7E Alien Soldier Guide

When it comes to shooters Treasure is the best. Anyone that owned a
Genesis should have played the instant-classic Gunstar Heroes. The
game, simply put, was pure gold. Unfortunately not many people had
the opportunity to play another one of Treasure's classics, the Mega
Drive hit Alien Soldier.

One reason for this is because Alien Soldier is not the easiest game
to import. For those who are unfamiliar with importing games read my
Import Gaming Guide to get caught up on what you need to know to
import games in general. In reading it you will see that some games
are more difficult to import than others. Alien Soldier is one of those
games and this guide is here to clarify how to easily import the game
and enjoy one of Treasure's finest games.

Because it was produced late in the Genesis' years (1996), Alien
Soldier contains an internal software lockout code in the game.
Released for both the Japanese and European markets (why does it
seem that America is always the one getting screwed here?) this
guide will focus on the European PAL version of the game because
that is the one I own. I do not know if the Japanese version contains
the same software lockout codes as the European version does (I am
assuming it does), but I do know that the Japanese version will cost
you more money.

Because of the internal software lockout, Alien Soldier, unlike many
European games, will not run on the Genesis without assistance. But
luckily, the solution is quite cheap: the Game Genie. Acting as a pass-
through cartridge converter the Game Genie should run under ten
dollars on ebay. And with only one line of Game Genie code you can
bypass the software lockout and play Alien Soldier.

This is the Game Genie code used to bypass the lockout:

RECT-A60J

If you try running Alien Soldier on a Genesis without this code you
won't damage the cart at all, but you will get the following error
message:

"Developed for use only with PAL and French Secam Mega Drive
Systems."

Using the Game Genie, you will have no problems running Alien
Soldier on either the Nomad or through the 32X. This is because the
lockout is software related and not hardware. I have successfully
played the game on a Genesis 2, the Nomad, and a 32X hooked up to
a Genesis 2 and a Sega CD. However, I do not own a Genesis 3 but I
have read that the Game Genie is incompatible with it. In this case it
is unlikely you will be able to play Alien Soldier using this method on a
Genesis 3. It is a great game though and anyone that is a fan of
Treasure or Gunstar Heroes should play it. The European version
should run you about $110-125.