It was only a few days ago when I mentioned Launchbox, and since then I had the opportunity to play some classics, both retro-console and Arcade games. The first one that I want to recollect on is Life Force, a home port for the NES that is better than its arcade counterpart.

It’s a game where you two people at a time can fly spaceships and shoot lasers to kill alien forces on a techno-organic planet. It’s a simple Idea that goes a long way. The game is a pretty long playthrough, because the levels scroll on their own and you are at the mercy of its pace. Without the Konami code (u,u,d,d,l,r,l,r,b,a) you only start with 3 lives for the whole game and have to earn extra lives by scoring points.

I’ve currently failed 3 playthroughs and made it to the 4th stage. I’m looking to score a no-death run up to the point where the walls start closing in on you at the end of the game. That will be where I burn my earned extra lives. Other than that, after one death I call it quits because it’s demoralizing when you lose your arsenal.

This is a game where the old format of having lives and continues is forgivable because mastery means that you don’t get hit. There aren’t too many games these days where you scroll through a level slowly and die from a single hit.

My dad bought me this game at Kay-Bee Toys when I was little. It was so random, because you really don’t have any idea if the game is good when you see it hanging on a shelf. Back then, the Box Art and a few screen shots was the only thing telling you what the game was about, and I must say that the box art for this game is a masterpiece. The game itself is really stellar as well. It’s still very playable to this day. The music is probably some of the best you will ever hear from the NES.