Not THAT Amaterasu
Something long forgotten has been pulled from Hamster Corp’s big bag ‘o’ retro games this week, as the Arcade Archives range has been bolstered with the addition of Nichibutsu’s classic shmup Soldier Girl Amazon, now available to download on Nintendo Switch.
Released to arcades in 1986, Soldier Girl Amazon, (also known as Holy Warrior Amaterasu and, simply, Amazon), is a top-down shooter that is incredibly reminiscent of titles such as SNK’s Ikari Warriors and Capcom’s Commando and Gun.Smoke. Albeit with an odd fantasy/sci-fi/real-world angle. In fact, it makes for a pretty strange pairing as our hero, the beautiful sun goddess Amaterasu, wields her magic sword and shield against an army of monsters, aliens, and… erm… army dudes?
Check out her holiness in action below, courtesy of this trailer from Hamster Corporation itself.
Our hero battles her way through eight vertically scrolling stages, taking down a vast array of colorful enemies as well as some surprisingly creepy boss guardians. Amaterasu can gather multiple power-ups to increase her weapon’s effectiveness, and can even mount a Space Motorcycle, which hilarious goes at almost the exact same speed as when she is merely walking. Worth checking out for fans of the top-shooter genre. It should also be noted that Soldier Girl Amazon has already been released on PS4 previously.
Soldier Girl Amazon is available now on Nintendo Switch, priced at around $8.