• Platform: Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System
• Release Date: 1992
• Similar Games: R-Type (Arcade), Pulstar (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System), Blazing Star (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System)

Game Description

It's the year 2920AD. Years of pollution caused by a rapidly growing population have turned Earth into a desert wasteland. Desperate to find new habitats, humans turn to the stars. People looking for new hope create a series of space colonies. One day, some sort of virus infects the third colony's main computer. The infected computer creates machines to eliminate human colonists. The situation looks desperate, but humans have a last resort. Two experimental fighters are sent to deal with the waves of hostile machines the computer created, with the ultimate goal of destroying the computer itself.

Last Resort is very evident in its borrowing from shooter classic R-Type. The game plays out in a side view perspective, with 2D scrolling graphics. Up to two players can simultaneously contend with the waves of enemy units en route to the stage end bosses.

To help in dealing with the multitude of enemy units, players' fighters can pick up a variety of power ups. The most significant pickup is the option pod. When collected a pod appears next to the player's ship and shoots when the player shoots. The pod is also invulnerable, giving players shielding from attacks coming through them. The pod circles around the fighter opposite to the player's input. So if the fighter moves forwards then up, the pod will circle back then down. When the pod circles it also changes its facing, so when the player moves forward the pod aims backwards. The pod can be locked into place by pressing the B button. Locked pods still change their facing when players move their ships. When the A button is held down then released, the pod will shoot out to the end of the screen and back, causing significant amounts of damage to anything it hits. Other power-ups are also available to collect, ranging from speed bonuses to weapon and missile power-ups. ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Last Resort's story, with the player's fighters being humanity's last resort, borrows from virtually every other shooting game in existence. The style of gameplay and overall look is more indicative of R-Type influence. ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Terrible slowdown and harsh difficulty lessen the game's enjoyment ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Last Resort is a fun and engaging shooter in the tradition of R-Type. But there are a few key problems that detract from the game's potential for enjoyment.

Graphics are Last Resort's strong point. Through good design and using strong striking colors, the stages really convey the future apocalypse world the game is set in. Little details like pilots ejecting from destroyed ships and cityscapes being lit up at night add to the overall graphical quality of the stages. While some of the game's enemy units and bosses show evident influence from other shooters, they mostly look pretty good. Some of the bosses are actually fairly interesting to look at. Unfortunately the graphical quality comes at a price. As early as level two you'll be experiencing massive amounts of slowdown. Given the power of the Neo Geo slowdown this bad is really unacceptable.

The game's music ranges from average to good. The musical tracks aren't good enough that you'll really sit up and take notice, but in general they are better than average shooter music. Sound effects are also pretty solid.

Game controls are good and responsive. At first you'll think that the game has unresponsive controls, but that's just your ship moving at an annoyingly slow pace. A few speed power-ups can solve that problem. After that the controls respond quite smoothly. But the A button, which controls both shooting and flinging the pod, is a bit too sensitive. Even when you're just pressing the A button repeatedly for shots the game sometimes picks that up as holding down the A for a charge, resulting in your pod shooting around the screen when you didn't actively charge for it. Usually it's not a problem because it just adds to your overall firepower. But if you're using the pod as a shield it becomes problematic; the pod could fly off just when you need it to block a shot for you. The pod's controls will also take some getting used to, but the ability to control where it is adds an interesting strategic element to a genre that normally features all twitch gameplay.

The game's harsh difficulty also detracts from overall enjoyment. On all but the easiest level, the difficulty is very unforgiving and will result in quick player deaths. In some places it almost seems like the computer is trying to trap you into losing lives. Like other Neo Geo games with extreme difficulty levels, this is because of the game's arcade origins. More deaths mean faster quarter input. At least in theory.

Overall Last Resort is a pretty enjoyable and solid shooter. But as you play more and more of the game the enjoyment level decreases until you start to become frustrated by its difficulty and slowdown. The game is a decent shooter effort, but there are better. ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Striking use of colors in the background, and lots of detail throughout ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Above average music for shooters ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Standard replay value for shooters ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

Adequate ~ Kyle Knight, All Game Guide