Alien Soldier
   An action game from Treasure in which the birdlike warrior Epsilon faces a "terrolist" organization of genetically-enhanced mutants, robots and aliens. The storyline given by the opening sequence is incredibly long, confusing and nonsensical, which is just an added bonus! It's a straightforward 2-d platformer/shooter but quite fun, challenging and also remarkably long for the genre. Levels are very short, with long and epic boss fights (over twenty!) forming pretty much the entire game. Later areas skip the whole notion of stages entirely, presenting just a rapid succession of bosses. You can pick and choose from a wide variety of weapons, and you are armed with a dash attack, teleportation, hover power and the ability to walk on ceilings.
Epsilon, the hero.
Normal enemies (info on mouseover)
Wudgey!
Pudgey! Fudgey!
 ...Ewwwies.
Fat things with dodgy looking mouths that swell up and spit bombs.
Tough walking robots that shoot right at you.
Birds that drop bombs.
The basic, most common enemy. They sometimes spit. The basic, most common enemy. They sometimes spit.
They sometimes walk and hop on the ground.
Bees that shoot and dive at you.
They can hop!
...They also take a TON of hits to destroy.
Snapping gator-heads in the sewers.
These just sit there, periodically sprouting legs and scuttling sideways at you.
Snapping gator-heads in the sewers.
Not an enemy, you rescue this little guy so he can drive a boat for you.
These release a shot at you when destroyed, but ignore you and fly by harmlessly if you ignore them.
Lobsters that crawl out of the sewage. Lobsters that crawl out of the sewage.
These spray an arching stream of water at you.
Teeny tiny little electric fish!
These emerge from the sewage and shoot thin orange laser blasts.
Snakes that leap out of the snow.
Space-bikers in the asteroid field.
BOSSES
Mechapede
This bionic worm slithers all around the screen, ocassionally leaping and frequently spitting bouncing energy balls.
Antroid
A giant insect-man-thing that attacks by diving.
(???)
Floats and shoots at you while its circling orbs protect it from most shots. Pretty easy to beat.
Sniper Honeyviper
I did not make these names up, I swear. Aren't they delightful? Honeyviper releases wasps from his ass (that little hole on the back end...also his one weak point) and slams the ground with that obscene doohickey in front.
Shell Shogun
A giant monster samurai who skillfully dances and twirls his sword as he attempts to make birdman sushi.
Madam Barber
Another great name, this giant crab snaps at you from the ceiling, dropping energy shots and releasing tons of little wee crabs. She also foams at the mouth.
Joker
This bouncy, stretchy frog keeps bumping its face into the ceiling as it jumps about the screen, laying eggs that shoot at you until you can destroy them. They fall right out of that hole on joker's rear. Ew.
(???)
Attacks with a machinegun and missles.
Flying Neo
A living helicopter that attacks by flying into you. It eventually turns invisible, but its sillouhette can be seen when lightning strikes. You'll fight it atop a train-like vehicle.
(???)
Actually much, much longer than the above sprite, but formed of repeating sections. This thing floats by above you will firing and releases an indestructible worm (left) from one of its many mouths.
Xi-Tiger
This clawed guy transforms into a HUGE clawed wolf thing. Slashes and stomps all over the place. He's supposed to be an important character but I can't make heads or tails of the storyline.
(???)
First boss of the sewers, this shark leaps in and out of the water, ocassionally stopping to shoot at you. It can stand up and walk around on land.
(???)

Another sewer boss, it appears to be piloted by a TINY little creature. It will form four tentacles from metal orbs that will spin around it like the blades of a fan, blowing you around and kicking up debris (including fish and lobsters) at you..
(???)
You fight this giant lobster from a boat piloted by a small blue teddybear you'll have to rescue from some of the one-eyed enemies. Don't ask me!

It slashes with its arms and can leap from the water.
(???)
Also a lot longer than the sprite I'm showing, this winding brainy worm slinks in and out of the water but isn't very dangerous and doesn't need to be killed.
Bugmax
Destroy the chrysalis and Bugmax will emerge as a full-grown moth (the wings flap three-dimensionally. Ooooh) which will lash out with its curly proboscis and drop grubs on you.
(???)
Encountered in a darkened tunnel and only visible when you fire. It attacks with energy and circling orbs.
Sunset Sting
Another awesome one with a killer name. This thing crawls back and forth, sometimes leaping, and constantly launching the pods and spines that surround its head.
(???)
You'll fight this giant insect while clinging to the underside of its wings. It flies rapidly up a chute releasing yellow worms and shooting at you. Normal flying insect enemies attack from all sides during the entire battle...
Back Stringer
One of the coolest and most inventive battles in the game - just check out the screenshot below! As soon as you defeat the giant flying insect (above) it will crash into a huge web and get stuck. As you stand on its back, this giant (six-legged) spider appears from below, bites off the insect's head and proceeds to attack you with waving energy blasts and streams of webbing (which will pull you down into her claws!). All the while, swarms of baby spiders will work together dragging the dead insect downwards. If they pull it all the way off-screen you won't have anything to stand on and you'll be royally screwed!
It makes more sense to actually see what I'm talking about.
Epsilon 1
Spanning the entire screen, this metal bird's wings are formed entirely of gun turrets, only its head (usually blocked by its feet) can be damaged, and it'll spit deadly lasers AND a bigger cannon down at you.
Destroyer MK2
A floating metal thingy surrounded by gold blocks that it'll toss at you. It can teleport to the other end of the screen and you'll fight it over a huge pit.
Melon Bread
I won't ask...this guy is apparently a refugee from Gunstar Heroes, another popular Treasure game. He attacks by smacking you with his extended nose and dropping little explosive noses everywhere. He's also very animated. Once you've destroyed the orb, the disembodied face will float after you. Epsilon runs off screen and that's the last you see of old Melon.
(???)
This young girl transforms into a series of nasty robots with a wide range of moves. They are the Valkyrie force (kicks and shoots at you), Medusa force (rolls after you), Sylpheed force (claws and leaps like a cat), Artemis force (stings and shoots while falling alongside you) and Sirene force (attacks you underwater as the current circles you around and around)
Destroyer Prototype
Easier than the MK2, it just floats about firing tons of lasers at you. It's the first boss of the space stage.
(???)
This firebreathing space snake will eventually spin around and divide into all its individual segments and head, which will fly around at random until you destroy the darn thing.
Wolfgunblood Garopa
And I was just saying to myself, "a giant werewolf on a robot horse would NEVER find me here!". This bounty-hunter looking guy is just gigantic, and attacks from behind as you fly through a tunnel.
(???)
Just a bunch of missle launchers in the floor. They periodically switch to the ceiling.
Z-Leo
The big final boss. He smashes the platform you're walking on and attacks with energy and junk. Remarkably unremarkable considering some of the other bosses, but that tends to be true for a lot of ending battles. Ah well!
 
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