Air Assault Longplay (Arcade) [4K]

Game Info
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Developer: Irem
Publisher: Irem
Year of Release: 1993

Game Review & Impressions
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It's been a while since we had a Shmup Sunday video, so to get the old trigger fingers warmed up, we have Irem's Air Assault.

The gameplay is typical of what was to be expected from a vertical shoot 'em up of this era. You blow up wave-upon-ware of aerial and ground-based targets with an array of plasma cannons, beam-form weapons and missiles, grab power-ups and smart bombs to become even more power, and grab medals left behind by enemies for bonus points. Each stage culminates with a suitably over-sized boss vehicle of some description, and victory over these sees you proceeding to the next stage. The game is tough for certain, but Air Assault isn't a "Bullet Hell" shooter, so I reckon most players could get pretty good at this, with some practice.

From a graphical standpoint, Air Assault is pretty good. The quality of the sprite artwork is impressive, with plenty of highlights and small details, and the multi-layer parallax backgrounds adding a sense of depth are a nice touch. There're some scaling and zooming effects, as your craft changes elevation, and it's all indicative of Irem's usual attention to detail. I wouldn't be surprised if the artists who worked on Gun Force II also worked on this, because I can see similarities in style.

I guess I should also give a shout-out to the audio, because Air Assault has some cool music; It would have been nigh impossible to have heard or appreciated it in a noisy arcade, so at least anyone checking out these games in the comfort of their own homes gets to experience the full audio score.

I don't think this game is doing anything revolutionary, but that's OK. It's a solid stablemate for all the other shooters released during this period, and thanks to it's detailed graphics and catchy music, it's still deserving of your attention. With three loops to be cleared before seeing the "true" ending, you'll need to bring your 'A' game, and possibly a box of plasters for the blisters on your fingers!

Chapters
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00:00 Attract mode
00:28 Stage 01 (Loop 01)
02:55 Stage 02 (Loop 01)
05:27 Stage 03 (Loop 01)
08:42 Stage 04 (Loop 01)
11:34 Stage 05 (Loop 01)
15:30 Stage 06 (Loop 01)
19:03 Stage 07 (Loop 01)
23:40 Stage 08 (Loop 01)
27:31 Stage 09 (Loop 02)
29:56 Stage 10 (Loop 02)
32:33 Stage 11 (Loop 02)
35:37 Stage 12 (Loop 02)
38:28 Stage 13 (Loop 02)
42:15 Stage 14 (Loop 02)
45:48 Stage 15 (Loop 02)
50:28 Stage 16 (Loop 02)
54:08 Stage 17 (Loop 03)
56:33 Stage 18 (Loop 03)
59:10 Stage 19 (Loop 03)
1:02:12 Stage 20 (Loop 03)
1:04:25 Stage 21 (Loop 03)
1:08:42 Stage 22 (Loop 03)
1:12:15 Stage 23 (Loop 03)
1:16:55 Stage 24 (Loop 03)
1:19:05 Ending