Aleste Gaiden
is a 1989 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Compile for the MSX2 home computer. A follow-up to Aleste, it was included as part of the autumn special edition of Disc Station, a monthly disk publication by Compile. It is a sidestory to the main series, taking place in an alternative continuity. Controlling the soldier Raymond Waizen, protagonist of the first game wearing a cybernetic ninja suit, the player must overthrow the supercomputer DIA 51 by fight waves of enemies and bosses, while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles.
Gameplay
Aleste Gaiden is a vertical-scrolling shoot 'em up game. The plot takes place in an alternative continuity and follows Raymond Waizen, protagonist of the first Aleste game, who wears a cybernetic ninja suit in order to overthrow the supercomputer DIA 51. Its gameplay differs from the original entry; the player controls Raymond instead of a ship through five increasingly difficult stages over a constantly scrolling background, populated with an assortment of enemy forces and obstacles such as pits that must be avoided by jumping, and the scenery never stops moving until a boss is reached, which must be fought to progress further.Unlike other Aleste titles, enemies move in a preset formation instead of being determined by an artificial intelligence. There are three types of power-ups that can be collected by the player, which come in capsules marked with a chikara symbol, as well as equip Raymond with shadow clones of himself. Gaiden employs a checkpoint system in which a downed player will start off at the beginning of the checkpoint they managed to reach before dying. However, the player respawn immediately when fighting a boss. Getting hit will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing Raymond's firepower to his original state and the game is over once all lives are lost.