To the Earth

To the Earth

North American cover art
Developer(s) Cirque Verte
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Platform(s) Nintendo Entertainment System
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Shoot 'em up
Mode(s) Single-player

To the Earth is a light gun shooter for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on November 1989 in North America and in Europe on February 23, 1990. It uses the NES Zapper to destroy ships and gain powerups. The game requires quick reflexes and good aiming due to the enemy space crafts being very agile and quite difficult to shoot.

Gameplay

Screenshot of To the Earth.

The object of the game is to destroy incoming enemy spacecraft, bombs, missiles, asteroids, etc. without destroying friendly vessels. Due to the very quick speeds of the enemy ships and asteroids, the game is considered to be one of the most challenging Zapper games for the NES. The shield of the spacecraft players are in command of constantly goes down each time they shoot at an enemy and miss. Players also can use a powerful bomb to destroy everything on screen, shoot a comet power-up that grants temporary protection from a limited number of hits, as well as a shield-repairing item dropped off by a friendly spacecraft. Game bosses are fought at the end of each level as the player moves through the Solar system. When the player reaches the Earth level, the player must battle and destroy the final boss, who is an alien named Nemesis. The goal is to retrieve vials of medicine and deliver them to the Earth while preventing Nemesis from passing through the planet's atmosphere.

The level locations of the game in order are Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, and the final level, Earth.[3] At the game's conclusion, the player receives a congratulation message from Nester, who is the president of the terrestrial federation of this game.

Story

Taken directly from the American release of the game:

"It's 2050. The Ragossians have invaded the earth with a dastardly bacteriological weapon! The human race is facing the danger of extinction. You are on a special mission to bring the antibacterial agent from the Neptune-Terrestrial Allied Force base, 'Triton', to the Earth. You must break through the invaders' cordon. Time is limited! The fate of the earth is in your hands. Save it!"

Reception

The game only received a few reviews upon its release, both good and bad. The German publication Power Play gave the game a 36 out of 100 when it rated it in 1990.[4] Brett Alan Weiss from Allgame said "This game requires full concentration and good shooting skills, but it is very entertaining."[5]

References

  1. ↑ "NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
  2. ↑ Gamefaqs Overview Retrieved November 5, 2006
  3. ↑ Allgame Overview Retrieved November 5, 2006.
  4. ↑ "To the Earth for NES". MobyGames. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
  5. ↑ Allgame Review Retrieved November 5, 2006.

External links