Q: What was the deal with that old dude on the cover of the SNES shooter Phalanx?Ī: Phalanx was just another Super NES sidescrolling shooter that we all probably would have forgotten by now – if not for the inexplicable shot of the bearded geezer strummin’ a banjo on the game’s box cover. There have been plenty of anecdotes about why an old man playing a banjo was chosen as the representative of a Japanese game set in the far future, but part of a September 2001 interview in Electronic Gaming Monthly still explains it the best: However, the SNES port of Phalanx is famous among retro gaming fans for one thing: It’s unusual US cover art. Still, a relationship with Nintendo began here as many of the Zoom developers who ported Phalanx to the SNES also developed X-Zone for Nintendo that same year, and you can see that relationship continue as a few Zoom employees went on to work on installments in the Mario Party series. Yamaguchi’s SNES soundtrack would be the last he ever worked on. The soundtracks are also a bit of a letdown since Kenichi Kamio composed some great tracks for Valis II, and Super Chase H.Q., while S. The X68000 version supports various sound modules but the pitch is a little off on some of the samples, so the onboard sound synth is the best. Neither soundtrack is particular outstanding, so it’s understandable why Zoom would attempt a do over, but after the SNES’ more driving first level song the rest of its music sounds particularly weak compared to both the original and to the tunes found in other SNES shooters of the early 90s. Phalanx may not be brought up often when favorites are being discussed amongst passionate fans of video game music, but the SNES version’s songs and sample selection will provide a burst of nostalgia to any fan due to its heavy use of that orchestral hit sample heard throughout the SNES’ early library. However, the biggest difference between them is the totally different soundtracks. Overall, the SNES version is a little easier too. Also, for some reason, the missiles had limited quantities in the X68000 version, where you can use them as much as you want in the SNES version. You can also switch your ship speed during the game in the SNES, where in the X68000 one you had to set it at the beginning at the menu. The one big improvement is that the X68000 version requires that you destroy a weapon before you use another one, while the SNES one lets you switch between them. The signs in the Advertise Area have also been altered to feature Kemco products rather than Zoom products. The color palette in some areas has changed a bit. They still show up, but only in the cutscenes and at the ending. The introduction scene has been drastically cut back, completely omitting the human characters, probably due to lack of ROM space. This was published by Kemco but developed by Zoom themselves, which makes it a fairly close port, but it does suffer a bit from the transition. While Phalanx was initially released for the X68000, its SNES port is far more well known. The exceptions comes near the end of the game, with some cool looking biological looking creatures, but even then, they aren’t as cool as the ones in R-Type. While not every game will have enemy fighters are iconic as what’s found in the Gradius or Darius series, Zoom’s adherence to creating a more grounded set of military targets to blow away works against the generally colorful nature of the game. Most of the game’s foes are just plain uninspired, not well defined hunks of metal. With cool backgrounds and several fun weapons, the game’s only real faults are in its actual enemies. There’s also an asteroid level called the “Advertise Area”, which features billboards for various other products. Beat all of these sections, and the ship goes down. The goal is to guide your ship inside of its tight corridors to a few interior segments, where you’ll fight a variety of bad guys. This one has something similar, except the screen doesn’t scroll automatically, so you’re free to zoom around and attack the ship at any angle. Many shooters of the time had homages to the famous gigantic battleship level in Irem’s R-Type. While many of the levels are fairly standard, it does have a few standout areas.
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