Heiankyo Alien

I first played this game while visiting my grandparents with two of my cousins. It is, as another reviewer says agame almost as hard to explain as its name is to pronounce. But the basic jist is you're a Japanese guy wose hometown has been invaded b aliens. Your goal is to stop them. This is where it gets interesting. Youdon't have a laser gun or indeed a gun of any kind with which to defend yourself. Nor do you take control of one of the aliens' spaceships the way Steve Hiller did in Independence Day. Your only weapon for fighting off the aliens is a shovel. And no, you don't beat them to death with it, which giventhe challenge of this game would be enormously satisfying. Instead you dig holes and hope te aliens fall into them. If they do, you have to bury them alive. The problem is that if you take too long to get to the pit they've fallen in they'll get out on their own. Either that or one of their comrades will come to their rescue. Unfortunately there is a bit of lag between when you push a button and when the game actually responds, which can cause problems when ou've got an alien you don't want getting away. The audio in the game is nothing spectacular but for the most part neither is it painful on the ears. The New game mode features some catchy music and its own set of sound effects. These are quite ok to listen to. Unfortunately, the Old game isn't quite as good. Most of the sound effects are ok. There's also no background music. Actually the only real comlaint I have with Old mode is the sound for when an alien falls into a pit. This an extremely annoying buzzing alarm sound that unlike the sort of alien cry in the New mode, continues to play until the alien climbs out of the pit or is rescued. Another difference between Old and New modes is that in Old mode you have a time limit in which to complete each level. If you take too long to deal with the aliens they'll call reinforcements, at which point it becomes extremely dificult to survive. All in all though it's a good game for those times when all you want is some mindless fun.

Heiankyo Alien - a game almost as hard to explain as it is to pronounce. You play as a guy defending a Japanese town against an alien invasion. Each level increases in difficulty & number of enemies. The aim is to dig pits that the aliens get trapped in and to cover them up again. It's not wholly unlike Dig Dug in some of the gameplay elements. One of the only major gripes is that there is often a lag between when you press a button and when the game responds. Overall an entertaining game.