Life Force is part of the famous Gradius series released by Konami in 1986. The biggest difference of this game with games of the same genre is adding a two-player mode. A giant alien monster named Zelos is swallowing all the planets and even entire galaxies. Players will portray as one of two characters Vic Viper or Lord British (in one player mode) or can control both characters (with two-player mode) to penetrate inside the body of this monster and destroy it. During the journey, the player will control the character through six stages to complete the mission. At each stage, players will experience a terrain similar to the body parts of monsters. When moving to each position on its body, the player will meet different enemies. These enemies are easy to destroy. In the game, there are many weapons that they can choose to attack enemies such as shields, guns, missiles, and lasers. Each weapon will have a certain amount of ammo. Players need to attack correctly to ensure enough ammunition. Some items dropped when they destroyed enemies such as power boosts, bullets, movement speed items, and power drop items. Players will be in danger of accidentally collecting harmful items like items that reduce strength or speed. The amount of health and ammunition of the character will be displayed on the left of the screen. When a player’s health returns to zero, they lose. Players will be taken to the beginning of the stage to restart the game.
In later stages of the game, enemies will appear more with enhanced power. Players get closer to the important parts that control the actions of Zelos monsters like legs, hands, heart, and brain. These parts contain dangerous enemies and are difficult to destroy. Enemy ships will constantly appear to attack and stop the player. Enemies will be more easily destroyed when players and their companions attack together. Going through all five stages will bring them to the final stage. They will be taken to the monster’s brain. This can be considered as the most difficult challenge for players. With enemies covered the screen, they will move to dodge and attack quickly to prevent them from creating new enemies. Destroying the enemy in the final stage will help players complete their mission.
