Gun Force II

The Good
Gun Force II (or Geo Storm, as it is known in Japan) is another run-and-gun title from Irem, and it is one of the last coin-op titles that the company produced; they left the arcade industry due to financial problems, causing some of the developers to leave and form Nazca Corporation where they created the excellent Metal Slug for the Neo-Geo.

As Max (a friend can play as Lei in a two-player game), you fight your way through five side-scrolling levels, killing enemy soldiers, aliens, mutants, robots, and several others before facing the end-of-level boss, usually a large robotic creature that takes quite a pounding to kill. The game play is similar to its predecessor, but Irem decided to expand on it. Max can now carry two weapons, the other one can be any special weapon you collect.

Anyone who has played the original game will feel right at home with the controls. A single button allows you to shoot your weapon in all eight directions and another button to jump. You can also commandeer up to eleven different vehicles and rescue female captives. Finally, like Undercover Cops, you get bonus points that vary based on your performance. Only this time, you go up in rank if you perform well, and get demoted if you do poorly.

The visuals have the same quality as those in Metal Slug. In the first stage, you're fighting in winter forests and coastlines, while in subsequent stages, there are mountains, construction areas, and a stormy night complete with lightning. The bosses are huge, almost taking up the entire screen. They have good animations as well. Each of the soundtracks are brilliantly composed, and most of them are remixes of the soundtracks from Air Duel.

Gun Force II is also a “score-attack” game. Unlike every game made by Irem, there is no ending, so after you complete the last level, you are jettisoned all the way back to the first stage. You then continue play until you run out of lives, and hopefully, dominate every position in the high score table.

The Bad
Can’t think of anything.

The Bottom Line
As one of the last games Irem released in the arcades, Gun Force II is an excellent game that has a hint of Metal Slug to it. The graphics are stunning and the music is brilliantly composed. Anyone who has already played Nazca's great series should definitely try this game out.