Galvanic Gunner Aleste (Aleste Collection )

 

 

GG Aleste (Aleste Collection) - Switch (2020)

Developed by COMPILE / M2

Published by M2

GG Aleste is a shooter from famed developer COMPILE originally released for the Sega Game Gear in 1990 and more recently it was brought to Nintendo Switch and PS4 by M2 in 2020 as a part of the Aleste Collection. In this title you play as pilot Ellinor Waizen who is on a mission to take back a conquered earth from an enemy called Moon Child. 

The game exhibits many of the traits that compile shooters were known for. Despite the slowdown exhibited from the large amount of action happening on screen the game still gives the player a great sense of speed and urgency. The PS4 and Switch versions also come with an option to disable the slowdown as it was caused by the technical limitations of running such a frantic shooter on the Game Gear's hardware. Your ship speeds through enemy territory as enemy ships and defense units swarm you as you rocket toward the next stage boss. The excellent sound track serves to amp up the adrenaline as you take out as many enemy units as you can while simultaneously collecting as many power up items as you can. If you're playing the version included on M2's Aleste Collection there are also some nice gadgets added to the borders of the screen that add a nice flair while also providing the player with stats on their current play through.

The player ship is equipped with a basic automatic firing weapon that can be powered up with pickups throughout the stage. There are also several upgradeable secondary weapons that offer various degrees of multi-directional offensive power that can be picked up and used simultaneously with the main weapon. The game has a total of 8 stages with multiple bosses to battle throughout. There are a couple of bonus stages in between that help you power up your ship and extends are given out generously throughout the game. I would say this is an excellent game for those who are new to shmups or new to attemping 1CCs. 

One tip to make for a pretty straight forward clear: Get the Homing power up and stick with it. It really allows you to focus on dodging and not worry too much about where your shots are going.

Here is the final score of my run. I also had quite a few extends left afterwards.

Overall this was a very fun game that I would recommend to shmup enthusiasts of all skill levels based on the fun factor alone. I'm looking forward to spending more time with this title and the other titles included in this collection including the newly developed GG Aleste 3!