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Index › 1990s › Space Megaforce
Space Megaforce cover art

Space Megaforce

スーパーアレスタ, AKA: Super Aleste
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Space Megaforce

Taking the role of a lone starfighter pilot, you are tasked with destroying an evil alien armada in standard 2D shooter fashion. And while you may be alone, you certainly won't be underpowered, with eight different types of weapons, each having six power-up levels for a grand total of 48 firing modes (not counting bomb power-ups) Space Megaforce boasts one of the largest arsenals in 2D shooter history. Gameplay is single-player only with 3 difficulty levels. Also included is a short campaign with different levels that plays mostly like a "survival" mode with the objective being to outlast the time limit and rack the most points. This international release of Super Aleste features a different story compared to its Japanese counterpart.

8 MobyGames users 15 reviews 77 IGDB users 5 reviews
Year
1992
Developer
Compile
Publisher
Toho
Orientation
Vertical

SCREENSHOTS

PHYSICAL

HISTORY

Space Megaforce, known in Japan and Europe as Super Aleste (スーパーアレスタ, Sūpā Aresuta), is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Compile. It was published by Toho in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as part of the Aleste series. The player pilots a spacecraft through a variety of locales shooting enemy ships. The story in the Japanese version is different from the American and European one. Super Aleste also offers a "Short Game", with segments of the regular levels; the emphasis is on scoring as many points as possible.

Plot

The story differs slightly depending on which version is played, though the opening premise is always the same.

In the year 2048, a large mechanical sphere falls from space and starts attacking major cities around the world. After much destruction, the sphere hovers over the jungles of South America, drawing lines into the ground similar to the Nazca Line drawings as it expands itself and draws energy from the jungle foliage. Equipped with its own defense system, the sphere destroys all attacks made on it by Earth's military. The original Aleste fighter ship's failure to stop the sphere's growth prompts the construction of a space fighter capable of wielding amazing weaponry, that fighter being the Super Aleste. Tasked with flying into and destroying the sphere, the Super Aleste must also destroy any reinforcements the sphere calls for which come from the deepest depths of space.

In the original Japanese story, the Super Aleste is piloted by an ace named Raz and his co-pilot is a mysterious young alien woman named Thi, a prisoner aboard the sphere who harnesses strange powers freed by the constant attacks against the sphere. Thi's role in the game is to fly with Raz into the sphere, weaken its defenses and properly wrest the sphere's power source. The presence of both characters, and thus the game's original ending, were cut from Space Megaforce and the European version of Super Aleste.

Gameplay

There are eight types of weapons to use, and each can be powered up by collecting chips (small egg-shaped items). Picking up chips causes the player's current weapon to level-up, to a maximum of six. There are two types of chips to find; Orange chips contribute to a level-up, but at higher levels, more chips are required to reach the next level. Green chips make the weapon level up instantly. Each weapon has a function that can be manipulated with the Shot-Control button, changing around the weapon's abilities to suit different situations. Switching to another weapon is done by picking up a numbered item, with initials representing one of the eight weapons.

The player's health is tied to the level of their weapon. When the ship is hit, the weapon loses four levels of power (but it cannot go below 0). If the weapon is already at level 0 upon getting hit, the player dies. This means the weapon must be at level 5 or 6 for the ship to survive two hits. Also, there are two types of extra lives; normally, if the player dies, they try the level again at the last checkpoint. However, it is possible to convert lives into Special Lives with a certain power-up; these allow the player to come back at the exact place they were killed, losing no progress. If the player has enough lives that a number is used to display them, then the icon becomes red if they have at least one Special Life left.

The player's ship cannot be directly harmed by on-screen background structures, but will be crushed if caught between an edge of the screen and an object scrolling towards that edge.

Version differences

The Japanese version has more content than the European and American versions:

It has super deformed art on the options and game over screen.

The ending is twice as long and reveals the mystery behind the enemy invasion. More information is revealed upon beating the game on the harder, very hard, and then the hardest difficulty levels.

The names of the levels and their bosses are different.

Some voice samples are different.

Certain Super Aleste music tracks that may have infringed on songs by band New Order were removed from US/EU Space Megaforce. Tracks for the bonus stages (levels 3, 6, 9 and 10) were swapped around, and one track was entirely removed (this track sounds close to several New Order's hit songs, such as "The Perfect Kiss" or "Fine Time").

Reception

According to Famitsu, Space Megaforce sold 2,463 copies in its first week on the market and 6,618 copies during its lifetime in Japan. The Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine ranked the game fourteenth in popularity in its July 1992 issue, and it received a 21.45/30 score in a 1993 readers' poll conducted by Super Famicom Magazine, ranking among Super Famicom titles at the number 106 spot. It also received generally favorable reviews from critics.

In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the 46th best console video game of all time, citing its ingenuous power-ups and usage of the Super NES's mode 7 graphical features to present differing level styles.

