#552 – Seicross

Do we race toward the future or does the future race towards us?

PLAYERS: 1-2 alternating

PUBLISHER: FCI

DEVELOPER: Nihon Bussan

GENRE: Racing/shmup

RELEASE DATE: October 1988

“Arcade Classic” the Seicross box claims in a bright red attention bubble. Not sure about the “Classic” claim, but Seicross holds its own as a futuristic racer-shmup hybrid. Control a young vagabond on a hovering motorbike and guide him around obstacles and other racers, shooting and making merry all the while. Bump other racers into the walls or mountains of crap in the middle of the raceway to make them explode. You’re not racing for placement, but the other racers do get in your way more often than not. The junk (literally, it looks like junk) you shoot on the track will cause large stars to appear. These stars will speed up your motorbike and give you weapon upgrades that will cause you to “bring down the house” a la Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. Collect little pixelated people to get bonus points at the end of the race, and gather energy tokens to keep your energy bar fueled (if the energy bar depletes completely, you explode). It’s not necessary to collect people unless you want tons of points, but you’ll probably always need energy tokens; depending on the stage, they can be plentiful or in short supply. There are six main stages; after that, the stages repeat and get progressively more difficult. While it’s always pleasurable to shoot, destroy and make mischief, the real fun in Seicross stems from never knowing what’s around the corner. The six main stages are designed to keep you on your toes, as you bob and weave your motorcycle around islands of debris. The sense of speed is perfect, as are the tight controls. The graphics aren’t up to NES standards, but it doesn’t detract from the lighthearted gameplay. Seicross isn’t a heavyweight title, but its uber-retro style and non-stop action made my afternoon.

B