In the galactic year 299X, a time when humanity has colonized most of the Milky Way, a mysterious space-time distortion is detected in the Amulet Nebula. While the distortion exists for just a brief moment, the same can't be said for the lifeform that emerged from it. Dubbed the "Amulet Monster" by humanity, it immediately makes a direct charge for Earth, expanding and generating an army (by consuming solar systems) all the while. The entire human military force is arrayed to intercept the Amulet Monster's forces, while your vessel, the state-of-the-art Steel Pylon, is commissioned to seek out and destroy the Amulet Monster itself.
Eliminate Down is a horizontal scrolling Shoot 'Em Up for the Sega Mega Drive developed by Aprinet and published by Soft Vision in 1993. The game gives players immediate access to three directional-based weapons that can all be powered up as they fight strange alien (?) enemies through eight, enormous levels. The game was never released anywhere other than Japan and Korea, until Retro-Bit did a limited European release for Q2 2024.
Reminiscent of Toaplan's Hellfire, the Steel Pylon has three firing directional weapons already at their disposal: a forward firing blaster, a rear laser attack and diagonal, four-way firing bombs. The forward firing attack also has the Super Crash Shot, a small white straight-firing rocket, that with upgrades changes into a long white laser beam that can fire through foreground objects. Unlike Hellfire, however, the game has no checkpoint system, although the game does make you restart the level when continuing. Extends are set at every 100,000 points.
The weapons are upgradeable by collecting Power-Up icons; obtaining a certain number of Power-Ups will level-up the size and strength of the player's weapons, up to level 3. The only other defenses available is a shield pick-up called the Barrier that protects the ship for at least two hits. The A and C buttons allow the player to switch among the three weapons. Players can also change the speed of the ship by pausing the game and adjusting the speed level on the pause screen. Eliminate Down also has a mini-game playable at the main menu similar to Concentration where players have to find the right image under a certain time limit.
Not to be confused with Border Down.
Tropes used for this game:
- Advancing Wall of Doom: Stage 6 has an advancing lava wall of doom. All it really does, though, is constrain where you can move.
- Attack Its Weak Point: All the bosses are like this.
- Battleship Raid: The second boss, the aptly named Full Metal Ship, is a giant mechanical battleship oarfish.
- Big Damn Heroes: Done with in the ending. Your ship is incapacitated and floating outside Earth's atmosphere when a wave of mooks approach and try to capture/finish off the Steel Pylon. They get eliminated down with a laser barrage from your mothership before that happens.
- Body Horror: The first Mini-Boss of Stage 6 (here
◊). Stage 4's boss counts too in its final phase◊, at least unless its name of Yellow Armor is literal, and the creature is actually the Armor's occupant. - Boss Arena Urgency: The Extendmen Mini-Boss fight of Stage 4 has tooth-like walls that slowly shut behind your character after a set amount of time passes, limiting your movement space.
- Continuing is Painful: Your three directional weapons all get downgraded once, but the real pincher is that your regular shot drops all the way down to level one. The energy capsules you need to get to upgrade your regular shot into a piercing laser aren't easy to find, either.
- Crosshair Aware: Stage 5's Mini-Boss will use a green targeting crosshair. Don't stand anywhere in between or else a pulsating lightning beam will attack the entire area between the boss and the crosshair◊.
- Every 10,000 Points: It's 100,000 in this game for an extra life.
- Exact Time to Failure: Done against the final boss. You have 100 seconds to destroy the Amulet Monster, or else you will burn up in Earth's atmosphere (and the Amulet Monster won't).
- Excuse Plot: Some alien-demon-thing is headed straight for Earth and generating an army in the process. Go stop it.
- Explosions in Space: Lots of them indeed.
- Final Exam Level: The final stage contains different enemies you've faced from stages 1-6. And that includes the
floating faces from stage 3. - Invincible Minor Minion: The Techno Wreckage section of Stage 5 has trash machines. While their armaments can be destroyed, they themselves cannot.
- Justified Tutorial: The first stage forces you to use your weapons effectively—it pits you against slightly durable Mooks coming from the front (use the front shot), missile-shooting ships that come from the top and bottom (use the vertical-firing bombs), and after that a group of ships that encircle and close in on the player (get out of the circle, then use the back shot).
- Kick Them While They Are Down: In the ending, your ship is badly damaged by the Amulet Monster's explosion. The remaining enemies sense this opportunity and send a wave of Mooks to try to capture (or destroy) your ship. Your mothership blasts the little suckers down.
- Mini-Game: Plays like Concentration.
- Monster Clown: The third boss's forehead sports a large harlequin-like mask as one of the destroyable parts. Turns out it's a facsimile of the Amulet Monster's own face.
- Nintendo Hard: Especially Hard Mode.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Although you can get shields to help you survive three extra strikes.
- Power-Up: Collect five of the "P" powerups to power up your regular weapons.
- Reentry Scare: During the final battle, both you and the Amulet Monster will be falling towards Earth. You have 100 seconds to beat it before you burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
- Reflecting Laser: The back shot, when fully upgraded, has these. Stage 5's boss uses this with Beam Spam.
- Roboteching: Stage 3 has an enemy and the boss that shoots homing lasers, Stage 5's boss has a arena-circling energy shot that tries to drop on the player as it passes over, Stage 6's boss has a laser that creates crystals, etc.
- Schematized Prop: Present in the game's intro, showing your ship's armaments.
- Secondary Fire: Your three directional weapons.
- Segmented Serpent: The Mini-Boss of the first stage, Rush Insect, is one of these.
- Space Zone
- Spread Shot: Your back weapon becomes a 3-way, while your front weapon starts off like this.
- Subsystem Damage: Some of the bosses have various parts that can be destroyed.
- Techno Wreckage: The start of stage 5 is like this. Be careful of the wreckage machines, as they are Invincible Minor Minions!
- Time-Limit Boss: The final boss is this...you're fighting it while going down Earth's atmosphere, and must kill it before you burn up.
- Weaponized Exhaust: There's an enemy in stage 2 that tries this on you. It looks more like lasers, though.
- Stage 2's boss is a straighter example.
- Wall Crawl: Your 4-directional missile weapon gets this trait.
- Womb Level: Stage 4.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Despite all your attempts, the Amulet Monster succeeds in reaching Earth's atmosphere...You have to shoot it down before it's too late.
