Best of Sega Genesis Games: Gain Ground

Sega Genesis had it’s share of bad games, but it had some great games too. Gain Ground was one of the great ones. I still enjoy it from time to time because it’s so much fun to play.

Gain Ground is a top down view shooting game. It feels more like Asteroids than any first person shooter I’ve played. Instead of being in outer space, you’re on a battlefield. The shots are slow enough to see and dodge. The goal is to clear each map of enemies or cross to the top.

Every ten levels there’s a boss level. The final boss being the hardest. The fun comes from all the different characters you play as. Each character has a unique fighting ability which gives them strengths or weaknesses depending on the level.

It isn’t the most well known game for the Genesis, but it definitely was a hidden gem of a game.

You start with 3 characters. One quick, short range fighter with a spear, one medium range guy with a gun, and a woman with high reaching grenades. You scroll through the characters then choose one to start.

From there, you can simple run all the characters through the gauntlet to the finish. Or take out every enemy on the map. There is a timer so you have to choose wisely. When you accumulate 20 or more characters it’s much easier to eliminate all the enemies than to run every character across the finish line.

The majority of the time you’ll find you use a couple favorites for each level. They can clear most of the enemies, cross the finish, then use a few special characters to clean up any stragglers.

The levels leading up to the boss all share a common theme. One theme feel like on old battlefield with arrows, swords, and takes place in a castle. Another level feels like a space war with robots, lasers, and takes place on a space ship. Yet other battles take place in an arcade, military base, ancient places, and futuristic themes.

You’ll run into fast and slow enemies. With long, medium, and short range attacks. There are also two levels on some maps. These require using characters with a high range designation (H) to hit enemies. As you progress, you’ll see a character on the battle field. Pick them up and cross the finish to add them to you rooster.

If your character get’s hit once they fall on the battle field. You can pick them up and save them with another character. But you have to cross the finish line. If another character falls on the battle field the previous one disappears. Be careful to collect any characters before finishing the level or time runs out.

Every ten levels is a boss. Any character that get’s hit on these levels is lost forever. Save your favorite characters unless you’re sure you can defeat the boss with them. Some characters are good sacrifice on the boss levels. If you win great, if not no big loss.

You do need a lot of characters for the final boss. So be sure to save as many as you can. The only characters that survive long enough to fire a couple shots are the short range but quick fighters. It takes many characters to destroy the barriers which eventually give you access to hit the boss.

If you’re really careful you can start with the quick characters to dodge the constant flow of missiles flowing from the boss. But it’s best to start with slow characters and take out the three layers of walls between you and the boss. Then use the quick characters to finish off the boss.

Twenty different characters are available to play as in Gain Ground. While there are twenty characters, a few have an alternative version. So it feels more like fourteen different characters.

For example, Athra and Gascon both use short range spears and are very quick. However, Athra can throw his special high range spear and all directions. Whereas Gascon can only throw his high range spear in one direction, north. The same goes for the boomerang women, the grenade women, the bow and arrow Vikings, the army guys with rifles, and the guys automatic guns.

There are four element type fighters with similar speed and attacks. Yet, there special attacks are unique. One lets loose a tornado which spins around the map randomly. Another launches a waterspout which temporarily immobilizes enemies. The last two use fire for special attacks. One sends a fireball which continues to burn for several seconds. While the other has 4 fireballs circling himself as a kind of shield.

The rest of the fighters have unique attacks and specials. Most are long range, or high type specials. There’s even one with a powerful flamethrower.

Whether they’re long range, high, or curve around corners, each character has it’s own strengths and weaknesses. The best all around characters are the two with bows and arrows. They’re fast and can shoot high when necessary. The worst characters are the grenade women. Their range isn’t very far and they aren’t very fast.

Fast characters come in handy during the final boss. While long range characters are slow, they are good for other boss levels. Rapid fire characters have average speed and range but come in handy during intense levels where enemies come at you from all directions.

One level is nearly impossible without a boomerang or tornado type fighter. It’s full of corners and fast shooting enemies. But the bow and arrow fighter can win in a pinch.

Gain Ground is a hidden gem of a game. The slow fire and action don’t compare with any modern first person shooter or action game. Yet, it captures the middle ground between action and strategy.

Certain characters have huge advantages on a level where another character is at a huge disadvantage. Figuring out which special attacks are best for the task at hand is part of the appeal of this game.

If you have a Genesis, or use SSega.com, give Gain Ground a try. It’s a very entertaining game!

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