Format: Advance
Genre: Shooter
Developer: Kotobuki System
Publisher: Kotobuki System

Operation Climax! Launch! Phalanx is a shmup that has amazing graphics. The reason for this is because it's originally a PC game for the Sharp X68000. This was later ported to the SNES and once again to the GBA. The basic story is something akin to "an evil virus enemy invades a spaceship, go save it" or something akin to that. You set off in your lone fighter ship to go destroy the enemy alien infection, or something. since this is an early 90's shmup, it's very fast moving and the graphics are some of the best parts. The music is also very solid and holds the game very well. One of the best parts of the game is the attention to detail. For example, in one of the levels there's a stream of water constantly pushing you back, and skidding on the surface of that water adds a "splashing" effect. Small details like that make this title visually aesthetically pleasing. The action itself is fast paced, tons of enemies from all directions no matter which level you're in. Bullets flying all over the place means you're constantly dodging which is how a good shmup should be. The scoring and lives system is also pretty balanced overall and luckily in this game you also had another thing going for you, A LIFE BAR! Yeah that's right, this isn't a "1 hit death" shmup. You have 4 power meters, which means 4 hits and then you lose a life. To add onto that you also can pick up the "P" powerup to restore your life meter. Other powerups include "R" "H" "L" and "E", as well as an "A". I don't know what A does, but R H L & E are all weapon powerups. They change your basic weapon attack like any good shmup. L is Laser, which shoots about 3 in front and 2 in back in a straight piercing line. H stands for Homing which shoots giant balls of energy that target the nearest enemy. R is an odd one, I don't know what it stands for, but it shoots out green footballs in 3 directions that also bounce off walls in stages with walls. E stands for Energy Charge, when you hold the Shoot button it charges up for a big blast + shotgun effect. You can hold up to 4 weapons at any time and picking up a new weapon will remove your left-most weapon in the grid. R button to switch in between them, and of course when you die you lose the weapon you were equipped with. Similar to Contra 3 yeah? There's also something else interesting with this game. You can use the L button to activate a weapon in a similar way to a bomb. It will "use up" that weapon and give a sorta of specialty effect specific to that weapon. There are also bombs as well in this game, you get 3 of them. For those that don't know, bombs in shmups just clear the screen, standard for shmups. Personally speaking, I preferred the Laser and Homing weapons and used the 'R' powerup as a super-bomb. To each their own though. The variety of levels is pretty amazing overall, From skies, to ground, to water, to underground, to invading a spaceship in motion. The classic Warp Zone level is here too! If anything, the only missing element would be the classic fire level, which wasn't really needed. The select button can change your speed. It's a pretty free and open shmup. About 8 levels give or take, I wasn't counting, but the size of the game is fairly nice and the speed is also very good. Some things will "get you" and seem unfair, but that's also part of the fun, which I can appreciate. The bosses are definitely harder than the basic "shoot it in the eye" that Gradius boasts so much. There's some fun mid-bosses too. No credits for this game but has a high-score input after you beat it. Fun all around.

All in All, This shmup earned a 10.0 for being a perfect example of what a shmup should be. No Credits Screen.