Plague, The

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Everything began on a breeding ground for genetically enhanced species and everything seemed to be going fine until people discovered the Plague. The Plague has managed to evolve unnoticed and now its presence is rife within the planet's breeding grounds. Due to this major threat, the various species have become hideously mutated and extremely hostile. You are a fighter and must make your way through having as a sole partner your laser weapon. Your weapon blasts low energy bullets but if you keep the fire button pressed the laser's energy increases, unleashing a powerful (R-Type anyone?). Of course there are power ups around in the form of lasers and bombs and though their brief life span they can prove to be lifesavers in certain parts of the game. The enemies vary a lot in sizes and shapes and the landscapes have also been affected by the terrible Plague. Some of the plants and shrubs have also been contaminated and transformed into man eaters! Not to mention those freaky fire breathing heads that block your way and are practically immune to your fire power. At the end of each level you will encounter an end level guardian, which is probably the most difficult part of the game to accomplish. Each level has several lifts to operate and use in order to make your way across deadly rivers or other pits and traps.One pretty innovative feature in this game is the ability to draw your own sketch / signature via a smart painting tool, provided that you reach the highest score(!) The Plague is a very decent platform shooter with intensive gameplay but also a very high difficulty at times! It looks like the developed emphasized more on its presentation than play-ability and last-ability. I've also noticed that there is no health bar here so you cannot really keep count how many hits left to take you down and start all over again. The Plague might not be a great title but it's surely is better than the average games of the genre.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
Technically the game is decent. The only downfall I found is with the sprites that are poorly designed and animated (although pretty big in size!) The rest of the game's visuals are fine, with well drawn and colorful backgrounds that scroll smoothly behind the impressive sprites. Sound-wise, the game has a nice introductory music and a variety of sampled (but rather unimpressive) in-game sound effects.