Star Force brought to the SG-1000 one of the iconic vertical shooters of the mid-1980s, a game that in arcades and on home systems defined the shape of the pure arcade shmup. The player pilots a small fighter craft, the screen scrolls smoothly upward, and formations of enemies accompanied by ground installations roll toward it. There is only one weapon and it never changes, so all the depth lies in movement, in timing, and in how well the player can read the patterns in which opponents appear. It's exactly the repeatability of the attack waves that turns the game into a discipline to be memorized.
A big part of its appeal is the scoring system. Bonuses rain down for wiping out an entire formation without a single miss, for hitting hidden targets, and for quickly destroying large ground installations, so players learn not just to survive but above all to squeeze the maximum score out of every section. The SG-1000 home version necessarily sacrificed some of the arcade's color and smoothness, but it remains fast and readable, which is the most important thing for a shooter. The music and sound effects draw on what the console's sound chip could offer and reliably keep up the pace, even though their repertoire runs out quickly.
The original arcade version had a big influence on how competitive play in video games began to be thought about in Japan, because its chase for score was exceptionally well designed and clear. The SG-1000 port today serves mainly as evidence of what the home version of the arcade hits of the time looked like, with all the compromises that came with it. Anyone who likes simple vertical shooters without upgrades and without unnecessary fluff will find here an honest and merciless game where progress is measured purely by one's own skill. Sessions are short and death comes fast, but that's exactly why the player comes back and tries to get one wave further than last time. Star Force is a textbook example that an arcade game needs nothing more than well-arranged enemy waves and clearly readable scoring rules to be effective.
Game 6 of 13 for SEGA SG-1000
