Aliens (US) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 34 years ago:

Aliens © 1990 Konami.

Aliens is a scrolling run 'n' gun game for one or two players based on the classic 1986 science-fiction movie of the same name. Players take on the role of either Ellen Ripley (in the single-player game) or Corporal Hicks (in the two-player game) and must shoot their way through the alien-infested levels of the LV426 base to make their escape together with 'Newt', the little girl who survived the alien invasion of her settlement.

Players begin the game armed only with a pulse rifle but will have opportunities to upgrade to other weapons, including flamethrowers and grenade launchers. Bombs can also be found that cause greater damage to the enemies. Each player life starts with eight health points which deplete upon contact with either an alien or an enemy projectile and once all health points are lost, the player loses a life. Each stage ends with a Boss encounter, with the game's final boss being the Alien Queen herself.

As well as the standard side-scrolling stages, intermittent into-the-screen stages also feature that have the players riding atop the Marines' APC vehicle, shooting the hordes of aliens that swarm towards it.

As well as the standard Aliens and Face-huggers from the original film (that now come in a variety of different colours), there are many enemies that were created only for the arcade game and have never appeared elsewhere in the Alien franchise. These include flying aliens and mutated humans, as well as all end-of-stage bosses prior to the Alien queen.

TECHNICAL
Game ID: GX875

Main CPU: KONAMI (@ 3 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), Konami K007232 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)

Screen orientation: Horizontal
Video resolution: 288 x 224 pixels
Screen refresh: 60.00 Hz
Palette colors: 512

Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 2
→ [1] Shoot1, [2] Shoot2

TRIVIA
Aliens was released in March 1990.

This game is based upon the movie of the same name (released in 1986).

An Aliens cabinet is seen in The Simpsons arcade game. However it's revealed that a Xenomorph which scares off a Space Mutant (a recurring movie franchise on the TV show) is reveals itself to be none other than Marge Simpson inside the Alien costume.

Michael Jackson used to own this game. It was sold at the official Michael Jackson Auction on April 24, 2009.

UPDATES
The US version has the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen.

The Japanese version is very unlike any other version to appear in other countries:

• Most obviously, both APC driving levels have been entirely deleted.
• As such, the subplot of rescuing Newt is gone. Therefore, Newt never appears in Stage 1.
• When you take on the 'Shrinky-Dink Alien Quartet', the first one to fully enlarge hops off-screen, leaving you to only battle the other three.
• Many of the aliens, zombies, and mid-bosses can be killed with fewer shots.

•Two new kinds of minor enemy appear in the game:
a) An adult alien bursts out of the background wall during the vent portion of what we consider Stage 5. It functions much like the Ground-Poppers and is destroyed just as easily, but with new animations and from a different angle. It is the only one of its type in the game.
b) The small form of the Shrinky-Dink Alien, as seen in the form of the second mid-boss in Stage 5, reappears in Stage 7. It stands alone on the catwalks with a ring of orange energy circling it and the catwalk in a kind of 'shield'. A few shots destroy it.

• Titles have been given to each level. They are as follows, transcribed as they appear in the game.

Level 1 - Living Quarters
Level 2 - Factory
Level 3 - Factory2
Level 4 - Queen Alien's DEN
Level 5 - Escape Route
Level 6 - Battle Ship SULACO

• Special weapons and bombs appear much more frequently in the game, dropping from the sky for the players to use at regular intervals.
• It is now possible to attain 1-ups in the game. If a player is still carrying a weapon from the last special weapon power-up, the next one to fall on-screen will contain a 1-up. It comes in the form of a red ribbon with a bow wrapped around the word '1up'.
• In addition to the other enemies in this section, ground-popping aliens now appear earlier, during the nest portion of what we know as Stage 3.
• In addition to the other enemies, flying aliens now appear during the first power loader segment, in Stage 3.
• Flying aliens are much more frequent throughout the outdoor portion of Stage 5 and Stage 7.
• Extra exploding barrels appear throughout the game.
• Numerous aliens have changed color. Adult aliens are now purple instead of maroon, face-huggers are now flesh-toned instead of green, etc.
• Many of the adult aliens in the elevator sequence of Stage 3 have been removed. They have been replaced with flying aliens that do NOT damage the cables. This makes this sequence much easier.
• The beams from the 3-Way gun have changed color from purple to orange.
• During the final battle, the queen does NOT breathe fire/acid at you. Instead, after flashing white, she sends out multiple images of herself as a projectile! These are wider and therefore are easier to be hit by.
• The queen charges at you constantly even if you are in the power loader. This makes the final battle much more difficult.

STAFF
Game programmers: Satoru Okamoto (S. Okamoto), K. Ozaki, Hirotaka.I.1
Character designers: Kengo N., Nishiyan
Graphic designers: M. Yoshida, Kaoru. N
Music composer: Adachi
Sound effect: Oouchi
Hardware designer: H. Matsuura
Special guest: Akira. S, Hiroshi Iuchi (Iuchi 2), Chokki, Takano, Samejima
Director: Satoru Okamoto (S. Okamoto)
Management: Hiroshita

Cabinet Graphic Design: Don Marshall

CONTRIBUTE
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