An amazing gem of a SNES game that demonstrates the incredible capabilities of the hardware, and a fun shooter to boot.
With the solar system under attack and its tired defenses no longer able to withstand the brunt, one ship remains to defeat the mysterious enemy. The game spans six levels--half of them traditional side-view shooter-fare, the other a glorious exposition of full-frontal Mode 7 for which the SNES is known for. The Mode 7 levels can be described as top-down shooter with a foreseeable landscape--the plane shifting slightly as if it were three-dimensional. It looks incredible for a 16-bit game. The same can be said for some of the game's enormous bosses--like Stage 5's boss--one of my all-time favorite video game bosses ever. Graphics are also finely detailed--strange in its surrealism in most areas such as the gloomy caverns of Stage 4. All in all, Axelay is an exhilarating visual experience.
The gameplay isn't bad either. You can choose up to three different weapon configurations at the beginning of each stage, but your full arsenal isn't entirely unlocked until the final level. During gameplay, you can switch between three weapons and sustain at least three hits of damage from enemy fire, but you'll still get one-hit-killed by a full-on suicidal collision with an enemy ship. Unfortunately, the action is over way too soon with only six levels to show for it. Fortunately, the action is frenetic on all cylinders and will invariably keep you on your trigger-fingers.
If you're as big a fan of shooters as I am, you'll definitely want to check Axelay out. It's a great game that showcased the power of the SNES to weepy Genesis owners during the old console wars, and still holds true today as an unsung classic.