Burai Fighter review - Nintendo Entertainment System

The evil Burai are invading Earth and you've got to stop them!

Set over seven levels, Burai Fighter's hero is armed with a death-dealing weapon. Some aliens leave behind tokens when killed, and these cycle through the options (see the Fact Box) so that the token required can be selected.

Each level's end is guarded by a huge and ferocious creature, and only tactics and skill enable the Fighter to get past. Luckily our hero's weapon can fire in any direction, so he's not limited to staying in front of the baddies. Let's hope that's enough to save his bacon from a right frying!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

I'm fairly unconvinced about this game. The graphics and sound are quite pleasing, but the monotony of the challenge fails to thrill me at all. Why is the game so hard? There's nothing wrong with a stiff fight, but when the slow-moving bullets give the player no chance to escape their path it tends to stop the game from being fun. I think that a lack of genuine enthusiasm from the programmers has resulted in a mediocre game here, and there are much better shoot 'em ups available for the Nintendo (like Life Force), so unless you're desperate for a new blaster this shouldn't be top of your list!

Since the Nintendo doesn't have many shoot 'em ups in its software range, Burai Fighter is a welcome addition as far as I'm concerned. Although there are only three extra weapons each has nine different grades of power and can be cycled through in the heat of battle - essential, since some weapons are more effective than others in certain situations! On the normal level, the game isn't particularly tough, but the two other skill levels offer plenty of challenge for the experts - I certainly got plenty of fun out of it. If you're a shoot 'em up fan like me who's after a good Nintendo blast, check this out.