''Phalanx'' (full title: ''Phalanx: The Enforce Fighter A-144'') is a 1991
space shooter
A space flight simulation is a genre of flight simulator video games that lets players experience space flight to varying degrees of realism. Common mechanics include space exploration, space trade and space combat.
Overview
Some games in the ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by
ZOOM Inc.
is a Japanese video game company based in Sapporo, Japan.
History
The company started by producing a few titles for the Sharp X68000 system, and then for other console systems. In April 1993, Zoom established a joint venture with Imagineer ( ...
and
Kemco
Kemco (abbreviated from Kotobuki Engineering & Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher established in 1984. It is headquartered in Kure, Hiroshima.
One of its best known franchises is the ...
for the
Sharp X68000
The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan.
The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wit ...
,
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
and
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
. The game was released for the X68000 in Japan in 1991, for the SNES in Japan on August 7, 1992, in North America in October 1992 and in the same year in Europe, as well as for the Game Boy Advance in Japan on October 26, 2001, in Europe on November 23, 2001 and in North America on December 27, 2001.
''Phalanx'' is infamous for the incongruous
box art
Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a PC or console game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic. Today, most phy ...
in its American release: it displays a bearded, elderly man dressed in overalls, wearing a
fedora
A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both sides ...
and playing a
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
while a futuristic spaceship flies in the background. The popular media site
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
named it their fifth "Most Awesome Cover" in a top 25 countdown on their website. The advertising company responsible for the box art later admitted that they had deliberately chosen this theme in order to attract the customer with something original, considering there were many space shooters in the market that looked alike. The Game Boy Advance release redesigned the cover in favor of a prominent spaceship image.
A "mini" version called ''Tiny Phalanx'' was featured in the 1995 fighting game ''
Zero Divide
is a fighting video game that was released for the PlayStation in 1995.
Ports and sequels
*''Zero Divide'', Windows (1996) - developed by Kinesoft and published by GameBank in Japan, and Interplay in the United States. In 1999 it was included ...
''.
Gameplay
The player's ship can switch to three different speed levels at any time, allowing the player to move fast to avoid enemies and obstacles entirely, or slow down to weave between enemy bullets. An unusual addition for a shooter at the time is the ability for the player's ship to take multiple hits before losing a life: the Phalanx had three hit points which could be restored by a certain power-up, which is important as health is persistent between levels. A variety of
weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
s can be picked up from items that certain enemies leave behind, and up to three can be stored at a time; further weapons replace the currently-equipped weapon when acquired. The player can switch between these weapons freely, and sacrifice a weapon to produce a "
smart bomb
Smart or SMART may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014
* Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com
* ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper
* ''SMart'', a children's television seri ...
" effect, freeing up the slot to grab another weapon without waste. The Extend was set at every 300,000 points. Difficulty can be adjusted between three levels in the options menu (unavailable during play), and primarily affects the number of bullets fired by enemies; a hidden "Funny" difficulty is available through the use of cheat codes, and escalates the game's difficulty dramatically.
Weapons and Items
L – Laser: Equips the ship with two stationary options, respectively above and below the ship, while changing the ship's attack to a piercing laser beam. Successive upgrades cause the options to fire beams as well, fore and aft, while increasing the beams' power. Its Smart Bomb attack causes the ship to spin rapidly, firing powerful bullets outward in a spiral pattern, while rendering the ship invulnerable.
H – Homing: Equips the ship with two options which orbit clockwise around the ship, while changing the ship's main weapon to a homing ball of energy. Upgrading causes the options to fire their own homing balls, and increases their power. Its Smart Bomb attack is a ball of energy that surrounds the ship, negating all damage and causing heavy damage to any enemy touched by the energy field.
E – Energizer: A charge weapon which fires energy bolts; charging increases the size and number of bolts fired; upgrades improve the maximum charge level. Its Smart Bomb attack is a full-screen antimatter reaction which causes continual damage to all visible enemies.
R – Ricochet: Equips the ship with two options which orbit the ship in opposing directions, while changing the ship's attack to a green ball of energy. Upgrading causes the options to fire similar balls of energy forward diagonally up and down, which bounce off flat walls or ceilings, and increases overall damage. Its Smart Bomb attack combines the two options into a single homing drone which engages enemies at melee range, killing them before seeking a new target. Unlike other Smart Bomb attacks, the ship remains vulnerable during this attack; additionally, the drone will frequently seek out invulnerable portions of enemies to attack, reducing its usefulness against bosses.
A – A-Type Missile: A standard side-weapon which launches homing missiles that detonate on impact.
B – B-Type Missile: A standard side-weapon which launches forward firing rockets that do not detonate, and damage all enemies along their path.
C – C-Type Missile: A standard side-weapon which launches guided missiles, mimicking the A-144's vertical movement as they fly forward, that detonate on impact.
P – Power-Capsule: The game's combination healing and weapon enhancement power-up; simultaneously upgrades weapons systems by one level, and heals one point of ship health.
Plot
Taking place in the year 2279, a planetary research project is sent into the depths of space. One particular group of researchers lands on and partly colonizes the alien planet Delia. However, sometime after their stay, an emergency transmission is sent from Delia to their security force orbiting the planet. The only clue they are given is a message regarding a hazardous leak. The planet's space fighters had become possessed by an unknown space squadron of alien
bioship
A bioship is a type of spacecraft or starship described in science fiction as either predominantly or totally composed of biological components, rather than being constructed from manufactured materials. Because of this, they nearly always have ...
s that appear out of nowhere and soon make themselves a hostile threat among the possessed fighters. The player assumes the role of Wink Baulfield (named Rick in the Game Boy Advance version), an ace pilot assigned to investigate the disaster and possibly discover what is invading Delia in the assignment Operation Climax in the experimental space fighter the A/144 Phalanx.
Development
Box art
The unusual SNES
box art
Video game packaging refers to the physical storage of the contents of a PC or console game, both for safekeeping and shop display. In the past, a number of materials and packaging designs were used, mostly paperboard or plastic. Today, most phy ...
for the US release, featuring an elderly man (Bertil Valley) playing a banjo has been cited in examples of bizarre video game box art. In an interview with ''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
' ...
'', Matt Guss, an advertiser who worked on ''Phalanx''
's cover, stated that the idea for the art came from coworker Keith Campbell. Campbell, who didn't find anything in ''Phalanx'' that stood out, decided to make the packaging eye-catching, hoping a potential buyer would stare at the box art and wonder "what just happened." The box art itself has been described by ''Destructoid's'' Allastair Pinsoff as "Goofy and misleading" and by ''ScreenRants Ryan Lynch as "the most surreal video game box art of all time".
Release
ZOOM Inc. announced that there would be a remake of this game for
WiiWare
WiiWare was a service that allowed Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii S ...
at a cost of 500 Wii points. It was released in Japan on December 22, 2009.
Reception
SNES Force Magazine gave the SNES version a review score of 74% stating: "Unoriginal and frustrating gameplay saved only by clean, sharp graphics."
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1991 video games
Science fiction video games
Kemco games
Zoom (video game company) games
Game Boy Advance games
Horizontally scrolling shooters
X68000 games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
Video games developed in Japan
WiiWare games
Video games set in the 23rd century
Single-player video games
Video games set on fictional planets