Last Alert

Last Alert
Developer(s) Sin-Nihon Laser Soft
Publisher(s) Telenet Japan (JP), NEC (US)
Platform(s) TurboGrafx-CD
Release 1989, 1990
Genre(s) Action RPG

Last Alert (known as Red Alert in Japan) is a single-player action RPG developed by Sin-Nihon Laser Soft that was released in Japan in 1989 and North America in 1990 for the TurboGrafx-CD.

Story

Last Alert's story begins on November 20, 1988. Guy Kazama, a commando in the Special Mission Unit, has been dispatched to the jungles of South America to rescue hostages upon a request from the Lloyd government. The request, however, was a trap, and Guy Kazama's unit is ambushed by an attack helicopter. Guy Kazama is the sole survivor of the ambush, and we're introduced to the antagonists of the game, an international arms band collectively known as the Force Project, whose ultimate goal is to rule the world. Its leaders are Colonel Jim Kadat of the Republic of Lybid, Mr. Tommy Lee of the Hong Kong mafia, Chairman Steve Lloyd of the Dual Foundation, and Dr. Che Garcia, a brilliant physicist.[1]

After the ambush, Secretary Harvey Leonard, Director of the CIA, is entrusted by President Allman with eliminating the Force Project. For this, Leonard needs the help of Guy Kazama. Leonard recruits Guy, who is in a graveyard mourning his comrades. Leonard tasks him with infiltrating a military base, Blue Rhinos, which contains stealth aircraft and has already been infiltrated by an agent by the name of Spartan. Guy, wanting to avenge his comrades, accepts. Infiltrating the base, Guy finds Spartan being held hostage at gunpoint at the base's gate. Spartan informs Guy that the stealth bombers are at the back of the factory before being rescued by him. Guy destroys the aircraft, and, after a confrontation with a tank, escapes with Spartan in a stealth bomber on the base's runway.

Meanwhile, the President's airplane has crashed on the eastern side of the Republic of Flett, a fictional arctic nation, where he is taken prisoner by an agent of the Force Project, Major Dark. Guy Kazama is sent by Leonard and his colleague Kay to the camp on top of Mount Alt where the President is being held to free him. Along the way, he rescues several hostages, is confronted by an imposter President, and defeats Dark.

After the President is rescued, Leonard sends Guy Kazama to find and assassinate Colonel Kadat, who has gone into hiding. First, he has to sneak into a camp and rescue another soldier, Robert, from imprisonment. Robert informs Guy that Kadat has three bodyguards, Red, Blue, and Black, who each have information on Kadat and his whereabouts. After defeating these bodyguards, Guy Kazama confronts the Colonel, who wields an electric shock whip, and kills him.

Mr. Lee has a video conference with the other remaining heads of the Force Project who inform him of Kadat's death. As they've learned that Guy will use Mr. Lee's annual martial arts tournament to kill him, they present him with three of their toughest fighters. Mr. Lee also asks Dr. Garcia about the completion of his heretofore unheard of ultimate weapon, known as Indra. Dr. Garcia estimates that it will be completed within a month. Guy Kazama infiltrates the compound where the tournament is being held, eventually working his way to the top of the tower in the middle of the compound where Mr. Lee awaits him. Guy Kazama kills Mr. Lee and sets his sights on Chairman Steve.

Some time after Mr. Lee's death, Guy Kazama is seen on a cruise ship, where Steve Lloyd is giving a speech at a party in celebration of his Dual Foundation. Guy reveals to Kay that the man giving the speech is a body double for Lloyd and that the real Lloyd is somewhere else on the ship. Guy also reveals that he's planted explosives on the ship to create a diversion that will allow him to find Chairman Steve in the ensuing chaos. Guy Kazama makes his way through the party to the secret armory in the lower decks where he confronts and kills Chairman Steve.

Following Steve Lloyd's death, Dr. Garcia contacts the President, giving him an ultimatum of 24 hours before Indra destroys the world. He further challenges Guy Kazama to stop his plans. Guy arrives at a station on the Moon where Indra is being constructed. There he kills a resurrected Dark and confronts Dr. Garcia, who flees on a space shuttle to Indra, which is revealed to be a space station orbiting the Moon. Guy follows shortly thereafter. Guy confronts and kills Dr. Garcia, who is revealed to be a cyborg. He warns Guy that, in order to stop Indra, he must destroy Indra, which will kill him. Guy destroys the supercomputer controlling Indra, which, in turn, destroys the space station. Guy falls to Earth in an escape capsule where he contacts Leonard to retrieve him from the ocean.

Characters

Main protagonists

Guy Kazama

Guy Kazama is the playable character in Last Alert. His unit was killed in South America in an ambush by the Force Project, whom he seeks revenge on. He's stylistically similar to John Rambo and often uses cheesy one-liners. He single-handedly kills all of the core members of the Force Project, rescues the President, and destroys Indra, a weapon poised to destroy Earth.

