Falsion (ファルシオン Farushion?) is a third-person, rail shooting game created by Konami released on the Famicom Disk System in 1987.
Plot[]
From the game's manual:
- "AD 21XX. Man's neverending challenge to space continues on. The moon has become a completely habitable star, and a space development colony has already been completed on the Lagrange point of Pluto. Now the human race is planning to use this colony as a starting point for the further conquest of space, with the help of the currently under development Hyperzone Drive.
- However, in a far corner of the galaxy, an alien race which has already developed Hyperzone Drive technology has its own plans about ruling space and is invading nearby planets at an alarming rate. Now the aliens have so many planets under their rule that conquest has almost become a game to them.
- The aliens' most powerful warship "Gigantos", already with its targets on Earth, approaches Sector 11 of the Pluto space colony. Several flashes of light later, the sector is destroyed instantly and the colony falls with zero resistance. Now the threat is on Earth - the combined forces of the planet is nothing to Gigantos. If something isn't done, then the human race will be destroyed!
- There is only one thing that can save man now. Although still untested, the just-completed Hyperzone Drive must be used to attack the aliens' forces directly! Soon, the United Space Force's bravest pilots are summoned and inserted into the new Hyperzone Drive fighting squadron "Space Force". With no time to spare for training, these forces are sent to the alien's main base immediately.
- ...However, most of the ships are ill-prepared for the Hyperzone. Unable to control their craft, many pilots are swept away into the far reaches of space, unable to turn off the Drive. Miraculously, one ship survived the jump. That ship's name - Falsion! Fight on, Falsion, and save the human race from sure destruction!"
Gameplay[]
You control the Falsion Space Fighter, you get a sort of first person view and enemies swarm in front of you. You have your regular old rapid-fire beam weapon, and a limited supply of homing missiles. Occasionally Power-Ups encircle the screen; blue ones speed you up and red ones give you more missiles.
The six levels take place on a sprawling set of vistas - from the oddly-scrolling stars of deep space, jungle planets, to the weird striped corridors that seem to be for 3d space shooters like this. You're going to be attacking much standard series of enemies - little hopping ships, invincible meteorites, flying snake robots, and the large-scale bosses at the end of levels.
The backgrounds are fully in motion the entire time, and enemies pop in and out of them. And that's only the 2D mode, playing in 3D mode with the shutter glasses is a great experience - the 3D effect looks extremely real and if you have a big enough TV you might find yourself dodging meteorite showers with your body as well as the controller.
Trivia[]
- The Falchion β from Gradius Gaiden has its roots in this game, although it uses its own unique weaponry.
- Otomedius Gorgeous features two songs from this game, "Narrow Road" and the boss theme, added to Esmeralda and Poini Coon tracks.
- Falsion is also a featured airplane in Airforce Delta Strike, it is based on the Falsion Space Fighter.