Shock Troopers Review (2025)

So why is this game so good? Well, let's start from the beginning. Whenyoustart a game, you'll be given the option to play "LONLY WOLF" (godblessEngrish) or Team Mode. While Lonly Wolf is the standard three livesyou'd find in most games, Team Mode is way cool. You get to pick three of theeightselectable characters and then switch between them on-the-fly duringgameplay! There's no limit to how many times you can switch, until theydieof course... and you even get temporary invincibility on the switch.When acharacter is badly injured you will of course want to switch them outand usethe other teammates until life-ups can be found. Pretty neat, huh?

So there's 8 characters to pick from, each one with unique attributesinterms of speed, gunpower, and special attacks (unlike, say, the MetalSluggames where you have four characters that are identical gameplay-wise).Afterpicking your characters, you're then given an option of three routes - Jungle, Valley, or Mountain. Each route is completely unique in termsof thelevels you play, and after the 3rd stage you're given the option toswitch toanother route. Switching lets you play a "bonus" stage that takes place
on atrain.

Control is a bit tricky, but it's a joy once you have it down. The Abuttonacts as your regular gunfire, and you get built-in autofire when thebuttonis held down. That's not all though, holding down the button also"locks"your firing direction until the button is released again. That means you cando things like fire upwards while movingdownwards. It might not giveyou asmuch control as the dual-joystick setup on games like Robotron 2084,but it'sthe next best thing. The B button makes your character do a roll, whichmakesthem completely invincible, but very vulnerable when they come out ofit.Smart rolling will let you avoid enemy attacks. The C button isyourcharacter's special attack, which has limited use. Each character has adifferent special attack with a unique way of doing damage. The Dbutton actsas the teammate switch on Team Mode, and as mentioned before there's nolimitto the amount of times it can be done when teammates are alive.

Using the A button as close-range also activates your character's closerangeattack... this is a very fun and important part of the game, as when anenemyis dispatched in this fashion, an item will be dropped. Most of thetime it'sa 30k bonus point item, but other times you will get life-ups orspecialweapons. Try doing a close-range attack on a human boss, you'll bepleasantlysurprised!

Graphics: 8.5 - This game has gotten bashed before because "it lookslike anSNES game". And to an extent I'll agree, as the visuals are prettysimple...but come on, look at that animation! Character and enemy movement isverydetailed, not to mention the fact that each frame has to be drawn in*EIGHT*different directions. That's right, a character holding a gun in theirrighthand is not going to magically hold it in their left hand when you facetheother way. While that's not a big deal to most people, it just goes toshowhow much effort Saurus put into the characters.

Music: 11 - Oh my god. If you ever find this game in a multi-slotcabinet,you better bring some headphones along. Shock Troopers has THE greatestsoundtrack ever in a Neo cartridge... and quite possibly in any game,ever.Kickass drum 'n bass tunes will accompany you through the game, as wellasthose good ol' Neo guitars. You even get some of those wonderfullyincomprehensible-yet-still-awesome voice samples on some tracks(KoFplayerswill know what I'm talking about). Even the funky boss tune will end upstaying in your head long after you play the game. The sound effectsmight
not be quie as impressive, but there's plenty of speech in the gametoo, withcharacters even having multiple "win quotes" when you finish a level.Playingthis game with the sound off simply is not the same.

Gameplay: 10 - The control is great once you get used to the firingsystem,and rolling is a great way to dodge enemy bullets. You really feel likehave control of yourcharacter, and this just makes the game a blast toplay.You also have the option of rushing through the levels quickly, ortakingyour time and trying to kill enemies with close-range attacks.Personally Ifind the game to be much more fun the latter way, but it's totally upto theplayer as to how fast you want to proceed through the game. Just keepin mindthat the journey is more important than the destination... not tomention
that rushing through the levels gives you less time to enjoy the music.

Replay Value: 10 - The three sets of levels make for a total of 17stages inthe game, although you can only play through 6 to 7 in one session...meaningyou will have to play the game a minimum of three times just to seeeverything there is to offer. And after that, you can try to figure outwhichroute combination is worth the most points, or which is the easiest togetthrough. That's another thing that's worth mentioning, if you enjoytrying tosee how far you can get on one credit, then Shock Troopers is veryrewarding.A patient player who takes note of the simple enemy patterns will beable touse that information to his advantage. And with the help of therollbutton,you can always escape from any situation that's "cheap"! And evenifone-credit finishes aren't for you, you can always play through againandjust enjoy the music... either way, you don't have to be bored playingthesame levels over and over, nor do you have to use the same charactersoverand over.

Availability - Sadly, this game was *ONLY* released on the MVS format.No AEScart, no Neo CD, noports to PSX/DC, nothing. If you've got an MVSsetup,then finding a cart shouldn't be too hard, at this time of writingtheycanusually be found for $60-80 and aren't too uncommon. It is *SO*worththatprice.

Overall: 9.8 - A gem in the rough, an overlooked masterpiece. Althoughmanywill disagree, this game is way better than the Metal Slug series tome, andthe finest Neo-Geo game ever crafted. If you missed it the first time,havean MVS, and enjoy games in this nearly-forgotten genre, then you havenoexcuse not to pick up a copy and start blasting away.