Robo Aleste is a vertically scrolling shooter video game and the last in the Aleste series. Developed by Compile Ltd

Compile (software company)

Compile Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game company established on April 7, 1982, under the name Programmers-3. Founded by Masamitsu Niitani , they were famed for developing shooters and puzzle games such as Aleste and Puyo Puyo.Compile filed for bankruptcy and disbanded in 2003, but the franchise...

. and published by Tengen

Tengen (company)

Tengen was a video game publisher and developer that was created by arcade game manufacturer Atari Games.-History:Atari had been split into two distinct companies. Atari Corporation was responsible for computer and console games and hardware and owned the rights to the Atari brand for these domains...

 it was released in 1992 for the Mega CD in Japan and in 1993 for the Sega CD in America.

Summary

The plot of the game refers to feudal Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 being given giant mecha

Mecha

A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...

, the player being the pilot of one such mecha, the Aleste, fighting against the other feudal lords. In the game itself the plot is not referred to at all.

You play the part of Kage, the sole surviving member of Oda "Demon King" Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

's robot ninja army (known as the White Fang) and the pilot of the Aleste. The Aleste is an 8-metre tall mechanized steam-powered mech. At the start of the game, Nobunaga's home is razed to the ground by Tetsu, who is a frequent end-of-level boss throughout the game and the older brother of Kage. Nobunaga survives and Kage defeats Tetsu and resumes his mission to bring down the Anti-Oda Alliance. Tetsu is humilliated and refuses to believe that he was defeated by his younger brother Kage through skill alone, so he builds himself a gigantic mecha to match the power of the Aleste's. He then tests the machine's firepower on a defenseless village, killing all of the innocent villagers caught in the onslaught. Kage eventually learns of this and fights Tetsu in a battle to the death. The Aleste, in the end, wins and Tetsu dies. Kage continues his mission and after defeating all of the opposing warlords he comes face to face with Astaros, the leader of the Anti-Oda Alliance. After defeating Astaros, Kage learns that she has come from another dimension which was supposedly destroyed by Nobunaga who she believes to be the resurrected figure of Lucifer

Lucifer

Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...

. Nobunaga plans to take over the world and Kage eventually uses the Aleste to stop him once and for all which is depicted in the game's ending sequence.

Gameplay

Robo Aleste follows the traditional vertically scrolling shooter style, with the player flying forward and enemies coming from the front, sides, and rear. At the end of each level is a boss, which the player must defeat in order to move on. Each boss is one of the warlords allied against Nobunaga. Like most scrolling shooters, there are several weapons which can be collected and powered up.

Weapons

There five types of weapons in Robo Aleste. Aleste initially starts out with nothing but its main weapon, a small barage of throwing knives. By collecting powerups from friendly ships, Aleste can increase the number of knives it can throw at once, until it reaches the maximum of four at a time. The other weapons are special weapons that each have a particular ability. Powerups for special weapons are acquired by shooting them off of special friendly carrier ships. Each special weapon has four levels of power, growing stronger and more destructive with each level-up. Special weapons are leveled up by simply collecting more of their power-up type. The special weapons are as follows:

• The Raisen-ha, or Lightning Flash, fires a large blue bolt of electricity at your foes. Useful for bosses or for when many foes are flying in from the front of the screen, as it deals great damage over a wide area in front of the craft.

• The Fuusha-shuriken, or Windmill Throwing-Knife, fires large ninja stars in either four or eight different directions, depending on the weapon's powerup level. The stars are flaming at higher levels. Useful for when many enemies are coming in from the front and sides.

• The Hiei-meppu-jin, or Flying Shadow Formation, causes the options that normally fly in front of the craft to circle the dennin with a protective shield. The options will also actively attack any nearby enemies. Highly useful for when enemy craft are coming in from the rear of the screen, and against enemies that fire bullets.

• The Bakuryu-housen-ka, or Exploding Flower, releases a large barage of bomblets, which explode upon impact with the ground or an enemy. Useful for quickly clearing the entire forward screen of foes, as the explosion persists for a short time after impact.