Alien Syndrome (エイリアンシンドローム) is a 1987 arcade game released by Sega. It runs on Sega System 16 hardware. The user plays as either Ricky and Mary rescuing hostages within a set time limit while blasting aliens. There are numerous weapons and two players can play simultaneously.
Compared to other Arcade ports to the Master System, Alien Syndrome shows some very poor production values. It's incompatible with the Mega Drive controller (since the Master System D-pad is terrible for the diagonals), lacks a cooperative 2P mode (it only have the competitive one) and lacks a scrolling camera.
The round's boss is named Hugger[1] (ハガー)[17], named after artist Haga. A similar boss with the same name appears in one of the developer's next games Altered Beast. In the Western Master System release they are renamed Squime[18].
Round 2
The round's boss is named Asophy[1] (アソフィー)[17], named after designer Hiroshi Aso (also known as Asohi). In the Western Master System release they are renamed Aargh[18].
Round 3
The round's boss is named Tacapy[1] (タカピー)[17], likely named after a developer.
Round 4
The round's boss is named Minnow[1] (ミノ)[19], named after artist Minoru Matsuura (also known as Minow). In the Master System release they are replaced with アッシィー[17], renamed Masher in the West[18].
Round 5
The round's boss is named Yocotie[20] (ヨコティエ)[19], named after programmer Makihito Yokota. In the Master System release they are replaced with ハリファー[17], renamed Haggah in the West[18].
Round 6
The round's boss is named Minemor[20] (ミナモーレ)[17], likely named after a developer whose name begins with MIN. In the Western Master System release they are renamed Minesar[18].
Round 7
The round's boss is named Mizzy (ミズィー)[21], likely named after a developer. In the Famicom release they are replaced with King Core (キングコアー)[22] and in the Master System release are replaced by an unnamed boss[17][18].
History
Legacy
The game was ported to the Famicom (by Sunsoft and Sanritsu), Sega Game Gear (published by Sims) and Sega Master System. In 1988, Tengen brought Sunsoft's port over to the United States with an unlicensed release, removing both Sunsoft's and Sanritsu's names. Due to technical restrictions, some versions are single-player only. It was also re-released as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series and as part of Sega Classics Collection (however it was removed from the European release to keep the PEGI rating down). The Sega Classics Collection port is notable for its two joysticks control scheme, similar to Robotron 2084 and Smash TV.