Soldier Blade

Soldier Blade
Developer(s) Hudson Soft
Publisher(s) Hudson Soft
Platform(s) TurboGrafx-16
Release 1992
Genre(s) Scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Soldier Blade (ソルジャーブレイド) is a scrolling shooter video game released for the TurboGrafx-16 system. It is the fourth game in the Star Soldier series and the last one for TurboGrafx-16. The player pilots the Soldier Blade fighter against the Zeograd Army, aliens bent on conquering Earth. The game features 7 operations (stages) as well as 2-minute and 5-minute challenge modes.

It was re-released for the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console in January 2007, on the PlayStation Network in February 2010, on the Wii U Virtual Console, and on the iPhone.

Story

The game is set in a 21st century in which Earth is suffering from a depletion of natural resources. The nations of Earth initiate the Star Light Plan which will search space for additional resources; a large Warp-Drive gate capable of sending multiple spaceships into other solar systems is developed for the project. The resource investigation fleet is equipped with six Security Corps and 5000 military and research personnel.

Four months later, the resource investigation team returns, their ships severely damaged by an alien space military called the Zeograd Army. Earth’s armies retaliate, but fail with every attempt. The Zeograd take control of Earth's Warp-Gate. Lone scientist John Howard develops a space fighter called the Soldier Blade V.92 based on his research on the Zeograd. The ship is bought out by the SIA (Special Interception Airforce) and readied to combat the Zeograd Army.

Gameplay

Soldier Blade plays similarly to many Hudson Soft vertical scrolling shooters: players control the ship through seven stages, each one having a mid and end-level boss, and collect power-ups as they progress. Like Super Star Soldier and Blazing Lazers, the ship can take multiple enemy hits depending on how many power-ups the player has collected. The ship is initially vulnerable to one hit, but after collecting three power-ups, the ship can take three hits, each hit degrading the ship's weapon power by one level. The ship has three weapons to choose from as well as a single option, a robot that provides additional firepower.

Every time the player picks up a weapon, the previous weapon is stocked as a special weapon. The special weapon attack is different depending on the weapon. The red weapon special makes the ship's robot temporarily invulnerable, the green weapon special sends out a homing energy blast, and the blue weapon special unleashes an enormous laser beam. Collecting a weapon pick-up of the same color once the weapon in-use is fully upgraded results in a large explosion that clears the screen of smaller enemies and attacks.

Players obtain extra lives by amassing points. Once the player loses all their lives the game is over. An option to start the stage in the beginning is available. Soldier Blade also has a score attack mode where players can select a two- to five-minute-long game based entirely on earning a high score.

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