Legacy

A manga based on the game, written by Kubo Muneo, was published by Monthly ASCII Comic and released on February 22, 1993 in Japan.

1CC RUNS

One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.

GAMEPLAY VIDEO

SCORES

Source
Audience
Score
Reviews
MobyGames
Users
8 / 10
15
IGDB
Users
77 / 100
5

ACHIEVEMENTS 1 set

Tracked by RetroAchievements and earned in an emulator that reports to it. A game tracked on more than one machine gets a set for each, because they are different lists earned on different hardware.

SNES/Super Famicom 59 achievements, 535 pts
  1. Standard Area 1 4
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 1
  2. Standard Area 2 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 2
  3. Standard Area 3 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 3
  4. Standard Area 4 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 4
  5. Standard Area 5 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 5
  6. Standard Area 6 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 6
  7. Standard Area 7 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 7
  8. Standard Area 8 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 8
  9. Standard Area 9 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 9
  10. Standard Area 10 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 10
  11. Standard Area 11 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 11
  12. Standard Area 12 25
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 12
  13. Short Area 1 3
    In Short Game, Clear Area 1
  14. Short Area 2 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 2
  15. Short Area 3 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 3
  16. Short Area 4 10
    In Short Game, Clear Area 4
  17. Standard Area 1: Hyper 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 1 in Hyper Mode
  18. Standard Area 2: Hyper 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 2 in Hyper Mode
  19. Standard Area 3: Hyper 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 3 in Hyper Mode
  20. Standard Area 4: Hyper 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 4 in Hyper Mode
  21. Standard Area 5: Hyper 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 5 in Hyper Mode
  22. Standard Area 6: Hyper 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 6 in Hyper Mode
  23. Standard Area 7: Hyper 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 7 in Hyper Mode
  24. Standard Area 8: Hyper 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 8 in Hyper Mode
  25. Standard Area 9: Hyper 25
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 9 in Hyper Mode
  26. Standard Area 10: Hyper 25
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 10 in Hyper Mode
  27. Standard Area 11: Hyper 25
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 11 in Hyper Mode
  28. Standard Area 12: Hyper 50
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 12 in Hyper Mode
  29. Short Area 1: Hyper 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 1 in Hyper Mode
  30. Short Area 2: Hyper 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 2 in Hyper Mode
  31. Short Area 3: Hyper 10
    In Short Game, Clear Area 3 in Hyper Mode
  32. Short Area 4: Hyper 25
    In Short Game, Clear Area 4 in Hyper Mode
  33. Standard Area 1: Wild 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 1 in Wild Mode
  34. Standard Area 2: Wild 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 2 in Wild Mode
  35. Standard Area 3: Wild 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 3 in Wild Mode
  36. Standard Area 4: Wild 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 4 in Wild Mode
  37. Standard Area 5: Wild 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 5 in Wild Mode
  38. Standard Area 6: Wild 5
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 6 in Wild Mode
  39. Standard Area 7: Wild 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 7 in Wild Mode
  40. Standard Area 8: Wild 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 8 in Wild Mode
  41. Standard Area 9: Wild 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 9 in Wild Mode
  42. Standard Area 10: Wild 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 10 in Wild Mode
  43. Standard Area 11: Wild 10
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 11 in Wild Mode
  44. Standard Area 12: Wild 25
    In Standard Game, Clear Area 12 in Wild Mode
  45. Short Area 1: Wild 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 1 in Wild Mode
  46. Short Area 2: Wild 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 2 in Wild Mode
  47. Short Area 3: Wild 5
    In Short Game, Clear Area 3 in Wild Mode
  48. Short Area 4: Wild 10
    In Short Game, Clear Area 4 in Wild Mode
  49. Locked and Loaded 2
    In a single session, get every weapon type at least once
  50. Multiple Shots 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 1
  51. Laser 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 2
  52. Circle 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 3
  53. Multi-Direction Shot 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 4
  54. Missile 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 5
  55. Power Shot 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 6
  56. Sprite 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 7
  57. Scattershot 5
    Reach Level 6 on Weapon 8
  58. An Aleste for All Seasons 5
    In a single life touch all four corners of the screen in any level past Area 1
  59. Only 799 Words to Go! 1
    Enter Break Time

Achievement names, descriptions and badges are the work of the RetroAchievements community. View this set on RetroAchievements

RELEASES 1 system

System
Platform
Year
Notes
SFC
Super Famicom / SNES
1992
Original release

PHYSICAL RELEASES 1 box

Space Megaforce box art, Super Famicom / SNES
SFC Super Famicom / SNES

IN PRINT

Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Guide to Shoot-Em-Ups Volume 1 2016

GAME DATA

Orientation
Vertical
Series
Aleste

SOURCES

GAMEFAQSIGDBMOBYGAMESWIKIDATAWIKIPEDIA
Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
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