Sol-Feace

About Sol-Feace

Sol-Feace (1990) is Wolf Team's horizontal shooter for the X68000 with angle-adjustable twin cannons and a Motoi Sakuraba score, later a Japanese Sega CD launch title and the add-on's North American pack-in game.

Sol-Feace in Depth

The player flies the starship Sol-Feace to stop a malfunctioning supercomputer before it enslaves all of mankind. Across each stage, it destroys incoming enemies while avoiding their fire. Its pair of dual cannons can be set to point forwards, backwards or diagonally, or arranged parallel to each other. Shooting small capsules leaves power-ups that add homing missiles, a piercing laser or a wide shot.

The six stages take in mechanical bases, wrecked star vessels and the planet Jupiter, each ending in a boss that must be hit in its weak point, and the last pits the player against the supercomputer itself. Animated cut-scenes between stages explain the story, with full voice acting in the Sega CD version. Reviews were mixed: Electronic Games called the Sega CD version a "solid side-scrolling shooter" and praised Sega for making it the pack-in, and GamePro liked the Genesis version's detailed visuals and pumping soundtrack, but Computer and Video Games found its ideas done better in Hellfire and Gynoug, and Retro Gamer called it a "below par" launch game with a CD soundtrack "tacked-on".

Making Sol-Feace

Wolf Team developed Sol-Feace and its parent company Telenet Japan published it for the X68000 on 22 November 1990. It was ported to the Sega CD in 1991 as one of the console's first Japanese launch titles, and Sega published that version internationally, making it the pack-in game for the North American release. Renovation Products released a Genesis cartridge version, renamed Sol-Deace, in 1992. Critics praised its fast action, graphics and soundtrack but criticised its lack of originality and found it below other shooters on the market; Wizard said it offered nothing new to the genre. Computer and Video Games said the Sega CD version was not a "total waste of money", praising its sound effects, speed, music and cut-scenes, while GamePro disliked the Genesis version's short length. In a retrospective review, Allgame found the sound effects mediocre and the music average but thought the dual-cannon mechanic an interesting idea and the frantic play and colourful visuals worth trying.