The Unconverted
We take a look at a variety of arcade games you could never play at home
DEVELOPER: SEGA YEAR: 1985 GENRE: BEAT-’EM-UP
■ Is it Wonder Woman? It it Elektra? No, it’s Flashgal!
For reasons never adequately explored, she likes to spend her days beating up the henchmen of a rather rotund bald bloke, who definitely isn’t the Kingpin, in an autoscrolling brawler that takes a lot of its inspiration from Kung Fu Master. Sega’s copyrightfriendly superhero is as short on powers as she is on backstory – although she can jump quite high, she gets rid of enemies with standard punches and kicks. Flashgal can also get a gun as a power-up, but this hardly counts as a superpower either, unless you’re The Punisher or something. Thankfully, her enemies are pretty average, too, ranging from standard henchmen and robotic birds to ninjas, swordsmen and even the odd monkey.
Compared to other single-plane beat-’em-ups of the mid-eighties, Flashgal does have a few things to offer over the competition. It looks pretty nice and sounds fine, and the use of a female protagonist in an action game is always welcome. However, the game’s biggest selling point is its variety, which is mostly achieved by sprinkling vehicle levels in with the standard fighting stages. Flashgal can ride a motorbike that launches missiles skywards, take part in a shoot-’em-up stage from a helicopter and even ride a jet ski. She can also use a sword in some of the more standard beat-’em-up stages, which is useful due to its additional reach and its ability to deflect oncoming shurikens.
Given the quality of the game and the company’s struggle to attract developers in the home console market, we’re surprised that Sega didn’t bring Flashgal to the Master System. A decent conversion certainly wouldn’t be beyond the system’s capabilities, and although the game doesn’t have an ending (it simply loops after the 11th stage), it wouldn’t have taken much to create one. It appears to be a game that Sega has completely forgotten about too, being overshadowed by bigger hits of the era like Space Harrier. That’s a shame, because while it’s a little on the tough side, Flashgal is an interesting brawler that deserves a second look.