Shadow Squadron

Shadow Squadron, released in Europe under the name Stellar Assault, is a cockpit-view space action game that tries to use the 32X for exactly what the hardware was best suited to — the smooth movement of polygonal objects in space. The player pilots a fighter craft and completes mission after mission: eliminating escorts, destroying specific components of giant ships, defending allied vessels, and finally assaulting heavily fortified targets. Two types of craft are available, with different durability and firepower, so the choice of ship changes tactics far more than is usual for this class of game. Missions have clearly defined objectives and time pressure, so there's no danger of wandering aimlessly through space — you always know what's supposed to happen and why it isn't working out.

Controls are fully free across three axes, which makes the game more of a spatial duel than a sequence of reflexive shots. What matters is managing speed and orientation: approaching a cruiser from the right angle, aiming at its generators, and disengaging in time before its defense turrets tear you apart. The image runs without textures, just in flat colors, but smoothly and with large objects that genuinely feel like they have mass around you. The sound is restrained and serious, the music holds a tense military mood, and the silence of space is broken mainly by radio chatter and explosions. That's exactly what gives rise to the atmosphere of a lonely fight far from home.

At the time, the game was seen as one of the few titles that were designed for the 32X from the ground up rather than ported from elsewhere, which helped it with reviewers — criticism targeted mainly its length and how stark the visuals are. Genre-wise, it belongs to the family of space simulators simplified for consoles, and today it's interesting precisely for how cleanly it's made. Anyone who likes space combat without unnecessary padding will find one of the platform's better games here. It also helps that the game can be finished in a few sittings, so it hasn't aged into the ailment that afflicts most period simulators today — needless length.