Phalanx

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Phalanx is a 1991 shmup developed by ZOOM, and was originally released for the Japan-only Sharp X68000. It was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System; that release is best known for having an old man playing a banjo on the cover (see Covers Always Lie below).

This game is also playable through an easter egg bonus in the Virtua Fighter/Virtual On mashup/clone Zero Divide, for the Playstation and Sega Saturn, via a code. It received a Game Boy Advance port with a different, more traditional cover. A Wii Ware port was announced for Japan, though no international release has been announced.

Tropes used in Phalanx include:

• Action Bomb: Some enemies in the game are like these, they explode into lots of bullets.
• Attack Drone: Some of the weapon power-ups give your ship these.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Most, if not all of the bosses are like this.
• Battleship Raid: One level has you roaming around giant spaceships finding the core.
• Bonus Level: Every stage has a Bonus Level. They're inconspicuous and incredibly hard to find though.
• Bullet Hell: On "Funny" difficulty.
• Charged Attack: The "E" Power-Up allows for this when shooting.
• Chest Monster: A hidden stage accessible from the second stage is filled with power-up icons... that suddenly grow spikes and start shooting at you. You can tell them apart from real powerups if you notice that your shots don't pass through them.
• Combat Tentacles: Many enemies and bosses use this on you.
• Combining Mecha: When you use your "R" Smart Bomb, the Attack Drones will merge together into a robot which proceeds to move into the enemy for massive damage.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Enemies are exempt to Deadly Walls, and their shots can pass through walls and floor. As for you... no such luck.
• Covers Always Lie: This one is the king of that trope. The developers admitted many years later that they chose such a bizarre image in order to make the game stand out amongst the glut of similar space shmups on the market at the time.
• Dual Boss: The Mini Boss of the Asteroid Thicket stage is an asteroid that splits into two organic halves, which you have to defeat separately.
• Easy Mode Mockery: If you beat the game on easy, the game mocks you to try Normal Difficulty instead of giving you the ending.
• Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: One of the Mini Bosses in the second stage is a shark-like machine.
• Excuse Plot: There's aliens. Shoot them.
• Explosive Breeder: In the third stage, you have to fight a Segmented Serpent. When defeated, its brain comes out, and that brain sure knows how to multiply quickly...
• Flunky Boss: The second-to-last boss sends out mini Spider Tanks that fire at the player. It gets very annoying.
• Frickin' Laser Beams: The L weapon, which gives you Attack Drones fires out piercing lasers. It can also fire behind the player character too!
• Harder Than Hard: "Funny" Difficulty.
• High Speed Battle: The cover art says "The Hyper-Speed Shoot-Out IN SPACE". Actually, that one does make sense in the seventh stage "Hyper Space", where you character is going through space really fast while shooting down multiple enemies.
• Homing Projectile: The "A" missile powerup, as well as the H weapon.
• Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: The hardest difficulty is called "Funny"
• Mercy Invincibility: Present in this game, thankfully. You also get a few seconds when you use some of the Smart Bombs.
• Nintendo Hard: Don't let the power bars fool you. This game is still comparably hard, even on Easy.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The boss of the "Advertize Zone" could be a dragon of sorts.
• Outrun the Fireball: Once you beat the Final Boss.
• Ramming Always Works: One of your Smart Bombs will merge your Attack Drones into a robot that tries to touch the enemy. It's one the the strongest attacks you have, capable of downing a boss!
• Segmented Serpent: The Mini Boss of the third stage, and one of the organic enemies in the final stage.
• Smart Bomb: Depending on what weapon you have equipped, you Smart Bomb will be different. You then lose the equipped weapon too, so plan wisely!
  • E: You unleash a devastating blast that hits the whole screen (like a typical Smart Bomb).
  • H: You create a temporary orange shield around yourself. While gaining invincibility. It's best you ram your opponents when having this.
  • L: Your Attack Drones attach to you and spin around, firing shots in every direction. Unfortunately, it's quite weak.
  • R: Your Attack Drones combine together into a small mech, which then tries to constantly touch the enemy for massive damage.
• Spread Shot: The "R" weapon, when fully powered up.
• Taking You with Me: On "Funny" Difficulty, most regular Mooks will explode into no less than 3-4 suicide bullets!
• Underwater Boss Battle: The second stage.
• Womb Level: The last level is implied to be this. It's not given an actual name, but it's entirely organic.