It's been three long years since an alien asteroid landed on Earth, taking over a military base, and while the unfriendly ETs have since been contained within, all efforts to eradicate them have been fruitless. That's where you come in; as Dr. Wesley MacGregor, you've developed a poison that will kill the alien menace, and thanks to some fighter piloting in your past, you are chosen to deliver the weapon in Dustin Auxier's side-scrolling shooter, Parasite Strike. Control your aircraft with the [arrow] keys while attacking with [C] for bullets and [X] for bombs, though there are two other control arrangements from which to choose. Your defeated enemies will burst into different colored orbs which you collect toward the purchase of a staggering amount of options in the choice of your plane, weapons and gadgets. Not only are there choices in weaponry, but you can also choose the angle and spread of each weapon.

Auxier has made a game with a retro feel that may remind you of the days when playing video games required tuning to channel 3. At a length of just six missions, Parasite Strike may feel short, but with six additional secret missions, four ranks to achieve in each mission and four difficulty settings keep this game interesting enough to kill all the aliens again and again. Sure you blazed through the main missions on easy difficulty your first run through, but how far can you get on INSANE? If having a highly customized ship doesn't get you, and you couldn't care less about pixelated whatever, then you have to play just to kill the aliens. Nasty, parasitic aliens.

Play Parasite Strike