29| M.U.S.H.A. Aleste

Released: 1990 (Exact release date unknown)

Definitive Version: Sega Mega Drive; Also on: Virtual Console for Wii

You boot the game up, start the first level, then this music immediately begins playing. It is at this time that you realize the title you are playing is very special. Coming out at the time when the shoot-em-up genre was red hot, Compile's M.U.S.H.A. Aleste came out swinging. Most would say the pinnacle of the genre occurred later with titles such as Dodonpachi, Radiant Silvergun, and Ikaruga. While I agree that those are all solid games, personally I think that the genre peaked twenty-six years ago with the Mega Drive entry of the Aleste games.

In all honesty, there isn't much that makes M.U.S.H.A. Aleste unique. It plays like any other shoot-em-up on the planet, and even the graphics aren't much to speak of. Sure it uses giant robots rather than space jets, but that was the trend during the early nineties. In reality, what made M.U.S.H.A. stand out from the dozens of other shooters being released every year was its killer soundtrack and its very refined gameplay.

The game starts off with a unit of mechs being deployed to wipe out an onslaught of enemies. In just a few seconds all of them are wiped out...but one. The lone surviving mech is the convieniantly the one the player controls over. The screen scrolls over vertically as tons of enemies popup that need to be eradicated. The player has two attack buttons. The main attack button simply shoots bullets straight ahead, while there is also a special attack button where the mech uses its more power and specific secondary attack. These secondary attacks include a green charge laser and multi-directional satellite shots. At the end of each stage is a boss battle, most of these tend to be quite large as they take up the entire screen. Once the boss is defeated the mech exits the screen and a new stage appears. The process continues to rinse and repeat.

I realize that this is a very short write-up, but that is because there isn't much to say about M.U.S.H.A. Aleste. It's simply a shoot-em-up that is completely run-of-the-mill on paper, but is near flawlessly executed. The biggest flaw in the game is its availability. The cartridge is a bit pricey. Luckily it is available on the Wii's Virtual Console, however with even the successor system soon to be replaced, one wonders just how much longer the title will be up for sale. Either way if you have even such as a faint interest in the game, it is best to purchase it now as it will likely be far more difficult to do so in the future.