Abadox: The Deadly Inner War (NES Review)

Abadox: The Deadly Inner War
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Released December 15, 1989
Directed by Atsushi Okazaki
Developed by Natsume
Published by Milton Bradley
NEVER BEEN RE-RELEASED

If you fly into a giant humanoid, does it count as a french kiss?

Over the last few months, I’ve been putting together Konami Shoot ‘Em Ups: The Definitive Review. It’s coming VERY soon to Indie Gamer Chick and features seventy-six reviews for games in the genre that, in many ways, defined Konami. I’ve finished writing the reviews and I’m just editing the feature, but apparently I really like the genre, because I’m still “working it out of my system.” So, how about a shmup that isn’t made by Konami but feels like it could be? Part of those feelings is probably because Abadox features sound from the same sound guy who did the NES version of Contra! So that’s neat, and also, if you play the Japanese version, there’s digital boobs. If you’re into that.

Sorry, I have to censor. It’s kind of funny that there’s actual nudity in some unlicensed American NES games, but they were so rare that they’re prized collectors items today despite being terrible games. Abadox has the same amount of boobs, but with actual good gameplay. I guess if you wanted nudity in quality games during the era, you should have moved to Japan.

Abadox has you flying through a giant alien, blowing up its organs. If that sounds a lot like Salamander/Life Force, just wait! Because this also mixes traditional “scroll right” shmup gameplay with vertical gameplay, just like the Konami classic that I recently realized I didn’t really like anywhere near as much as I liked the mainline Gradius series proper. What makes Abadox stand out is, for the vertical stages, you don’t scroll upward, but rather downward, like you’re falling. It’s awkward and certainly takes getting used to. But, once you adjust to the angles, it’s not that bad, actually. A little cramped, maybe.

Please don’t ask what organ this is supposed to be that you’re fighting.

Like the coin-op Salamander, there’s no item bar for this one. Instead there’s four different capsule drops that increase your speed, give you missiles, provide you with a shield, or equip a lethal barrier around you. Grabbing additional capsules before losing the previous ones boosts the effect, giving you up to four of the spinning barrier items or making your missiles heat-seeking. Meanwhile, the guns are where this REALLY gets uncomfortably close to Life Force/Gradius, as one of the guns is a very Gradius-like laser and another shoots rings. It’s sort of amazing how shameless it is.

That looks like a tumor to me. Are we SURE we’re killing a gigantic alien parasite and not, you know, curing it?

You’ve probably noticed the bosses have some freaky ass designs. Well, they’re probably the highlight of the game. I say “probably” because they’re also a huge pain in the ass for me thanks to the fact that they do a full-screen strobe effect every time you land a shot. In order to beat the bosses, I sort of had to position myself in the right spot, fire a shot to make sure I was lined-up right, then auto-fire my bullets into them while not looking at the screen and hope I survived its counterattacks. For what it’s worth, none of the bosses took more than a couple seconds to defeat, except the very last one. The one that spawns the naked chick has a very narrow opening to shoot. Once it’s defeated, the game ends in a speed tunnel that sees you dodging barriers. Hey, just like Life Force/Salamander! Fancy that!

All I could think of when I saw this was “hello Smithers. You’re QUITE good at TURNING me ON.“

Okay, so Abadox shamelessly rips off Konami and Salamander, but honestly, I thought this was a LOT better than any of those games were. For starters, it does a lot better job of selling the idea that you’re fighting a gigantic evil alien organism from the inside. The level design and bosses are significantly more imaginative, and the structure of splitting levels into two parts makes the sense of progress feel much more satisfying. Having the six levels split into two parts also allows for faster changes of the level themes, so there’s more sights to see. AND it doubles the game’s boss count from six to twelve. Since none of the bosses are slogs, this is presumably a good thing.

Really, these are boilerplate challenges for 1989, but they’re dressed-up well for an NES game.

Okay, so the sprite for your “ship” is a little large and occasionally that makes it harder to dodge (especially on the side-scrolling levels). But the controls are perfect, the collision is solid and even the basic enemies and obstacles are enjoyable enough to battle. Hell, I think it even handles the speed-ups better than most any Konami title I’ve played. Despite Abadox functionally containing twelve shorter levels, it never feels padded. Honestly, this is one of the best 8-bit shmups I’ve played over the last few months, and as a reminder, I’ve spent those months mostly playing shmups. Had I not known this was by Natsume and I just booted Abadox up and played it without checking, I would have assumed this was a Konami game, and an elite one at that. Fine, maybe it’s a rip-off, but it’s one of the greatest rip-offs in gaming history.
Verdict: YES!

What games are featured in Konami Shoot ‘Em Ups: The Definitive Review, publishing later this month at Indie Gamer Chick?

• The End (Arcade)
• Scramble (Arcade)
• Super Cobra (Arcade)
• Pooyan (Arcade)
• Time Pilot (Arcade)
• Gyruss (Arcade)
• Mega Zone (Arcade)
• Juno First (Arcade)
• Time Pilot ’84 (Arcade)
• Scooter Shooter (Arcade)
• TwinBee (Arcade)
• Gradius (Arcade)
• Finalizer (Arcade)
• Jail Break (Arcade)
• TwinBee (Famicom)
• Knightmare (MSX)
• TwinBee (MSX)
• Gradius (NES)
• Salamander/Life Force (Arcade)
• Gradius (MSX)
• Stinger (NES)
• Battlantis (Arcade)
• Flak Attack (Arcade)
• Gradius 2 (MSX)
• Life Force (NES)
• Falsion (FDS)
• A-Jax/Typhoon (Arcade)
• Salamander (MSX)
• Thunder Cross (Arcade)
• Gradius II (Arcade)
• Parodius (MSX)
• Devastators (Arcade)
• Gyruss (NES)
• Gradius II (Famicom)
• Nemesis 3 (MSX)
• TwinBee 3 (Famicom)
• Gradius III (Arcade)
• Space Manbow (MSX2)
• Aliens (Arcade)
• Trigon/Lightning Fighters (Arcade)
• Nemesis (Game Boy)
• Parodius (Arcade)
• TwinBee Da! (Game Boy)
• Parodius (NES)
• Gradius III (SNES)
• Thunder Cross II (Arcade)
• Bells & Whistles (Arcade)
• Parodius Da! (PC Engine)
• Parodius (Game Boy)
• Gradius: The Interstellar Assault (Game Boy)
• Crisis Force (Famicom)
• Xexex aka Orius (Arcade)
• Gradius (PC Engine)
• Salamander (PC Engine)
• Detana!! TwinBee (PC Engine)
• G.I. Joe (Arcade)
• Parodius (SNES)
• Axelay (SNES)
• Gradius II (PC Engine Super CD-ROM²)
• Pop’n TwinBee (SNES)
• Gokujou Parodius! (Arcade)
• Gokujou Parodius (Super Famicom)
• Parodius Da! (PlayStation/Saturn)
• Gokujō Parodius (PlayStation/Saturn)
• TwinBee Yahho! (Arcade)
• Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius (Super Famicom)
• Salamander 2 (Arcade)
• Sexy Parodius (Arcade, PSX)
• Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius: Forever with Me (PSX)
• Solar Assault (Arcade)
• Gradius Gaiden (PSX)
• Gradius IV (Arcade)
• Gradius Galaxies (GBA)
• Parodius (PSP)
• TwinBee Da! (PSP)
• Gradius 2 (PSP)