Alien Brigade
Encyclopedia
Alien Brigade is a side-scrolling
shooting
game, released in 1990 for the Atari 7800
Prosystem. Similar in style to Operation Wolf
, Alien Brigade tells the story of a soldier that is forced to do battle with aliens that are invading the planet and taking over the bodies of fellow soldiers in the process. One of the last releases for the Atari 7800, Alien Brigade is a sought after title due to its relative scarcity, above-average graphics and Nintendo
-like gameplay.
Alien Brigade is 144K in size, making it one of the largest commercially released Atari 7800 games.
or with an Atari light gun.
The game takes place over five scrolling levels. The initial mission is to rescue hostages from an enemy camp, but the game then progresses to a waterfront battle, an underwater melee, a showdown in an underground mine, and then a final mountaintop battle. Adding to the challenge, the player is must be careful not to accidentally shoot innocent bystanders.
Between levels, the player is briefed by the commanding officer, who advises of the situation and rates the player's performance in the level.
The reviews for the game have generally been positive and the game is fondly remembered among Atari 7800 fans.
Side-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...
shooting
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
game, released in 1990 for the Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
Prosystem. Similar in style to Operation Wolf
Operation Wolf
Operation Wolf is a one-player shooter arcade game made by Taito in 1987. It spawned three sequels: Operation Thunderbolt , Operation Wolf 3 and Operation Tiger .-Description:...
, Alien Brigade tells the story of a soldier that is forced to do battle with aliens that are invading the planet and taking over the bodies of fellow soldiers in the process. One of the last releases for the Atari 7800, Alien Brigade is a sought after title due to its relative scarcity, above-average graphics and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
-like gameplay.
Alien Brigade is 144K in size, making it one of the largest commercially released Atari 7800 games.
Gameplay
Like Operation Wolf, the game is played from the point of view of the soldier. The game scrolls horizontally in two directions as various enemy creatures, possessed soldiers, human vehicles and alien vehicles attack mercilessly. Alien Brigade can either be played with the Atari 7800 joystickJoystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
or with an Atari light gun.
The game takes place over five scrolling levels. The initial mission is to rescue hostages from an enemy camp, but the game then progresses to a waterfront battle, an underwater melee, a showdown in an underground mine, and then a final mountaintop battle. Adding to the challenge, the player is must be careful not to accidentally shoot innocent bystanders.
Between levels, the player is briefed by the commanding officer, who advises of the situation and rates the player's performance in the level.
Reaction
Despite being released late in the Atari 7800's life cycle, Alien Brigade is unique in that Atari Corporation made more efforts to market the game than it had with other Atari 7800 titles. The game had its own print advertisement and was also referenced in Atari's 1990 shooter, Planet Smashers (Alien Brigade, when completed, would return the favor by advertising Planet Smashers). The game was also reviewed several times, including reviews in GamePro Magazine and the September 1991 issue of their own Atari Explorer magazineThe reviews for the game have generally been positive and the game is fondly remembered among Atari 7800 fans.