The cynic might look at Alien Storm for the Sega Genesis and dismiss it as nothing more than a Golden Axe clone. Both games feature three playable characters, both have identical control schemes and both feature characters beating the stuffing out of fictional bad guys. But despite its similarities, Alien Storm is more than a re-skinned version of Golden Axe. Although short, this 1991 Genesis ends up being a blast both with a friend and by yourself.

Set in the near future, Alien Storm is your typical story of humans versus aliens. You play one of three characters (a man, a woman and a robot), each tasked with saving innocent humans from an extraterrestrial attack. This takes you through small towns, super markets, office buildings and eventually into the heart of the alien ship. Along the way you punch, kick and shoot whatever bad guy gets close.


With only eight stages, the game flashes by in a hurry. But it covers a lot of ground and doesn't overstay its welcome. Best of all, just when you start getting sick of the Golden Axe-inspired brawling mechanics, the game throws you into a first-person shooter stage. Other parts of the game have your character running and shooting, acting like a 2D shooter than a beat-em-up.

Beyond the variety in the gameplay, Alien Storm excels because the combat actually makes sense. Each character's attack is long range enough to keep things from devolving into close combat fisticuffs. Plus, you can roll out of tricky situations, a new addition that adds a lot of strategy to the fighting. And much like other brawlers, Alien Storm's characters can call for back up. These special attacks can take up the entire screen, giving players the upper hand in any fight.


The graphics are good, though not spectacular. The detail in some of the levels is interesting, and the aliens are unique and creative. I especially like the aliens that pretend to be trash cans, it's a nice play on the many cliches of 2D brawlers. On the other hand, you'll see a lot of the bad guys repeated throughout the game and some of the stages can overstay their welcome. Furthermore, I was disappointed by the boss battles.

Alien Storm may look like a Golden Axe rip-off, but it manages to stand out on its own thanks the variety in gameplay and science fiction theme. The two-player support is also fun, giving players enough incentive to play through more than once. It may be short, but Alien Storm is one of Sega's best beat-em-ups.