Final Soldier

Final Soldier^[a] is a 1991 vertical-scrolling shooter video game developed by Now Production and published by Hudson Soft in Japan. It is the third game in the main Star Soldier series, and has been released in Europe for the Wii Virtual Console on May 2, 2008 and in North America on September 8. It was subsequently released for the Wii U Virtual Console in Japan in 2014 and North America in 2017.

Final Soldier
Developer	Now Production
Publisher	Hudson Soft
Platform	PC Engine
Release	1991
Genre	Vertical-scrolling shooter
Mode	Single-player

Gameplay

This game features 7 stages to play as well as a 2-minute and 5-minute challenge mode. Unlike the other PC-Engine Star Soldier games, the player chooses at the beginning of the game the exact kind of weapon each color power-up grants.

Development and release

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
AllGame	3.5/5[1]
Aktueller Software Markt	9/12[2]
Consoles +	68%[3]
Computer and Video Games	92/100[4]
Eurogamer	6/10[5]
Famitsu	28/40[6]
Games-X	4/5[7]
Gekkan PC Engine	80/100, 75/100, 80/100, 80/100, 75/100[8]
Génération 4	92%[9]
IGN	7/10[10]
Joypad	90%[11]
Joystick	91%[12]
Marukatsu PC Engine	8/10, 8/10, 7/10, 8/10[13]
Nintendo Life	8/10[14]
Player One	70%[15]
Video Games (DE)	74%[16]
Consolemania	90/100[17]
Electric Brain	77%[18]
Game Zone	82/100[19]
Power Play	73%[20]

The Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine ranked Final Soldier fifth in popularity in its September 1991 issue, and it received a 21.31/30 score in a 1993 readers' poll conducted by PC Engine Fan, ranking among PC Engine titles at the number 214 spot.^[21][22] The game garnered generally favorable reviews from critics.^[6][8][13]

Notes

1. Japanese: ファイナルソルジャー, Hepburn: Fainaru Sorujā