Friday, September 19, 2025

Spiral Wave for PCE


Image: MobyGames

Spiral Wave

Battlestar Galactica meets Space Harrier


Genre: shooter - corridor

Publisher: Media Rings

Year: 1991

System: PCE


Gameplay Score: 2

Gameplay Notes:

Movement feels good - you can move.to any spot on the screen. Feels more like Gyruss than Galaxy Force. In other words, all you need to do is line yourself up with enemies who follow a very strict movement pattern, before moving out of the way to avoid their incoming missiles. Kill a few baddies and then fight a boss to finish the stage. You've only got one weapon - a laser - so there's not much to do. Oh and you die in one hit and there's no lives or continues. One hit and it's game over.


Level Design Score: 2

Level Design Notes:

There's a stage select screen that's hard to decipher due to the language barrier, but it gives you a degree of freedom. But you can only choose between a few stages, and those stages are all functionally identical, so don't get your hopes up.


Theme Score: 3

Theme Notes:

All text is in Japanese and there's a ton of exposition being shattered between stages. I like the Battlestar Galactica feel to the story and spaceships, but the language barrier severely limits the fun.


Art Style Score: 3

Art Style Notes:

The visuals don't rival Star Fox but aren't half bad on their own. Stages include terrestrial and space biomes and the pixel art of yours and enemy ships are decent. Again, they give me Battlestar Galactica vibes.


Audio Score: 4

Audio Notes:

My favorite aspect of the game. Music is upbeat and chirpy, perfectly matching the theme. Good sound effects. This might be a stretch but I enjoyed the sound design.


Overall Score: 47

Review ID: 8131



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