Abadox
Encyclopedia
is a video game for the NES
, subtitled The Deadly Inner War. It is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up
in the vein of Gradius
and R-Type
. The game is notable for its unique visual design, as the game takes place inside the intestinal tract of a giant alien organism. Abadox is also difficult, since it takes one hit from an enemy projectile to be killed. In Abadox, if a player is killed, one must restart from a checkpoint passed before death.
shooters
of the time. The player shoots down various enemies, all which look like various internal organs (brain
s, eyes, and even cilia). The player can also pick weapons and powerups. Powerups include speed boosters, increased firepower, homing missiles, and shields similar to the "Option" featured in Gradius. For weapons, the player starts with the normal pea shooter
, but can upgrade to a 3-way gun, a spread fire gun, a laser, and a hoop-like weapon. However, like most shooters, if the player is killed, all of the upgrades will be lost and the player will have to restart from the last checkpoint. In some cases, if the player dies, they may have to navigate through enemy fire with slow speed, which could prove more difficult than ever.
Another aspect of Abadox that sets the game off from other shooters is the second, fourth, and sixth stages. The play style changes from a side-scrolling perspective to a vertical one, but instead of scrolling upwards like a typical vertical shooter, the stage scrolls downward. The final stage involves an escape sequence where the player must navigate out of the alien's rectal cavity before the alien implodes. This falls in suit with another Konami game, Life Force, which Abadox bears a striking resemblance to.
, and Rush'n Attack
.
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, subtitled The Deadly Inner War. It is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
in the vein of Gradius
Gradius
The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...
and R-Type
R-Type
is a side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. The player controls a space fighter named R-9a "Arrowhead" to defend humanity against a mysterious but powerful alien life-form known as "Bydo", which was later discovered to be not entirely alien in origin...
. The game is notable for its unique visual design, as the game takes place inside the intestinal tract of a giant alien organism. Abadox is also difficult, since it takes one hit from an enemy projectile to be killed. In Abadox, if a player is killed, one must restart from a checkpoint passed before death.
Plot
In the year 5012, the planet known as Abadox is soon eaten by a giant alien organism known as Parasitis. Once the planet has been consumed, the alien takes the form of the entire planet and seeks to devour other planets within the galaxy. The galactic military tries to fight the alien, but to no avail as Parasitis destroys the entire galactic military, except for one hospital ship. It is then discovered that Princess Maria has been devoured as well. The galactic military decides to send out their best fighter, "Second Lieutenant Nazal", to attempt to enter Parasitis' body and rescue Princess Maria before it's too late.Gameplay
The gameplay largely follows the conventions of side-scrollingSide-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
shooters
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
of the time. The player shoots down various enemies, all which look like various internal organs (brain
Human brain
The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
s, eyes, and even cilia). The player can also pick weapons and powerups. Powerups include speed boosters, increased firepower, homing missiles, and shields similar to the "Option" featured in Gradius. For weapons, the player starts with the normal pea shooter
Pea shooter (toy)
The peashooter is a toy version of the blowgun or blowpipe. Its usually a tube that is either to be blow into or has some kind of lastic mechanism which launches its ammo. As the name suggests the normal ammunition is peas , though other seeds, fruits, improvised darts, or wadded up paper can also...
, but can upgrade to a 3-way gun, a spread fire gun, a laser, and a hoop-like weapon. However, like most shooters, if the player is killed, all of the upgrades will be lost and the player will have to restart from the last checkpoint. In some cases, if the player dies, they may have to navigate through enemy fire with slow speed, which could prove more difficult than ever.
Another aspect of Abadox that sets the game off from other shooters is the second, fourth, and sixth stages. The play style changes from a side-scrolling perspective to a vertical one, but instead of scrolling upwards like a typical vertical shooter, the stage scrolls downward. The final stage involves an escape sequence where the player must navigate out of the alien's rectal cavity before the alien implodes. This falls in suit with another Konami game, Life Force, which Abadox bears a striking resemblance to.
Audio
The music and sound effects for Abadox was produced by Kyouhei Sada (credited as K. Sada), who composed music for several NES games released by Konami such as Contra, Blades of SteelBlades of Steel
Blades of Steel is an ice hockey video game released by Konami for the arcade in , and ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in . All teams are fictional but based out of real Canadian and American cities. The game is known for its fast paced hockey action and especially for the fighting. It...
, and Rush'n Attack
Rush'n Attack
Rush'n Attack, originally released in Japan and Europe as , is an action/platform arcade game released by Konami in 1985. Rush'n Attack is remembered for its Cold War setting and its reliance on the player using a knife to dispatch enemies...
.
Reception
Critics have generally looked at Abadox favorably for its design, but negatively for its often ridiculous level of difficulty. Stan Stepanic of Gamefreaks365 cited problems as the game's odd difficulty curve, poor choice of sound effects, lack of design consistency, and generally superficial substance.External links
- Abadox - The Deadly Inner War: Instruction Manual.