Air Fortress (Nintendo, 1989)

Air Fortress is a side scrolling Shoot'em Up published by Hal America released in 1989. The programmers try to add a strategic element to what would have been an average space shooter. It is not a frantic action packed shoot'em up, the pace is slow. It depends on what interest you whether one would like this or not. You first have a stage where you fly through an area shooting at all the enemy ships that are coming at you, some fire and some don't. You are penetrating their outer defenses. There are some obstacles in your way to dodge with some being shootable. Power ups to your life support and a build up of bombs are critical to surviving the next level. These power ups appear when you destroy the ships and shootable things. In the next level, you get out of your ship and travel around in your space suit being timed by your life support running out as you progress, while fighting through that level, being careful to use your bombs when needed. There is a slight feel of a puzzle element here also in this level as you move your way through some moving objects. At end of the level you are faced with destroying the fortress power generator. Then the whole routine is repeated over and over again, with the difficulty being upped as you work your way through the whole game, until all of the space fortresses are destroyed. There are eight fortresses total with each being broken up into two areas, one flying and the other, I call, walking stages. I keep coming back to this one because of the challenging strategic element. The two forms of play mechanics work together quite well here and gives the game a unique feel to it. If you do not collect enough power ups to your life support and pace yourself wisely, avoiding mishaps and enemy fire, you will not make it through. The graphics are very good for a NES game, I would say above average when compared to earlier NES games, and the control is tight. If you like those retro shoot'em ups but are looking for something that offers a little challenging strategic element for a change of pace, you might find something here to scratch that itch and to like.

fun but repetative flyer shooter that takes you thru a bunch of fortresses played a few times not to hard try it out

Very good game . Combination of side scrolling fighting and the zero fravity walk around fighting is great to /.--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... ..--. .- -. -.-. .- -.- . / .... --- ..- ... .