I always liked Trouble Shooter. It may have been a simplified knock-off of Capcom's Forgotten Worlds with cute anime heroines, but it was great fun while it lasted, and despite its cornball humor, it was one of the few Genesis games that seemed to have been translated by a native speaker of English. It was short and it was easy, yet finishing Trouble Shooter (Battle Mania in Japan) is among my favorite memories fostered by Sega's 16-bit machine. All the same, I find it difficult to summon much nostalgia for the game's cover.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this art wasn't even commissioned for Trouble Shooter. It may be that Vic Tokai simply wound up in possession of the cover from some obscure, decades-old pulp sci-fi novel and decided to use it for a Genesis game. Observe the two underdressed and awkwardly posed women holding generic Star Wars guns while a pair of lazily drawn warships lays waste to a bland futuristic city. One can almost imagine the story synopsis on the paperback . . .
“In the lawless frontier of the Arelsian Star System, life is cheap, danger is everywhere, and air is a precious commodity. The daring blockade runner Marlena Maximilian and her partner Sasha Starfall make their living in the treacherous backalleys of orbital colonies and the laser-crossed deathways of deep space, staying one step ahead of bounty hunters, stratopirates, and the heavily armed forces of the mercenary despot known as The Commodore. Now, a mysterious alien has hired them to protect a diplomat's daughter, putting them in crossfire of a vicious intergalactic war.” And so on.
Then again, this cover could truly be an artist's take on the game's main characters, Madison and Crystal. They are, it must be admitted, two women who hold guns while flying in the air. That's the only real similarity, though, when you judge the illustration against what's seen in the actual game.
The in-game art has its unattractive moments (see the shot on the bottom-left), but there's nothing that compares to the bizarre and possibly coincidental depiction given Madison and Crystal on the cover of Trouble Shooter. Even the Japanese packaging, with its pouty-faced heroines and lack of a background, is superior. Have a look.
Next: Enuff is Z'nuff.
