US Title:Shock Troopers 2nd SquadJapanese Title:Shock Troopers 2nd SquadBy:SaurusYear:1998Size:514 MegsHome Release?YesMVS Release?YesCD Release?NoI can recall back in Fall of '98, when I first heard there was a sequel toShock Troopers coming out. I was so excited! I was currently playing the hellout of the original Shock Troopers, and wondered if there was any way for asequel to top the original. After months of agonized waiting, I finally got toplay the game.

But after all that buildup, could it possibly meet theexpectations?The name '2nd Squad' suggests that it's the same game withdifferent characters. Nope, ST2S is pretty much an entirely different game fromthe first. The same basic gameplay applies, but there aren't too manysimilarities from there. The A button still acts as the character's primaryweapon, with the same 'lock-on' shooting. There's been one odd changethough, and it's that the functions of the B and C buttons are switched. The Bbutton now activates your character's special attack, and the C button is thedefensive move. I say 'defensive move' because the rolling has nowbeen replaced with jumping.

Be sure to read the description carefully to avoid a poster with any tearing.

Jumping is completely invincible too, and you havethe added bonus of actually being able to move around in any direction, unlikerolling which forced you in the same direction. The only other change is thatthe D button is no longer used.because Team Mode is now gone. Yes, one of the coolest things about theoriginal Shock Troopers is missing, most likely because there are only fourcharacters to pick from. Each character is pretty individualized in terms ofnormal shot type, special weapon type, and speed.

But unfortunately, thecharacters aren't 'well-balanced' either. Basically, the malecharacters Leon and Toy are far superior to the female characters Angel andLulu. This is due mainly in part to Leon and Toy having special weapons thatdestroy all bullets on the screen. And that becomes a lifesaver later on,especially on the last battle. Call of gods joyheat. Lasers.)Other changes to the game?

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Shock Troopers Second Squad, Shock Troopers - PCCB-00355) on 01/1999. TIPS AND TRICKS Here are the 4 characters with their codenames and statistics: Leon (aka Lion Heart): Speed 1 - Attack 4 - Defense 4 - Evasion 1. Angel balloongirl bodyexpansion bodyinflation inflated inflation inflationart inflationfetish femaleinflation inflationexpansion inflatedgirl bodyinflationstory inflationcomic bodyinflationcomic bodyinflationwoman. Angel from 'Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad' does not look to happy from blowing up.!:/-I OWN NOTHING USED!!!!!

You can now get into vehicles (tanks, jeeps, andmechs) to mow down enemies. You can even 'charge' up your shots in thevehicles to unleash more destruction (and earn more points).

Item pickups areslightly different now, as all of them must be obtained from enemies. Andrarely will you get the special weapons that were so prominent in the first one.Instead you will receive the usual points, bombs, and letters for a strange'spelling' system that's unique for each character (don't worry toomuch about it, it has little effect on the game).Graphics- 82ndSquad takes the graphic style in a completely different direction, opting forthe rendered look instead of hand-drawn. Unfortunately, this just does NOT workthat well on the Neo-Geo. It didn't work all that well for Saurus on other gameslike Ragnagard, but that obviously didn't stop them. On the plus side, thecharacters' animations are even smoother than they were in the first ShockTroopers, and there's more blood to go around too.Sound- 9Anotherarea which would have been nigh-impossible to top compared to the firstinstallment. But the music overall is very excellent, it just isn't quite ascatchy as the kickin' tunes provided by the 1st.

Again there's a lot of speech,this time in hilariously bad English. 'No room for forgiveness, on thebattle field', indeed. But it still goes a long way in personalizing eachcharacter.ReplayValue - 8Oneof the great things about the first Shock Troopers was how you had threedifferent routes to pick from at the beginning, and could switch to anothermidway through. It made for a total of 17 unique levels. 2nd Squad starts offwith the same 1st level every time, then on Stage 2 you get to pick a route thatonly changes the next two stages.

And there are only 5 stages total, meaningthere's only 7 stages in all on this game. However, the levels are a tad longerthan they are in the first one, and it will still take roughly half an hour orlonger to play through from start to finish. But it still hurts the game a bit,as after two play-throughs you've seen everything there is to be seen. Well, you can always work towards a one-credit finish, which is muchharder to do in this game.Gameplay- 7.5Thiscould've been a 10, or even a 9.5. But the game falters in this category for onemain reason - the difficulty.

The life bar is almost meaningless in this game,as an average enemy attack will take off 60% or more of the bar, insuring you'llbe dead in two hits. Life-ups are never found or awarded after levels, they mustbe obtained entirely from killing enemies with close-range attacks or bombs.but the chances of getting a life-up are very, very rare. Many times I've gonethrough two levels in a row, killing a ton of enemies with close-range attacksand never getting a life-up. Once you do receive one, it only heals about 25-30%of the bar. Which isn't enough to recover a full hit. But there's another sideto this - when you have a special weapon, getting damaged reduces your ammo,not your life bar. But then you can't get any life-ups when you have a specialweapon.

It's a real double-edged sword, and not a system that works very well.It's very sad that with a couple tweaks, this problem could have been averted.It makes the game much more difficult (although not entirely impossible). Theother major problem is slowdown. It hits often, and can get very irritating.Although after a while you come to appreciate it, as it makes dodging/jumpingbullets easier.Overall- 8Perhapsmy expectations were too high, but this is still another great game for theNeo. It's just not the same as the first Shock Troopers. Well-worth a purchaseif you enjoyed the first, just don't expect more of the exact same thing.AvailabilityReleasedon MVS and AES (Japan only) formats. Average going price for the MVS versiontends to be around $50-60 now, while the home cart still goes for $200 or so.

Ofcourse, prices are always subject to change.-MoreReviews of This Game:byby- Courtesy of Reviews.