Description
This is a capture of me playing through GG Aleste for the Sega Game Gear. This is being played through the Aleste Collection for the Switch. I’m playing on normal difficulty.
Here’s another Game Gear playthrough. Despite its small screen, the Game Gear had a few high-quality vertical-scrolling shooters (about as many as the Game Boy, if you ignore region locking). The hardware didn’t have too much trouble running these types of games, and the color screen was better suited for shmups. When it comes to the Game Gear’s vertical-scrolling shmup library, there’s basically just the Aleste Games and Halley Wars.
In 2020, M2 released the Aleste Collection for the Switch, although it was only for Japan. The collection included the first two Aleste games for the Game Gear, as well as a brand-new third entry, even though the Game Gear had been discontinued by Sega since approximately 1997 (Majesco had re-released the system in the early 2000s).
I was hoping M2 would release a North American Aleste Collection, but sadly, that didn’t happen. However, since the Switch isn’t region locked, this ultimately didn’t matter. I received the Aleste Collection for Christmas of 2024, marking my very first physical import game, and I spent some time here and there playing the first GG Aleste. I only got around to beating it yesterday after being motivated by my recent completion of the Game Gear version of Mortal Kombat.
GG Aleste is an excellent vertical-scrolling shmup that was only released in Japan. The game is highly reminiscent of space-theme shooters like Star Soldier and Blazing Lazers, and it has a nice variety of weapons, although there are no bombs or special weapons.
I find the homing shot (H) to be the best, although the wide shot (W) also works quite well at protecting you from side attacks. GG Aleste isn’t too hard on normal difficulty (in fact, it’s perfect for a handheld game), but on special difficulty, it’s quite challenging because enemies fire revenge shots when destroyed. I had too much trouble with the special mode, so I didn’t bother with that.
This game’s soundtrack is quite good, so that’s a major plus as well. Overall, I find this to be an excellent portable game. I hear the sequel is even better.
Recorded with the Elgato Game Capture HD60 and the Switch's HDMI cable at native 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. I'm using a retro-bit Sega Genesis 8-button Arcade Pad (2.4 GHz Wireless version).