threat the Earth Forces learn their attackers are the Gadar’el, a race of bio mechanical creatures who can freely travel through time. After conquering mankind in the 25th century they travel back to further influence humanity. In response mankind creates the Dryad, an advanced ship and sends it into the heart of the Gadar’el forces headquarters to stop them.
To an extent all the Star Soldier games on the Turbo Grafx are similar, be it art direction or weapons. Final Soldier is the most distinct in this regard. It boasts the most robust selection of weapons by far and offers a degree of customization to boot. There are four standard colored weapons and by default they are your typical Vulcan, laser, fire, and E-Beam (essentially a wave beam). But you can customize your load out for each one in the menu. There are three options available for each weapon and they are varied. You can even customize your missiles too! It is a pretty cool system and offers some small reason to go back and play the game again.
Collecting same weapon multiple times will upgrade it, up to three times. This is important as each level of power allows you to take more hits with your weapon downgrading before death. Aside from the main weapons you can collect missiles and up to two options. Options only fire basic shots rather than duplicating your current weapon. However you can sacrifice one to use as a smart bomb, blanketing the screen in a spiraling parade of fire for a few seconds that also destroys bullets. The game provides new options every few seconds it seems and it wants you to use this, and honestly there is no reason not to.
Final Soldier is the most “grounded” in the series I feel. Whereas Super Star Soldier and the later Soldier Blade spend most of their time in space among massive space stations and alien fortresses most of Final Soldier takes place planet side. Make no mistake there is plenty of alien blasting action. However the middle stages on Earth are a breath of fresh air in a series that tends to blend together. The entire game is one long journey; you begin in the Future Zone and use the Gadar’el’s time machine to go back. The next few stages cover the desert, ocean, and city skies before you pursue them to their fortress in space. Every level introduces new enemies and sells the idea that you are following a path to victory rather than a random collection of set pieces.
Yet despite the variety in content and mechanics I still feel Final Soldier is not as good as its predecessor. In dialing back the difficulty it loses out on the spectacle of the other titles. The pacing of the action is not as exciting until close to the end which is disappointing. You have such an excellent weapon system but it is trapped in a game that does not fully use it. It also does not look as good. Don’t get me wrong, the game is still very good. But I expected more.
The other games in the series were fair in their difficulty however Final Soldier is the easiest in the group. At full power you can take a few hits before death at the expense of your current weapon. But more importantly you respawn immediately upon death. Normally this is a death sentence but the frequent power-ups allow you to get up to speed quickly, even during some boss battles. The curve picks up significantly in the last two stages, with the final level being particularly nasty. Enemy waves are more aggressive and items are spaced out more. The infamous shooter death spiral becomes a possibility heading toward the finale. But outside of the multi-tiered final boss I would say it still remains fair.
In Closing
Final Soldier is not as great as the later games in the series but with its weapons system is the most unique and worth playing. It is a mystery why the game was left in Japan considering the absolute crap we received instead. But it is a shooter so language is not a barrier. There are other imports you should go for first but Final Soldier is a good alternative.
