I’m always on the hunt for a good shmup. I’ve played most of the big name releases and now focus mostly on tracking down those that may have slipped under the radar. The Game Boy is the perfect system for this because it was not well known for the genre, and many developers localized their smaller titles for it. Recently I discovered one of these hidden gems. The game in question is called Battle Unit Zeoth and it was published by Jaleco. Remember them? It’s a mecha based scrolling shooter which on paper doesn’t sound particularly interesting. These games were pretty hit or miss back in the early 90s so I didn’t have a lot of hope. I discovered that this one is truly one of the hidden gems for the platform. Do I have your interest yet? Well keep reading to find out if you should play!
There’s very little story exposition in Battle Unit Zeoth. It’s so vague that I had to track down the plot online to even give a snippet. Basically the game takes place in the future after an army of alien robots attempted to take over Earth. Humans believed they had won, but what actually happened was they built an underground factory to self-replicate. Now the time has come and they’ve hit the surface to finish what they started. You play as the titular mecha robot as he blows up the army of robots and put an end to their dastardly plot. It’s very basic, but I do like the futuristic elements. The end screen is also really well done for this type of game complete with basic animations. Let’s move on to the gameplay.
At it’s core there aren’t a lot of extra features in Battle Unit Zeoth. You have only the main game to tackle and have no options for playing as other characters. That’s no bother because it’s actually very well designed. Battle Unit Zeoth is a side scrolling shmup with a few unique gameplay elements. Because your character is a mecha it constantly falls to the ground. You have to tap or hold the A button to initiate the rocket boosters. Normally I find mechanics like this annoying but I liked it well enough here. You have a default pea shooter attack that can be upgraded and changed to a few different forms. There’s nothing too crazy; all of the weapons fire in one direction and upgrades change the number of shots you shoot at once. What’s nice is that you can hold down the B button for rapid fire.
What makes this game unique is the fact that you can fire in all four directions. By holding up/down on the directional pad you can aim your weapon vertically. You can also turn around so there are a lot of different options for combat. What’s particularly interesting is the fact that the standard stages are all vertical in nature. The screen scrolls with you as you move up or down. This plays heavily into the memorization element of most shooters. Sometimes it’s much easier to be at the top of the stage or the middle. I find that it also aids with the fact that your mecha is so large. The extra space in the playfield makes it significantly easier to dodge enemies and projectiles than in most similar titles. Add these two elements together and you have a very versatile shmup.
Two of the stages in this game take advantage of the vertical nature of movement by presenting themselves as more of a platformer. You can freely move both up and down as you guide yourself around ledges fighting off foes and hazards. These segments are a bit clunky but do a great job of mixing things up. At the end of each area you’ll face off against a screen filling boss character and these are some of my favorite moments in the game. The first few can be damaged anywhere which allows you to fly around and out of the way of their shots while still hitting them. Later on they have small hitboxes which force you to stay in the line of fire in order to hit back. These encounters aren’t particularly difficult, but who cares when they’re this fun.
This brings me to the biggest problem in Battle Unit Zeoth. It’s a very short game. None of the stages are particularly challenging, and it’s very forgiving. You have a life bar at the bottom of the screen and can take several hits before going down. There are even items that replenish your shields. Add to this the fact that you have unlimited continues and you have a title that can be completed in less than thirty minutes on even your first playthrough. You only have five, count them, five stages in the entire game and no higher difficulty modes. Each of these levels can be completed rather quickly with some taking less than a minute if you’re good. It’s unfortunate that the game suffers from such a lack of content. Had I bought this game at the time of release I would have felt a little ripped off.
Battle Unit Zeoth is a pretty decent looking Game Boy title. There’s very little actual slowdown, and the engine runs very smooth for an early title on the platform. This is especially impressive given how much carnage can fit on-screen at once particularly when you have powered up weapons. Because of the large sprites it’s pretty easy to see all of the obstacles and enemies as well. The boss characters also look amazing and most fill up a huge section of the screen. Their designs are seriously on point. I wish the battles lasted longer just so I could look at them more to be honest. My only complaint is that some of the backgrounds are very plain. That’s to be expected in a Game Boy title though. The soundtrack is pretty standard stuff but the music is well composed and fits the action well.
