Name: Axelay

Introduction:      They said the SNES was just too slow to run any kind of serious shooter. Yeah. Then came Konami with a game called Axelay. And not only did this thing look and sound great...it was fast! I can still remember some of the video game magazine saying that there was no way this game they were viewing video tape of was running on a standard SNES console. They said it had to be a workstation of some kind pushing the SNES. Well as it turns out...it was in fact just the SNES running the game and now people were beginning to change the way they looked at the "slow" Super NES. I personally couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Graphics [9/10]: The graphics in Axelay are really good especially for a shooter. And the several different viewpoints keeps the action from getting too tedious. The mode 7 allows the enemies to gradually get closer to you and then fly by if you miss them. It may not seem impressive by today's standards but at the time it was quite the spectacle. And the end level bosses were a sight to behold. Especially the lava level. You had enemies flying up from the lava and in a semi-circular pattern fly up and back into the lava. And the end level boss was a giant lava rock giant and I mean GIANT. And even with all of the intense and HUGE action going on there was very minimal slowdown. Music and Sound [7/10]: I personally thought the music could have been better and at times it just didn't seem to fit with the level you were on. Now the sound effects were pretty good but on certain levels they sounded kinda 80's arcade-ish. This was really the only part of the game that I thought could have used a little work. Game Play [9/10]: Very sharp control. Tight and responsive. And believe me it needed to be. You are going to have to make some quick moves to avoid collision in this game. I wish all shooters had this tight control. Challenge and Replay [8/10]: The game in itself if challenging. Even on "easy" setting. In fact at times the end level bosses can be a bit on the frustrating side. If you are a veteran of shooters then you should have no trouble with this game but beginners should probably rent or borrow this game before buying it unless you can get it for a cheap price. As for replay value all shooters are good for another quick run through. That's the 80's quality all shooters still have. Conclusion/Overall [8/10]: Overall this is probably the second best shooter on the SNES second only to Space Megaforce (Super Aleste). It's not way too hard and not way too easy so it has something to offer for everyone. And just seeing the SNES pull a shooter of this speed and magintude off makes me feel good. That'll teach em' to call it "slow"....