Sol-Deace for Genesis pairs space battles with percussive clapping
As with El Viento, I hadn’t heard of Sol-Deace before Retro-Bit’s reproduction of it was announced. However, it’s a good partner since, like El Viento, it was developed by Wolf Team.
Sol-Deace has something of a confusing history. It was originally released in Japan in 1990 on the Sharp X68000 where it was called Sol-Feace. It would then be ported to the Sega CD in 1991, but when it arrived on a Genesis/Mega Drive cartridge in 1992, it was named Sol-Deace. I don’t know why the name changed, but the story uses Feace and Deace as surnames, which maybe they are. Weird words to me, so I’m not sure why they chose them. If I had to guess, I’d say the words probably sound cool to the Japanese ear. However, my only basis for that is the theory that I have no other explanation.
Sol-Deace is a horizontal scrolling shoot-’em-up. Humankind created the AI GCS-WT in the 31st century, and, predictably, it backfired. It rightfully decided it was superior to humans (as if that was a high benchmark) and demanded their subjugation. Humans, not knowing what’s good for them, went to war with the GCS-WT and got their asses handed to them. Some of them retreated to Sirius where they went to work developing – and you can probably guess this part – a single high-tech fighter to combat the AI.
Listen, I’m not a scientist, an engineer, or a warmonger, but I’d think a computer virus would be more effective against an AI than a solitary space jet.
In any case, the Sol-Deace is piloted by Ship Navigator Eric and Weapons Commander Misao. Oo-la-la. Do you think they’re smooching in there? I bet they are.
The Sega CD version tells a different version of the story. Dr. Feace hacks into the GCS-WT and deletes “the data” from “the data bank,” which forces the AI into a recovery period and gives them an opening to attack with the Sol-Feace. You see? That’s what I was saying. I’m not sure why Dr. Deace didn’t think of that. Maybe that sort of logic doesn’t fit on a Genesis cartridge.
Sol-Deace loses
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