GG Aleste

GG Aleste launched in 1991 for the Sega Game Gear, continuing the earlier Aleste series that Compile had started a few years before on MSX computers - one of the pioneers of Japan's shoot-'em-up genre, already known for the earlier Zanac. It was a vertically scrolling shooter in which the player collected weapon power-ups and built up firepower against increasingly dense enemy bullet patterns, with real skill lying in how effectively different weapon types could be combined. On the Game Gear's small screen, the game still managed surprisingly smooth action and detailed graphics more comparable to home consoles than typical handheld output of the time, and it was released in the West under the name Power Strike.

The sequel, GG Aleste II (1993), expanded the weapon and ship selection, raised the difficulty and pushed the series further visually, and it's since ranked among the most valuable and sought-after titles in the entire Game Gear library, still fetching high prices among collectors. After Compile folded in 2003, the series went quiet for decades and seemed to have ended along with the studio that carried its name.

Which made it all the more surprising when a new entry appeared on a modern console years later, carrying over the same emphasis on dense action and weapon-collecting from the Game Gear classics, just with updated visuals and sound. With so few entries, GG Aleste remains mostly a matter for shoot-'em-up connoisseurs, who nonetheless rank it among the best the Game Gear ever produced.