Star Force is a vertically scrolling shoot ‘em up for the Famicom, ported by Hudson Soft in 1985 from Tehkan’s 1984 arcade original. Piloting a starship called the Final Star, you blast through stage after stage of enemy formations, with each stage named for a letter of the Greek alphabet, running from Alpha up through Omega.
How to play
Move the Final Star with the D-pad (mapped to arrow keys) and fire with the A button (Z or X on your keyboard). There’s no secondary weapon here — Star Force skips bombs and missiles entirely, giving you just two levels of shot power to work with, so staying alive is mostly about positioning and steady fire. Push all the way through to Omega and the game loops into an “Infinity” stage that can be replayed indefinitely for score.
Tips
- This Japanese release carries a quirk the later US NES port removed: enemies already on screen won’t be replaced by new ones until you shoot them down, so holding your fire can keep a crowded stage from getting worse.
- With no bombs to bail you out, grab power-ups early so your shot is strong enough to clear enemies before they close in.
- Once you reach Omega, keep going — the Infinity stage repeats rather than ending the run, making it the place to chase a high score.
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