Pulstar
The basic gameplay is simple: you fly your spaceship through the levels, collecting power-ups and protecting your ship from destruction. The game has really obvious similarities in design and gameplay to R-Type. It is even believed that some former Irem employees left the company to join Aicom, which used to be a subcontractor for various coin-op machine manufacturers such as Jaleco and SNK. Despite the similarities, Pulstar is not without its innovations. There is the option to use the weapon power bar, which consists of two halves. The right side of the bar turns blue when the fire button is pressed. When fully charged, the ship emits a devastating amount of energy. The left side turns red when pressed continuously and fires a volley of smaller, faster shots. The graphics in the game consist largely of pre-rendered 3D graphics, which gives the interactive elements a much more realistic look. Great care has been taken to really immerse the player in the world of the game with cinematic cutscenes and pre-rendered movies. Strategy is key, rather than simply destroying everything in sight. The use of the charged weapon is crucial and requires careful precision. Once a power-up has been obtained, a small orb appears at the rear of the ship. This can be used to your advantage by deflecting/absorbing enemy fire and taking out small enemies that run towards it.
Story
In 2248, the first recorded sign of extraterrestrial life was detected from Mars. The signal emanated from the planet, from which an object was moving out of the solar system at the speed of light. Scientists on Earth read the signal but did not know what it was and warned the world's defense systems in case aliens detected the signal and followed it to Earth to destroy it. Eight years later, the aliens followed the signal into the solar system and began attacking the human spacecraft that awaited them in orbit around Neptune. The battle between the humans and the aliens spread to the entire solar system; within two years, Neptune was disintegrated, Jupiter was transformed into a star, and more than half of Earth's continents sank due to rising sea levels and the planet's changing axis as a result. Kaoru Yamazaki, the lone fighter pilot of the Dino246, is one of the few survivors of the Pulstar attack force formed to save the solar system from the alien invaders; only through her might humanity have a chance to survive the alien threat.