Director Harvey Leonard

Harvey Leonard is the Director of the CIA who has been entrusted by President Allman to destroy the Force Project. He sends Guy Kazama on missions throughout the game. He is very stoic, showing little to no emotion throughout the game.

Main antagonists

Dr. Che Garcia

Dr. Garcia is a physicist, a cyborg in disguise, and a core member of the Force Project. He died on the Indra space station, the ultimate weapon which he constructed to destroy the world. He was the last remaining Force Project member before being killed by Guy.

Chairman Steve Lloyd

Steve Lloyd is a multi-billionaire, Chairman of the Dual Foundation, and a core member of the Force Project. His public appearances are made by a body double. He died on a cruise ship party being held in celebration of the Dual Foundation.

Mr. Tommy Lee

Mr. Lee is a Hong Kong mafia kingpin and a core member of the Force Project. He hosts a martial arts tournament every year and was killed by Guy Kazama in the compound hosting his tournament.

Colonel Jim Kadat

Colonel Kadat is a terrorist leader, an officer in the Republic of Lybid, a South African warlord, and a core member of the Force Project. He has three bodyguards, Red, Blue, and Black. He went into hiding before being killed by Guy Kazama. It is strongly implied that his death halted terrorist activity throughout the world.

Minor characters

  • President Allman – President Allman is the President of the United States during the events of Last Alert. He is kidnapped by members of the Force Project when his airplane crashes — presumably shot down — in the Republic of Flett.
  • Kay – Kay is a colleague of Leonard. Her position in the CIA is unknown, but she is close with Leonard and, at one point, sends Guy Kazama on a mission to rescue President Allman.
  • Colonel "Mad Dog" Dark – Dark is a soldier of the Force Project who kidnaps the President. After being killed by Guy Kazama, he is resurrected by Dr. Garcia and is killed by Guy again on the Moon.
  • Spartan – Spartan is a soldier also working for the CIA who is taken hostage after infiltrating the Force Project base Blue Rhinos. He is freed by Guy Kazama and exfiltrates the compound with Guy in a stealth aircraft.

Gameplay

Last Alert features somewhat basic top-down shoot-em up gameplay. In addition to your primary weapon which has unlimited ammunition, there are consumables such as a flamethrower, grenades, and a hovering turret. There are also minor RPG mechanics, such as a points system, class leveling, and weapon upgrades. In the game, you gain experience points by killing enemies or completing objectives. These points allow you to gain new classes, and each new class serves to raise your "vital", or health. Furthermore, gaining levels grants you access to new primary weapons. You start with an M1911A1, but through leveling obtain an Uzi, an M16, an M203, an LMG, and a rocket launcher, each progressively better than the last.[1][2]

The game has 23 missions hosted over seven hub worlds. Each stage has infinitely respawning enemies and, except for one, has a boss fight at the end. There are three variants of stages denoted by different colored markers on the hub map. Blue markers indicate a mission where your only goal is to reach the end and kill the boss, red markers indicate a stealth mission where firing anything other than your pistol will spawn more enemies, and yellow markers indicate a mission with a special objective, such as freeing hostages.[1] In addition to this, players are required to reach the end of the stage under a certain time limit, which kills them instantly if it reaches zero. Any deaths result in a game over and require the player to continue from the beginning of the stage.

Stylistically and gameplay-wise, the game is similar to Bloody Wolf. However, unlike Bloody Wolf, Last Alert is on a CD-ROM. This allows it more storage space, and it uses that storage space for voiced dialogue — something that was uncommon at the time — its soundtrack, and cutscenes.

Reception

While the game has not received much mainstream attention, the English version of the game has received a reputation for its cheesy dialogue, campy story, and incredibly poor voice acting.[3][4][5] While it received generally lukewarm reception when it was released it has, in recent years, received criticism for its lackluster sound effects and easy gameplay. It has, however, received praise for its snappy controls, balanced experience point system, and comedic value in the campy story, dialogue, and acting. The Japanese version has, on the other hand, received praise for its voice acting.

See Also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Last Alert" (PDF). USA: NEC Technologies, Inc. 1990. pp. 6, 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018 – via tg-16.com.
  2. ↑ Eddy, Andy; Naueri, Donn (eds.). "Last Alert". TurboPlay. No. 3. United States: Larry Flynt Publications. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  3. ↑ Millenium, Johnny. "LAST ALERT REVIEW - Happy Console Gamer". YouTube. Happy Console Gamer. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Audio Atrocities™ : Last Alert · NEC · Turbografx · 1990". Audio Atrocities. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  5. ↑ Bucci, Chris. ""Last Alert" - Turbo Views #25 (TurboGrafx-16 / Duo game REVIEW!)". YouTube. Turbo Views. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
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