The original version of Galaxy Force II was released in arcades in 1988 and the game made its way onto the Megadrive and Sega Master System in 1991. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Galaxy Force II back in 1998, Sega released the game on the Sega Saturn under the original Sega Ages brand which NCS was still peddling as of last year.
Nearly 20 years after the original game hit arcades, Sega issues another re-release of Galaxy Force II for the Sega Ages 2500 series. This time around, they bundle together the Mega Drive version, the Master System version, the arcade original, and a "Neo Classic" version which is a remake of the original arcade game with cleaned-up graphics and a 16:9 aspect ratio for a cinematic experience of sorts. In addition to all of the gaming goodness, a gallery which contains flyers, images, and instruction manuals from the original arcade version as well as the home conversions of the games may be perused.
For Galaxy Force players who enjoy watching expert players do their thing, the Theater Mode under the Archives section features a Master Play recording which features an ace who blows through the arcade game and the Neo Classic remake in a single sitting and one credit.
STORY:
In this distant Galaxy exist many systems harboring life. Trade and communication have arisen between these star systems, as has a great, dark force threatening these distant civilizations.
To fight this dark menace the Space Federation was formed, but has met with little success. The enemy calls itself The
Fourth Empire and has now attacked Junos, jewel of the Galaxy. The Junos star system, once so beautiful... is only ashes now.
And on these ashes The Fourth Empire is building the strongest fortress of all time, from which to complet their conquest of the galaxy. The Space Federation must end this evil menace!
Thus is launched Galaxy Force, to strike a hammer blow against the forces threatening civilization. Fortunately, having done this duty of saving Junos people and destroying The Fourth Empire, a combatant of Galaxy Force returnedto the ship.
Game modes:
Galaxy Force Neo Classic
Galaxy Force II (Arcade)
Galaxy Force II (Mega Drive)
Galaxy Force II (Master System)
» Galaxy Force Neo Classic
Sega basically cleaned up the graphics from the arcade version of Galaxy Force II and got rid of the aliasing for a smoother, prettier looking game. All of the levels are the same and play the same as the coin-op original. The third level is eye candy with its green alien plants and exploding beetle conglomerations. The waterfalls are a nice touch.
The ARCHIVES section features a REPLAY section where a master player finishes the game in one sitting in 13 minutes and 45 seconds and a replay function for your own save/loads. A Sound Test is also available.
- Galaxy Force II (Arcade)
Galaxy Force II (Arcade) The original Galaxy Force II is a 3D shooter where the ship is viewed from behind the thrusters and plays somewhat like Space Harrier and/or Afterburner. Maneuver the ship through the expanse of space and across planets to lock on and destroy legions of enemy spacecraft. When your ship runs out of fuel, it sort of flutters down and crashes.
Press the TRIANGLE button to insert credits and be wowed by an action-packed 3D tour-de-force from the late 80s. The game uses the L-analog pad for full freedom of movement as the ship rocks through the cosmos. There's a Death Star moment in the first level when you penetrate through the enemy waves and enter a massive planetoid through its porthole and wreak havoc within. The ultimate goal is to destroy the Command Center at the core of the planetoid as your energy runs precipitously low. The next level has your ship skimming over a lake of fire as plumes of flames arc above the sea of lava.
The ARCHIVES section features a REPLAY section where you can watch an expert blow through the game on a single credit in 13 minutes and 45 seconds. Check out the masterful way that he takes apart the starcruiser at the beginning of the first level. At the end of the replay and after the congratulations message, he signs his name "T 9."
There's also a Replay (record and save/load and view) function where you can store your own game play to memory card, a Sound Test, and a Gallery which contains 30 pages of flyers, promotional material, arcade game manual, scans of the Saturn game packaging, and scans of the Sega Saturn version game manual. There's also a THEATER section in the ARCHIVES which shows the original Galaxy Force arcade machine with footage from April 11, 1988. The arcade game was mounted on a rotoscoping platform where the player would sit and it would spin 360 degrees while playing. The video lasts for about 2 minutes.
- Galaxy Force II (Mega Drive)
The 16-bit console conversion of the game isn't visually comparable to the coin-op original but it's superior to the Master System conversion.Moving up and down is a chore but the left and right movement is easier to handle. Only the d-pad can be used for movement.
The ARCHIVES section features a Replay (record and save/load and view) function, a Sound Test, and a Gallery which contains a scan of the Japanese Mega Drive cartridge insert and the complete Japanese game manual. There's also a scan of the USA Genesis cartridge insert and a scan of the front and back cover of the USA game manual but no scans of the actual pages within.
- Galaxy Force II (Master System)
The title screen looks pretty good and the overall conversion is decent. There's one level where green walls which look like pcboards dot the landscape. As they parse forward, they blink and can potentially cause seizures but the space levels aren't too bad, Only the d-pad can be used for movement.
The ARCHIVES section of the game features a Sound Test, a Replay (record and save/load and view) function, and a Gallery which contains the original European game manual which is multi-lingual.
MANUFACTURER'S DESCRIPTION:
Sega arcade games of the highest peak, five of porting the transcendence lock-on shooting, "Galaxy Force 2" that depicts the battle of the planet to the stage with the Galactic Empire! ! Arcade version, in addition to the PS2 grade up version, MD version, recorded 4 version of overseas master system version of the Phantom. As a privilege video, valuable record video also recorded.
FEATURES:
- Third person perspective.
- 3D graphics
- Cartoon graphics
- SCIFI & Futuristic themes.
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