Platform: Nintendo 64

The only vertical shooter on the N64, this Star Soldier game enters the 3rd dimension while keeping the gameplay classic.

The graphics aged surprisingly well for an early 3D game, and still manage to impress today. There is really a lot of frantic action going on at most times. The view is a bit tilted like in Silpheed or Iridion II, so the playing field feels a bit larger than the screen. Generally the enemies here swarm you wir much more bullets than in the predecessors, but this game offers a neat new "roll" mechanic, where you can bounce back bullets by hitting R in the right moment, and it's not so easy to pull off that kills the game's challenge. In addition to that you can at times gather the weapon energy for an extra destructive power shot, reminicient of sacrificing a pod in Soldier Blade. I also liked the roboticized voices of the boss enemies.

The game offers several ships at start, but choosing a ship locks you with a single weapon for the rest of the game. The powerup system goes back to the NES Star Soldier, forgetting all the improvements it saw on the other parts, which is a little disappointing, but the new mechanics partly make up for it.

It's a very competent, action packed and impressive looking entry in the series, and it's a shame there weren't more shooters like that on the N64, since this one is really fun. While the powerup system is a bit boring, the gameplay in this game stays interesting at all times, making this an above average Star Soldier game.