Life Force is a shmup developed by Konami and released on the original NES in 1988.
The game combines design elements from Salamander, along with the power-up system from Gradius,
to create a unique shooting experience.
While the NES is far from the optimal platform for the fast paced twitchy shooters of the
late 80's, Konami did a fairly awesome job pushing the NES hardware.
Right from the start, Life Force is fairly impressive.
There are a ton of enemies and bullets on the screen at nearly all times, the backgrounds
are detailed, and the environments change and shift in real time.
Honestly, the first level just might be the most impressive shmup level of the entire
system's library.
After the awesome first impression, Life Force eases you into the deep controls.
After shooting down certain enemies, usually red, a power-up icon will appear.
These don't immediately give you a power-up, but instead move a bar at the bottom of the
screen.
Once the bar moves to the desired item, you can then select it.
This adds a nice amount of strategy, giving you the choice of upgrade path, and keeps
your mind extra busy while dodging bullets and shooting aliens.
In practice, you'll upgrade your speed a few times before focusing attention on anything
else, as the default speed is quite slow.
From here, you can obtain missiles that travel along the tops and bottoms of the screen.
As many enemies tend to be located here, the weapon fits the game's style quite well.
And of course, there are options.
These require the most resources to obtain, but greatly enhance your offensive power.
They don't do anything to crazy, but their mirrored movement has a familiarity removing
any sort of learning curve.
After surely dying a few times by the surprise movement of the environment, you'll come across
what is perhaps my favorite aspect of Life Force: the bosses.
The first boss is a brain with tentacle eye balls.
This is fantastic, and for the most part the remaining bosses follow suit.
While their patterns are fairly straightforward, and not really difficult, they are highly
imaginative and I love how Konami used a mix of world culture, and bizarre creatures, to
give the game its own unique look and feel.
After clearing the first stage, the next gimmick of Life Force is revealed.
The game features both horizontal and vertical stages.
This would be repeated in Axelay, another beloved Konami shooter.
While in theory there shouldn't be much difference between the two styles, the way your brain
reacts to horizontal scrolling and vertical scrolling is surprisingly different, and makes
Life Force feel a lot bigger than it actually is.
The stages alternate until you reach the sixth and final level.
Here you finally battle the evil Zelos, who is displayed in what is perhaps the greatest
box art of all time, seriously.
That level of quality is present in nearly every aspect of Life Force.
The environments are creative, and I love how the game has a very organic feel, rather
than being completely industrial.
One moment you are flying through red blood cells, and the next, taking on the Moai.
Each of the six stages does a great job feeling unique, yet cohesive.
Life Force has a terrific soundtrack too, with fast complex arrangements fitting the
game perfectly.
These are truly classic tunes and they never wear out their welcome.
But if there was one thing I wish Konami had done a better job of, it would be the enemy
arrangements, and their patterns.
Life Force sometimes feels cheap, chaotic, and unfair, and it has always soured the experience
for me.
During the flame section, enemies home in on you, you have to dodge giant flame bursts,
and enemies spawn out of the top, bottom, and right side of the screen.
At times, there is just nowhere to go and you pretty much die.
While the game does give you a brief moment to recollect your options after you die, I
find the slow movement of the default speed makes this easier said than done.
Without the options, the game becomes pretty brutal, pretty quick.
It’s all too easy to get into a pattern of deaths in quick succession, quickly draining
your life stock.
Other times the obstacles just seem impossible, and there is little hope to make progress
without dying.
Enemy patterns are far too quick; making the game feel a bit sloppy.
Don’t get me wrong, at times dodging hordes of screen clutter is an immensely satisfying
experience, other times, not so much.
Thankfully, Life Force supports the Konami code, giving 30 lives per continue.
This actually saves the game for me.
With the code, it is fairly straightforward to beat the game by brute force.
As the game is beatable, you'll want to replay it.
Shmups are all about pattern memorization and finding the best path through the game.
In this regard, Life Force does succeed and there is fun to be had here.
Overall, Life Force is a beloved game.
And for a 1988 release, it is pretty special.
The soundtrack is excellent, the art style is unique, and the entire weapon system feels
as satisfying as ever.
But in the grand scheme of things, it is tough to recommend with games like Gradius III effectively
doing everything Life Force does, only better.
Three, out of Five.