EXERION
Game Cover
Game
エクセリオン
©1985 Jaleco
Release: 1985-02-11 (¥4500)
Cartdridge JF-01
Shooter/Vertical

Exerion is a top-down vertical shooter by Jaleco and conversion of an arcade game originally released in 1982. In the year 2991, the Zorni forces launched a surprise attack on planet Exerion and the Fighter EX is sent to counter the threat. Hordes of attacking ships appear from the top of the screen, periodically shooting or diving down towards the player's ship. The space fighter comes equipped with two weapons - a standard twin-shot and a rapid fire. Although the slow twin-shot comes in unlimited supply, the powerful rapid fire is limited to a certain amount of ammo (the remaining rapid shots are called 'charges' and are displayed at the bottom of the screen). As the player kills enemies, the amount of rapid fire shots slowly increases, and the core of the gameplay is to find the perfect balance between the slow but wide twin-shot, and the fast but limited rapid fire. Although the game borrows many elements from popular top-down shooters available the time (such as Galaxian or Phoenix), it separates itself from its peers for a number of reasons. First of all, the background features a pseudo perspective and a 3D/Parallax scrolling that smoothly transitions from one area to the next. Then the ship has considerable inertia, allowing the player to execute complex evasive maneuvers with some practice, or to plunge to his doom. Although Exerion indefinitively loops, it includes four types of levels (mountains, Clouds, City and Pyramids), each consisting of several enemy waves. Every fifth stage is a bonus area where the player takes down as many alien ships as possible in order to no only boost his score, but also to increase his rapid shot charge.
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Exerion arcade Exerion was an arcade game originally published by Jaleco in 1983 (picture on the left). It was later ported for the Sega SF-1000 (1983), MSX (1984) and Famicom (1985). A sequel called Zorni Exerion II was also released in 1984 for the MSX. The original arcade game was released for PC Computers in 2003 and was also included in Jaleco Collection Vol. 1 (Playstation, 2003) and the Famicom game can be found on Jajamaru Jr. Denshōki Jaleco memorial (Game Boy Advance, 2004). Interestingly, a sequel to the Famicom game was planned for a 1989 release, but was eventually canceled. A prototype ROM do however exist and is now available to download, thanks to the Nintendo Age community.


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Exerion manual
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Don't feel put off by the graphics - Exerion may have aged in its presentation, but the classic gameplay at its core is still as fun as as it ever was. The ship's inertia does take a little time to get used to, but once you do, the game becomes exponentially more enjoyable. The action is hectic and definitively keeps your adrenaline pumping - it simply never stops and levels just smoothly transition from one to the next, without a second to breathe - 80's arcade action at its best. Graphics are simple but surprisingly detailed, and I especially love the way how the large bird-like aliens dive down on you. Exerion is a bit repetitive and loops after a handful of levels (with a different color palette), but if you're into arcade games from this era, then you'll really enjoy this title.




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