Phalanx is a 1991 Shoot 'Em Up developed by ZOOM Inc., and was originally released for the Japan-only Sharp X68000. It was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System; the English release of the SNES version is best known for its intentionally bizarre and idiosyncratic cover art featuring an old man playing a banjo (see Covers Always Lie).
A sequel was in development for the Playstation but Zoom decided to cancel it, ruling that releasing an horizontal 2D shmup on the system would've been commercial suicide. Zoom did not completely scrap their work on it however, making the levels that had been completed an hidden minigame under the title Tiny Phalanx in Zero Divide. In a nod to this, the Phalanx ship is featured in a controller check minigame for Zero Divide: The Final Conflict on the Sega Saturn. It received a Game Boy Advance port with a different, more traditional cover. A WiiWare port released in Japan in 2009, though it never got released internationally.
Has nothing to do with phalanxes as a battlefield tactic: for that, you want the trope A Thicket of Spears.
This game provides examples of:
- Action Bomb: Some enemies in the game are like these, they explode into lots of bullets.
- Attack Drone: Some of the weapon power-ups give your ship these.
- Attack Its Weak Point: Most, if not all of the bosses are like this.
- Battleship Raid: One level has you roaming around giant spaceships finding the core.
- Bonus Level: Every stage has a Bonus Level. They're inconspicuous and incredibly hard to find, though.
- Bullet Hell: On "Funny" difficulty.
- Charged Attack: The "E" Power-Up allows for this when shooting.
- Chest Monster: A hidden stage accessible from the second stage is filled with power-up icons...that suddenly grow spikes and start shooting at you. You can tell them apart from real powerups if you notice that your shots don't pass through them.
- Combat Tentacles: Many enemies and bosses use this on you.
- Combining Mecha: When you use your "R" Smart Bomb, the Attack Drones will merge together into a robot which proceeds to move into the enemy for massive damage.
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: Enemies are exempt to Deadly Walls, and their shots can pass through walls and floor. As for you... no such luck.
- Covers Always Lie: This one is the king of that trope, trying to invoke a Space Western feel with the American box art. The developers admitted many years later that they chose such a bizarre image in order to make the game stand out amongst the glut of similar space shmups on the market at the time.
- Dual Boss: The Mini-Boss of the Asteroid Thicket stage is an asteroid that splits into two organic halves, which you have to defeat separately.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: If you beat the game on easy, the game mocks you to try Normal Difficulty instead of giving you the ending.
- Energy Weapon: The L weapon, which gives you Attack Drones fires out piercing lasers. It can also fire behind the player character too!
- Excuse Plot: There's aliens. Shoot them.
- Explosive Breeder: In the third stage, you have to fight a Segmented Serpent. When defeated, its brain comes out, and that brain sure knows how to multiply quickly...
- Everything Is Even Worse With Sharks: One of the Mini Bosses in the second stage is a shark-like machine.
- Flunky Boss: The second-to-last boss sends out mini Spider Tanks that fire at the player. It gets very annoying.
- Harder Than Hard: "Funny" Difficulty.
- High-Speed Battle: The cover art says "The Hyper-Speed Shoot-Out IN SPACE". Actually, that one does make sense in the seventh stage "Hyper Space", where you character is going through space really fast while shooting down multiple enemies.
- Homing Projectile: The "A" missile powerup, as well as the H weapon.
- Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels: The hardest difficulty is called "Funny"
- Mercy Invincibility: Present in this game, thankfully. You also get a few seconds when you use some of the Smart Bombs
- Nintendo Hard: Don't let the power bars fool you. This game is still comparably hard, even on Easy.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The boss of the "Advertize Zone" could be a dragon of sorts.
- Outrun the Fireball: Once you beat the Final Boss.
- Ramming Always Works: One of your Smart Bombs will merge your Attack Drones into a robot that tries to touch the enemy. It's one the the strongest attacks you have, capable of downing a boss!
- Segmented Serpent: The Mini-Boss of the third stage, and one of the organic enemies in the final stage.
- Smart Bomb: Depending on what weapon you have equipped, your Smart Bomb will be different. You then lose the equipped weapon too, so plan wisely!
- E: You unleash a devastating blast that hits the whole screen (like a typical Smart Bomb)
- H: You create a temporary orange shield around yourself. While gaining invincibility. It's best you ram your opponents when having this.
- L: Your Attack Drones attach to you and spin around, firing shots in every direction. Unfortunately, it's quite weak.
- R: Your Attack Drones combine together into a small mech, which then tries to constantly touch the enemy for massive damage.
- Spread Shot: The "R" weapon, when fully powered up.
- Taking You with Me: On "Funny" Difficulty, most regular Mooks will explode into no less than 3-4 suicide bullets!
- Womb Level: The last level is implied to be this. It's not given an actual name, but it's entirely organic.
