Where I grew up we didn’t have a big local arcade. I seldom had a chance to fill a machine with quarters, and when I did it was usually at a pizza parlor. This is why I’m catching up on old arcade exclusives that I missed. Aliens is a very curious coin-op release. Developed by Konami this game is based on the second movie in the series. A video game based on a horror movie back then was pretty unusual, and I’m sure this one turned some heads in the arcade upon release. I’m a bit indifferent toward the film franchise but I thought this game looked and sounded amazing. Turns out I was right.
Now keep in mind this game is only loosely based on the films. Purists will no doubt be enraged when they see that Ripley has blonde hair and that many of the aliens are now pink. In a few stages there are zombies that attack you and throw explosives. I sure don’t remember that in the movies. Yes many liberties are taken but the aliens (aside from color scheme) are represented nicely and that’s all that matters. The story exposition is weak here with only a few moments (aside from the opening text scrawl) dedicated to any sort of developments.
Aliens isn’t your typical run-and-gun game. While you do spend most of your time shooting and blasting aliens instead of moving just left and right you can instead move in all directions. This gives Aliens some serious Final Fight, or any other beat ’em up of its era. You guide Ripley through a series of different environments and the action will stop when enemies approach. Like in most beat em up games you cannot continue through the stage until you dispatch all of the enemies. The gameplay is pretty basic but in this day and age it’s a real comfort to experience.
What makes Aliens so much fun is just how crazy it is. You’re never going to face off against just one foe (unless it’s a boss). This one throws tons of monsters at you, and constantly. The action is fast and frantic. In other similar games I sometimes get lost in the action but that never happened here. It’s very easy to track your character even when there’s explosions and loads of gunfire. Be prepared however because Aliens is extremely difficult. Fair, but frustrating. I found myself verbally assaulting this game as I played.
Ripley is armed with her automatic rifle by default. You have unlimited ammunition for this gun and holding the attack button will make her shoot endlessly. Within each stage are power-ups that give you new weapons. These include three way shots, missiles, etc. The flamethrower makes an appearance here and it’s by far the most fun to use. You’ll also find sub weapons such as bombs and these are used a bit differently. What’s interesting is that you have two different types of attack; the standard attack as well as a lower shot where Ripley ducks. The latter comes in handy for small enemies you can’t otherwise hit, but is also useful for dodging some attacks.
The environments are nice and varied here. Things like environmental hazards help keep things fresh. You also have multiple paths in a stage in some areas where you can choose to walk on top or below and these present a variety of different hazards to the player. There’s a fair amount of gameplay variety as well. In some areas the aliens will approach from off-screen and not be immediately visible. In these sections of the game you have a radar at the top of the screen indicating incoming enemies. Early on this doesn’t help out a lot but as the difficulty ramps up the radar comes plenty in handy. At the end of each stage you board a transport wherein enemies come from the background and Ripley faces in front as she blasts at them and obstacles with her gun.
There are some areas in Aliens besides the aforementioned transport where you face enemies head on while they approach from the background. Here you can freely move and the game plays normally, but just with the new perspective. One of the best parts of the game is the sections where you can post up in one of the exoskeleton loaders from the end of the second film. Fighting this way is pretty awkward because your only attack is punch, but it’s much more powerful and works great at breaking up the action. The real highlight of this game is of course the two player mode. You and a friend work co-operatively at the same time through each stage. The game doesn’t scale difficulty so tackling it with a friend absolutely helps. The action is fun and frantic, and with two players it’s amazing.
Konami was no slouch when it came to graphics in their arcade games of this era and Aliens continues the tradition. The sprites, scaling effects, and colors all look amazing. The animations are highly detailed and this is clearly a game that couldn’t be replicated on any of the home consoles back at the time of its release. The only real issue with the visuals, as I mentioned earlier, is the inconsistent designs. Some of the aliens are pink, and none of the others match the movies. You also have a blonde Ripley. I guess they couldn’t secure the likeness to Sigourney Weaver. It’s not a big deal but purists will no doubt be irritated.
The music is surprisingly good. Again, this is another area of the game where it’s clear no home console could have done it justice. The tracks are catchy, bouncy, and all highly memorable. What’s more is that they fit the Aliens franchise perfectly. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the music at first but it quickly grew on me.
