Customer Reviews

Midnight Resistance

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Remember the arcades back in the 'good old days' of video-gaming? Before polygons and 3D took over there was a time when you could walk into an arcade that was thick with the smell of sweat as dozens of teenagers hammered away furiously at the buttons of countless machines. You'd probably have to queue-up to play your favorite game or if you had no money you'd just watch someone else who was better than you. When you did get a go the stick was hard to get a grip it'd be soaked in sweat so much and your fingers would be so numb after a few minutes of play that your hand would go all cramped. Midnight Resistance (a sequel to the 1987 game Heavy Barrel) was one of those classic arcade games made by Data East (one of the top companies at the time) that was so cool you didn't care how hard it was.

If you're familiar with the Turrican series of games then you'll love Midnight Resistance. It features 10 levels of similar gameplay with hordes of enemies coming at you from all directions and enough mega-firepower to deal with them all. You'll be leaping, jumping, climbing and crawling everywhere as hundreds of bursts of gunfire blaze across the screen. The fire-fight just doesn't let up for a second for the entire game. And you'll love it.

Having said that, it's a very weird and surrealistic game. You're supposed to be a member of some Drug Enforcement Squad, according to the instructions, but the enemies are often demonic and the 'story' takes you through industrial cities, laboratories, forests and outer-space to battle giant, disembodied brain stems and free you're family from mad scientists. Very weird indeed.

But that was all the rage back in 1990, when arcade games were filled with bizarre imagery and disorientating level designs to keep you off-guard. Like other games of the era it is very, very hard; a dastardly ploy to make you spend more and more money to get through the game. But when you had this much fun, it was worth it. Definitely one to hunt down.

Graphics A-
Sound B
Gameplay A
Lasting B+

FIRST THING I SAID TO MYSELF WHEN I WAS FIRST AWARE OF THIS GAME MANY YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS RENTING GAMES FOR NINTENDO , SUPER NINTENDO & SEGA GENESIS IS THAT MY FIRST INSTINCT ABOUT THIS GAME IS THAT IS A SHOOTING GAME THAT LOOKS LIKE FUN VERY SIMILIAR TO CONTRA YOU GET A VARITY OF WEAPONS TO USE THE GAME CONSIST OF 9 LEVELS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN BE FUSTRATING ABOUT THIS GAME IS THAT YOU NEED KEYS TO PURCHASE A WEAPON OR ITEM IT COST ONE KEY BUT IF YOUR PLAYER DIES YOU LOSE KEYS IT IS POSSIBLE TO BACKTRACK IN ORDER TO RETRIEVE THEM UNLESS ITS TOO FAR OFF THE SCREEN I WOULD RECCOMMEND THIS GAME TO ANYONE WHO LIKES A GOOD CHALLENGE

This was the only game I bought as a Japanese import and it had to be snugly fitted in to my US Genesis, but man was it worth it. Its pretty much Contra for Sega but it had a great pace and style that I never forgot. The music and sound effects were fun and the guns were great. Best little feature is the Weapon select room at the end of each level. Like a defcon 4 room with military sirens pulsing as you view your possible guns in cases above and jump up to pop them out and into your hand. Very memorable. The other thing was a great little ending screen and music. Kinda Street Fighteresque.