SEGA has been releasing a lot of their arcade and Genesis classics on 3DS lately. They’ve added 3-D graphics and other extras. So in honor of that, we’re going to take a look at one of their titles each day for about a week or so. It’ll be a SEGA Extravaganza! The first game on the list is the arcade classic Galaxy Force II!

When I was a kid, most video games in arcades only cost a quarter to play. The first time I saw an arcade machine that was 50 cents to play was After Burner in the late 80’s. It was a sit-down cabinet and it moved around, so that’s why it cost more. But even then I thought that was an outlandish price to play a game. But shortly thereafter, at a nearby movie theater, we saw this other arcade game that blew After Burner out of the water. It was Galaxy Force II! (I never even saw Galaxy Force I)

Galaxy Force II in the arcade was almost as much of an amusement ride as it was a game. The sit-down arcade cabinet not only moved up and down, but turned in 360 degrees, too! So why did I never play it? Well, because it cost $1.50 to play! Considering I could make a quarter last 30 minutes with a game of Ms. Pac-Man, paying that much for one game seemed crazy back then. But now, for the cost of playing it a couple of times, you can own the game on your 3DS, minus the ride part (unless you have a swivel office chair and a good imagination).

Galaxy Force II is a 3-D auto-forward scrolling shooter, similar to Star Fox. As an arcade quarter muncher, you have a shield that counts steadily down, but decreases faster for a bit if you hit something. I don’t think you can continue, so it makes beating the game a little hard. The graphics look surprisingly good on the small 3DS screen. I’ve been blind in one eye since birth, and can’t see the 3-D graphics, but I’ve been told they’re very well done.

The 3DS game also comes with a slew of options. You can change the difficulty of the game and how slow your shield counts down. You can also make the screen look like it’s tilting around, like you’re playing the arcade game. Also, you can toggle arcade button clicking noises when you fire, and creaking and whirring sounds to simulate the movement of the arcade machine! Plus a whole bunch of other arcade options that I have no idea what they do. Galaxy Force II is probably one of the best of SEGA’s 3-D classic arcade offerings on the 3DS.

Kid Factor:

3D Galaxy Force II is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence. All you do is shoot at spaceships that blow up, and that’s it. Reading skill isn’t needed as it is an arcade game and easy to figure out and pick up and play. As a quarter muncher, the game is pretty hard, but you can change the difficulty selection so it shouldn’t be too frustrating to younger players, although the game is still challenging to beat with no continues.

Tags: Game Reviews