HEIANKYO ALIEN / 平安京エイリアン Reviews

Heiankyo Alien is a 1980 arcade game that was a smash hit in Japan but may not have made it to US arcades-the premise involves running around and digging holes to trap aliens, then filling the holes to eliminate them. It's a very tricky game, especially at first as you are trying to learn the controls and how to play. This compilation includes that original but also includes a psychedelic-style remake that includes a special version containing a high-scoring-enabling bug that was originally removed, and an "idol version" that has to be somehow unlocked. While the original is hard at first, the alternate version, which is a timed game, is a great addition and an ideal place to start. There are several graphics tweaks available to make it less or more funky, a couple of different control options and more, plus powerups and hidden items to add to the fun. This is also where you find an option for fullscreen play so go here first. While it seems a little pricey for a 1980 game, the fact that it's actually a compilation adds additional value and makes it more worth it. If you're a retro/arcade game collector this is a must-buy because this was one of the first arcade hits in Japan and remains a unique challenge to this day. The more-accessible alternate versions still make this worth a try as they are a lot of fun.

scare the HELL out of aliens !!! bury aliens immediately MUST try this epic gane

Heiankyo Alien is just dumb fun, always has been. Giving it the Pacman World Championship treatment was the right call. Great little high score game!

Crazy fun. I'm glad they updated this old Japanese game I never heard of.

Nice review of the classic arcade game. I only played the Super Famicom Version, which plays slightly different. I really like the approach of the arrange version. Once you understood the basic rules you need to start thinking about a strategy to defeat as many aliens as possible. You can play defensive or offensive, offensive gameplay gets rewarded with higher points and more combos. The visuals are very trippy and I like them. It reminds me a bit of Tempest 2000 in terms of the visuals. The sound and music is fun, too. Very good game at a very low price!

I came to this having grown up playing the Game Boy version of "Heiankyo Alien." I wish this version of the game had adapted some of the innovations of that Game Boy port; the nicer graphics, the multiple breeds of alien, the little boats to escape on, the undiggable areas of ground, the disappearing barriers, and I particularly miss that awesome soundtrack by Norio Nakagata. This port is just sort of okay, though not really anything special for the price, but when I want to really have a good time playing "Heiankyo Alien" I'm going back to the Game Boy port.

This release of HEIANKYO ALIEN is a nice modern take on the 1979 original. There's an excellent techno soundtrack combined with updated gameplay elements that make it a fantastic high score chase. There's an element of area control that adds to your multiplier that encourages the player to roam around the level and not just hole up and wait for enemies to walk into your pits. Definitely worth a look if you liked the original or the GameBoy release.

Heiankyo Alien is fun and fast paced score attack game. It offers a lot of depth with many ways to score. You can kill aliens, dig up treasures, paint walls, collect power ups, and go for big combos! There are global leader boards too.

So, do you remember games like Pac-Man and enjoy Pac-Man Championship Edition? Or just plain like arcade games? Well, this is the game for you then! Heiankyo Alien is just an excellent arcade game about digging holes and burying aliens alive as they scream for mercy, sure, the game looks simple but man, it gets hard and frantic pretty damn fast! Add a good soundtrack to that and you get one addictive and awesome game, if i had one complaint it's that you can only play through 5 minute sessions(even if there is an item to get more seconds which you can only obtain once) and that's it, would be nice to have an option for 3 minutes or 10 minutes like in Pac-Man, or just a survival mode that can last as long as one wants, or that mazes, while randomized, always look a bit too samey with i feeling like a way to change backgrounds could improve the game. But those are minor complaints as the game is really just a lot of fun and it's set to be updated with more items and a new mode in the future, so if someone is still uncertain, they may want to check it up again in the future.

Mindware's best classic remake yet. Sort of a PacMan CE DX-style 5-minute time attack, but high scores are based more on careful planning and landing a big payout in the final seconds rather than the constant "in the zone" type scoring of Pac. Great music and audio queues. It's been updated really frequently since release, lots of bug fixes and tweaks for the better. I do find a lot of the default effects to be overwhelming, but you have a ton of control over that and can turn them up or down to your liking. Definitely keep in mind you can turn the starting level up to 15, once you get the hang of things.