Aliens

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Summer at Pinecrest Lake in California’s Sierra Nevada, quarters burning holes in my pockets, and there it was under the overhang beside the only grocery store in town. 

The arcade sat open to the elements, one side pressed right against the dark forest where shadows seemed to creep closer with every passing hour. 

Against this naturally ominous backdrop stood Aliens, with those haunting screenshots of cocooned colonists and biomechanical nightmares plastered across the opening intro. I hadn't seen the movies yet and I was young, so every alien design hit like a fresh horror.

My cousins and I would feed it quarters religiously that family trip, the real darkness looming just feet away making the game's terror feel uncomfortably close. It became our obsession that trip, and because of that, it still remains one of my favorite arcade games and introduced me to two of my favorite films ever.

Konami crafted something special in 1990, building a side-scrolling shooter that captured the claustrophobic terror of James Cameron's film, which had come out 4 years earlier. 

You're dropped into Hadley's Hope as either Ripley or Hicks… well, sort of. They’re never actually named and Ripley has blonde hair. Likely due to Konami not getting full rights to recreate the actors as well.

Armed with smart guns and facing wave after wave of biomechanical death. The graphics were impressive for the time, with detailed alien sprites that moved with unsettling fluidity and backgrounds that perfectly recreated the industrial nightmare of the film.

What made it work was the perfect balance of horror and action. Two attack buttons controlled high and low shots, essential for dealing with face huggers skittering along the floor and aliens dropping from overhead vents. 

The game cleverly shifted perspectives too, moving from traditional side-scrolling to third-person rail shooting sections with the APC that kept you on edge. Boss fights punctuated each stage, culminating in that iconic power loader versus Queen showdown that every Aliens fan dreamed of playing.

The sound design deserves special mention. Those alien screeches and the smartgun’s distinctive chatter all translated beautifully to the arcade format. Oddly the game doesn’t feature the iconic pulse rifle from the film, and it would have been nice to have seen and heard it in game. 

I think Konami understood that atmosphere was everything in an Aliens game. The backgrounds featured subtle nods to the film, with the looming atmosphere processor creating an ever-present sense of doom. Even the cabinet art captured that biomechanical H.R. Giger aesthetic perfectly, drawing players in with its dark, organic curves.

The arcade version does take some liberties with the famous xenomorph. Spiders, flying aliens, zombies carrying guns, and some of the boss designs are completely original and have nothing to do with the film. Every level is plagued with new enemy types and designs to join the famous Giger designed versions.

Co-op play elevated the experience further, letting two players experience the marines' camaraderie while facing impossible odds together. Seeing Ripley and Hicks fighting side by side felt authentic to the source material.

Playing Aliens recently brought back more than just gaming memories, it transported me back to that Pinecrest Lake summer with family members who are no longer with us.

The game holds up surprisingly well, its quarter-munching difficulty aside. You can expect to beat it within a half hour, and that length feels just right for a game like this.

Playing it on emulation, quarters are no longer a concern. But back in the day, this ate quarters like no other.

The difficulty spikes hard in the later levels, enemies mob you from every direction, and bosses can take you out in just a few hits. You will die, and you’ll die a lot.

And sadly, this of all games missed the perfect opportunity to include Hudson’s iconic line: “Game over, man. Game over.” when you die.

For a kid who hadn't yet experienced Cameron's masterpiece, the game served as the perfect, terrifying introduction to that universe. Even now, those biomechanical screams echo in my memory from that trip.

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