I picked it up again out of boredom...
My sister's boyfriend at the time played it then and I was fine with just watching him play.
But, 5 years later I picked it up again to try it for myself and loved it. We own an arcade with the original Defenders now so my dad no longer had interest in this one.
Overall, it was a great and rewarding game with a little but of difficulty at times.
The graphics were okay, depending on the T.V. you play it on. On some, it's far to dark to see what you're doing but others have just the right screen so that you can she the texture of the ships and planet ground.
Graphics: 7/10
The gameplay was tons of fun shooting up different types of Manti (alien ships/alien bugs/aka Baddies), working on your aim, earning new ships along the way, saving stranded colonists and multi-tasking while carrying out the mission as well as trying to survive.
Though sometimes, you think it's all good on you end but a silly tank or Dropship exploding could result in a Mission Failed, meaning you had to start that mission from the beginning. This I felt made it a little frustrating, but it kept me playing.
Some people complain about controlling the ship. Well, each ship has it's own statistics in Strength, Agility, Defense, and Speed. They don't get better, but they vary for different types of missions as you unlock them.
A ship like the Guardian or Judgment have very low Agility making it hard to steer, but that is made up in high defense and strength. It's really up to you which ship you use to get what you want. Ships like the Defender, Nemesis, and Defiance (my favorite) are easy to control but don't have the best Defense or Strength. yet somehow it's all still balanced.
Gameplay: 9/10
The storyline was very original considering the original games didn't have an existing one that I know of. You're a new Commander and you go through basic training which teaches you how to aim and steer, which is very simple. Thankfully, the Training was very forgiving and not one of those "Ooh, you made a mistake. Start over." while still teaching you how to control your ship.
So after training, you're on the field a things are a little more complicated then it seems (always) so every mission ends out to be a lot tougher they the Higher Ups though it would be. Depending on the outcome of the mission you go up in rank.
You start building a bond with Memory, a super computer who will tell you your missions as well as warn you when you are damaged as well as give you hints, and Colonel Adams, who is pretty much your director.
No spoilers here, but the ending really made me want a sequel so I suppose it did it's job.
Short game, but it felt good finishing it. The final execution was perfect.
Gameplay: 9/10
There really isn't much music in the game so you can keep your focus on the mission and whats happening on screen rather then busting your head at the annoying soundtrack (not that it has one) there are a few songs played around the time when the mission is almost done or on the menu screens and such. This makes sense because the Colonel and memory will be giving you verbal directions as you play so it'd be a good thing if you could hear them, right?
The few songs I did hear didn't bother me at all though.
Music: 6/10
Overall: 8.9 (if I could, so it's getting a 9)