Game

At this point, Aleste might actually need some introduction. It certainly wouldn’t have at one point, though. Aleste was one of the biggest shmup series of its time, with around 12 titles on all kinds of consoles in the late 80s and early 90s. Unfortunately, its time is long over. The series ended up fading away in the mid 90s, and its parent company, Compile, ended up dying some time shortly after that in the early 2000s, kept afloat up to that point only barely by Puyo Puyo.

It’s important as well to note what most shmups were like in the 80s when Aleste came out. They were a popular genre, but most of them were top down samey shooters like 1942. Almost like a gallery shooter with a moving background, more than anything else. Aleste is a step above that for sure, with more fluid action, and a unique upgrade system. Fun space ship blasting action.

We’re not really here to talk about that Aleste, though. We’re here to talk about Aleste Gaiden.

Game

A Gaiden is a side story, and this certainly is one. A completely unrelated game in almost every way. It’s got the traditional Aleste upgrade system, little colored power ups you get that’ll charge up your weapon to stronger variants, but that’s about where the similarities end. In this one, you’re a robot guy running along the ruins of what appears to be New York, if they went fucking nuts and built a million Statue of Liberties. Also notable, you’re a guy. You’re a lady in almost every single Aleste game. That’s another thing the late 80s and early 90s was good for with shmups, 60% of them had anime girls as the protagonists. It was a good time.

The series would really blossom after this, with games like MUSHA being considered one of the best of the era, but Gaiden would stay forever in the background. It’s not bad! It’s honestly quite good. But this is not where the series went, this weird robot shmup design. And despite everything, it’s pretty short at five short levels, and the movement is sliiightly clunky. It’s harder to dodge shit than it should be.

It’s certainly worth playing, but I think you’ll end up enjoying the rest of the series more.