#aleck 64

[jonathanraychapman]

Star Soldier Aleck 64 Review (2.5/5.0)

The Aleck 64 is a hardware arcade unit that was based on the Nintendo 64.  Star Soldier was released on that hardware.  It turns out you can play this rom from an Everdrive 64 on your console N64 and I played through it last night using the UltraHDMI N64 video mod.

The game is pretty awesome-looking, but it’s terribly difficult.  There were bosses where I could barely get any shots in before being obliterated (mostly later in the game)  This is negated somewhat by the infinite credits you can put in, but without a goal and skill progression the game sort of loses its soul.

The voices and cut-scenes are kind of laughable and the game felt a little jerky to me (although maybe that’s the N64 limitations on the console version).  There wasn’t a lot of lag, but it felts like the frames were jumping at times.

I didn’t like that you’re basically stuck with one weapon when you pick your ship.  At the time the N64 was out, there were much better advances for weapons (look at MUSHA or Blazing Lasers).  

If you want some shmup action on the N64, there’s not a lot to choose from and this game is pretty fun in short bursts.  I wouldn’t spend a lot of time memorizing or trying to get good at this game because I just don’t think it’s fair to the player (meaning that would be an exercise in frustration).

[alln64games]

Vivid Dolls

JP release: December 1998 (Arcade)

JP release: N/A

PAL release: N/A

Developer: Visco

Publisher: Visco

N64 Magazine Score: N/A

A game running on Seta’s N64-based Aleck 64 arcade cabinet, this is something that Nintendo probably wouldn’t have allowed on the N64 itself – a porn game. Throughout the game, you’ll get to see three images of each of the 8 girls in the game, with the final one being topless. You can play by yourself, or have a second player join you (the emulator I used had a slight visual issue, so the lines aren’t supposed to be there).

The gameplay of the game is simply and something I’ve definitely played before (I can’t remember where, but likely a minigame in something else). There’s a blurred image in the background, and you start off with a square. You move away from the square and draw a line until you make your way back to an uncovered part of the image to score points and reveal that portions. However, there are enemies that get in your way.

The versions of the game I’ve played before feature just simple bouncing enemies that break your line if they bounce into it, but here they’re more like enemies from a 2D arcade shooter, reacting in different ways and some having projectiles to shoot at you. You have to figure out their movements and plan your route to avoid them while making the biggest shape you can. Lose three lives and you’ll have to put more money in to carry on.

When you get close to finishing the image, you beat that stage and you’ll get to see the full picture, with roses flashing up on screen like fireworks.

It’s a very simple game, but also a simple contempt that just works really well. The different enemies keeps things varied a bit and this is the best version of this particular minigame that I’ve played. While this game was mainly to make money from people wanting to see boobs, it would still be a fun game if it was just some generic background instead.

Remake or remaster?

You know, I’d like to see a small downloadable game that makes this particular game style and does some interesting stuff with it. I do think more could be done with it. No need for porn in it, though.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to play Vivid Dolls.