
	Platform Amiga, Arcade, Atari ST, C64, Sega Geneses, ZX Spectrum Genre Action Publisher Data East Developer Data East ETA 1990
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Midnight Resistance

During the 16-bit era, there were no lack of games that had players running around, shooting up enemies willy-nilly. While the likes of Contra, and Rolling Thunder were getting the lion’s share of gamers’ attention, one neat little title slipped out into arcades, and later the Sega Genesis, called Midnight Resistance. While players ran around, they could independently control the direction in which their on-screen alter ego was shooting via a second joystick, which was a novelty at the time (and had to be modified a fair bit in order to work on the Genesis gamepad). It made for an interesting change of pace that, sadly, not enough people took the time to experience.

The stories of the arcade and Genesis versions of the games actually vary quite a bit. In the arcade version, players took control of a commando who was out to rescue his family, and stop a big bad enemy called The Commissar who was out to take over the world via a doomsday weapon that the protagonist’s grandfather had designed. However, in the Genesis version, the commando was rescuing his family from a drug cartel kingpin who had a beef with the commando’s father, who had developed a vaccine that made people immune to the effects of the kingpin’s drugs.

Advertisement

Consisting of eight decent-sized levels, players progressed through each of them while blasting up anyone standing in their way. The levels looked alright for their time, but there were certainly better looking games out there. Nonetheless, there was a good, steady serving of boss encounters, and nifty weapons to use. Weapons could be purchased at the end of each level with little red

Advertisement

keys that players collect as they make their way through said level. These weapons included fully automatic rifles, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, homing missiles, three-way shooting guns, and shotguns, among others.

What made Midnight Resistance so good was its fast-paced nature, as players ran through the levels shooting up bad guys. Players could run around however they liked, and just shot in the direction of the enemies without having to stop and turn around, which was something one didn’t see way back in 1990. Heck, you could even jump in the air, and shot in a circle all around you if so inclined. It wasn’t a terribly practical think to do, but it was certainly nice to have the option.

In time, Midnight Resistance also made its way to the Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, and even the ZX Spectrum. It was particularly impressive to see a port made for the Spectrum. Granted it had to be tweaked quite a bit in order to work on the comparatively primitive hardware, but the game turned out surprisingly well. In the end, it was a bit of a trailblazing game in how it gave players the ability to shoot in directions independent of the direction that their character was moving, and the concept would only improve over time as more developers implemented it into their own games. While some may be tempted to write Midnight Resistance off as just another run and gun action game, it did bring an intriguing concept to the table for its time.

Mr. Nash

June 11, 2010