Soldier Blade

Soldier Blade is a vertical-scrolling shooter video game, and the fourth in Hudson's successful Star Soldier series. The player assumes the role of the titular starship, which must complete each of the game's seven stages (referred to as "operations" in-game) in an effort to wipe out the Zeograd Army, an alien race bent on conquering Earth. Gameplay is often compared to its predecessor Super Star Soldier, sharing many of its gameplay elements and mechanics, but with a heavy emphasis on speed.

The Soldier Blade begins the game with a standard "Vulcan" projectile, which can destroy most enemies with a single shot, and can collect other weapons by acquiring different colored power capsules; these include a wave gun and a deadly laser that wipes out anything in its path. Collecting a power capsule will also cause a pod-like craft to join the player, which provides additional firepower. The Soldier Blade can be destroyed by colliding with either an enemy or a projectile; by collecting up to three power capsules, the player can take up to three hits. The player can also store three power-up items in a storage box placed towards the bottom of the screen, which can be deployed at any time.

The initial idea for Soldier Blade was conceived by Hudson Soft designer Ukiuki Uribo, during conversations with others about which game to use for the company's upcoming Caravan video game tournament. Hikaru Aoyama suggested creating a new shooting game with the tournament in mind; Uribo was hesitant to begin working on it due to it being around six months away, but Hudson executives pushed for the idea to go forth anyway. During early stages of production Uribo was simultaneously working on several Game Boy titles, which gave him less time to focus on the new game until these were completed. Planning for the project was known to be constantly under pressure via time and memory constraints, with employees simply throwing in ideas on the spot and creating the game as they went.

It was originally called Sonic Blaster F-92 in early versions, named after the player's ship designed by artist Tatsuya Doe, however trademark issues caused it to be renamed Soldier Blade instead. It began development on a 6-megabit HuCard, reduced to a 4-megabit one later on.

The original TurboGrafx-16 version of Soldier Blade was met with a mixed response from critics. GameFan compared the game favorably to Hudson's own Blazing Lazers, while Famitsu said it was one of the better shooters released for the console. One reviewer from Electronic Gaming Monthly labeled it "a hastily crafted title to herald the coming of the soon-to-be-released TurboDuo", but other reviewers from the magazine were more positive, despite noting the game's lack of originality. Reviews were mixed on the gameplay.

The reviewers from Electronic Gaming Monthly rated it from average to very good. GameFan greatly applauded it for its originality and fast-paced action. Famitsu said that while the gameplay was enjoyable, it was not as refined as Hudson's earlier shooters for the systems. Player One magazine found it not well-designed and too easy, feeling it was disappointing compared to Final Soldier.