Virtual Console: Axelay

Nov. 12 3:08 PM by Alicia Ashby

If you're at all interested in retrogaming, then you've probably heard the term "Mode 7" thrown around a lot. Long story short, Mode 7 was a fancy way the SNES had of rotating and scaling background sprites. Konami's Axelay is famous for its thorough and creative abuse of Mode 7 scaling effects. The game wouldn't have been possible without them-- at least not without looking a lot crummier.

The game is split into six levels, three horizontal and three vertical. The horizontal levels are quite accomplished but nothing really mindblowing. The vertical effects use a Mode 7 scrolling effect that is pretty eye-popping, although it's known to make some modern games feel nauseous. I grew up watching games that scrolled and rotated and twisted everything they could think of as part of abusing Mode 7, so it doesn't bother me.

Axelay ditches weapon pick-ups in favor of letting the player pick what weapons they want on their ship. You get more customization options as you progress through the game, and can switch between weapons on the fly. These options are a lot of fun, but with Axelay it's the look and sound that act as the main draw. If the backgrounds don't make you nauseous, then they're really a joy to behold, and the music is some of the best of the period. There's multiple difficulty levels, and in all, this is a pretty crowd-pleasing shooter that shooter die-hards are likely to appreciate a little bit more than everyone else.

I just know I like filling my screen up with flyin' lasers. Pyoo pyoo pyoo! To show a hectic Axelay level in action, check out the next YouTube vid. (The user actually has a complete playthrough up, if you want to see what the rest of the game is like!) This is the first level on Hard, with some really interesting terrain-scrolling challenges on top of the expected endless hordes of little ships.

To further prove my assertion that Axelay's music is super-boss, here's a Stepmania file of the Stage 2 theme that someone made. Note that watching this arrow scroll may give your legs or fingers sympathy pains...