Xain'd Sleena Longplay (Arcade) [QHD]
Published 2023-09-24
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Developer: Technos
Publisher: Taito
Year of Release: 1986
Game Review & Impressions
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Xain'd Sleena doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, so the game was given the alternate title Soldier of Light for Western markets, which was used for the home computer conversions, C64, Amiga and so on. Although Taito's name appears during the attract sequence, the game was developed by Technos (Renegade, Double Dragon), and it's one of the more interest arcade titles I've played in recent times.
The reasons for this aren't because the game is especially innovative, but more because of the aesthetic design. Maybe it's because I'm currently playing through Starfield, but the notion of an arcade side-scroller involving fighting mercenary forces and local fauna across a succession of hostile alien worlds seemed pretty compelling. I love the artwork and general sprite design on display here; I can't be sure, but I suspect movies such as Star Wars and Dune may have influenced the design somewhat.
The core gameplay in Xain'd Sleena is pretty straightforward. Levels are divided into two sections: on-foot run-and-gun, and side-ways scrolling shoot' em up. The on-foot sections see the player fighting their way across the surface of a planet to plant an explosive charge on a military-style command centre, before blasting off into space. The side-ways scroller sections represent the journey between worlds, facing off against waves of space craft trying to stop you in your endeavours.
The on-foot sections are by far the most interesting thing about the game. They're also exceptionally tough; the game bombards you with enemies from the outset, many ground-based, but plenty of foes are equipped with jetpacks, hoverbikes, and pepper you with projectiles from afar. Various weapon power-ups can be collected from defeated enemies, upgrading rate and cone of fire, and you'll definitely need these to have a hope of beating any of the game's stages. Perhaps the most interesting thing about these on-foot sections is your ability to not only crouch, but to go prone, which reduces your overall profile, making you more difficult to hit.
I'd never played Xain'd Sleena prior to this point, but I came away impressed. Not so much because it's the greatest arcade game ever, but because I just love the vibe. The graphic design is just really cool, with touches of Western and Anime sci-fi influences that set the game apart from its contemporaries. Contra might be more iconic, but I'd argue Xain'd Sleena is the more interesting of the pair, and is well worth checking out.
Chapters
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00:00 Attract mode
00:55 Stage 1
04:00 Stage 2
08:09 Stage 3
13:22 Stage 4
17:20 Stage 5
20:50 Stage 6
26:19 Ending
All Comments (21)
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This is the first arcade PCB I ever bought. It was untested and after reseating all the roms the game played fine. Still own it now and it marks the start of my decent into the rabbit hole of PCB collecting. I have over 100 now and no rooms to keep them but I keep buying and fixing more.
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How in the world have I gone this long without knowing about this game until today
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I played this game as SOLDIER OF LIGHT on my Amiga 500 as a kid back in the 1990's. It was hard and frustrating 😹🕹️. And as i remember correctly, I did finish the whole game just once 😹😺👍🕹️. The Arcade version of this game looks much better 😺👍🕹️.
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I remember playing the arcade version in 1986 in a grocery store. To a 15 year old teenager,this reminded me of Star Wars on so many levels. In the United States this game was known as Solar Warrior and was published by Memetron and Taito.
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Holy crap this game has flown completely under my radar. I'm surprised it wasn't in any Taito collections.
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Local champion of this game in the 80's. Despite playing it on easy mode (I can tell) and totally not using the triple photons during space mission (fire for phasers and jump for photons), you played it very well. I'm impressed :) Well played!
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I remember this arcade game when i was 12 years old...good old days !
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Dang that was really cool! It’s a little rough around the edges (like a lot of scrolling platformers of the time) but the concepts are solid and it’s got exciting gameplay. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it before!
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This Game is a gem and I say this from experience. A greetings. 🕹️👊🏼
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my favourite arcade game with sf2 . the music are great
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JESUS CHRIST, I totally forgot about this game. Seeing this video dredged up some fleeting childhood memory where I stood and watched the attract mode in a take away store back in the late 80s.
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Oh, Xain~ I totally remember you from upstate NY~ You're still, like, totally CORAL. <3
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Loved this game back in the day, but it was rock hard.
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Very beautiful game
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I first played this game on my Amiga 500. It was called Soldier Of Light and came out in 1988 or early 1989 if I remember correctly.
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Did play a Arcade game that look like Metroid but you did have rocket boots then I was a child.... and now I finally found the name of it....I do also realize that the game do have slowdown, then there are loots of stuff on the on the screen, not that the "controls was worn out"
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Awesome classic! And well played But howcome you only use the laser weapon on your spacefigther, and not also the blue secondary weapon? :O? Just curious i guess.... :)I still love & play it to this day :) Btw.. which is your all`s favorite planet to hate?? Mine is without a doubt the water planet -.-
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Why arent you using the secondary button to do the scatter shot on the spaceship levels?
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I remember sinking several coins into this as a kid & even beating the mothership (but not all the planets), once! Like Double Dragon action slows down when sprites pack the screen,but sucked me in! Avoided the volcano level like the plague!😅 Liked the underwater level but lord it was hard!🤯😂 For some reason found the space sections super hard on Mame, reflexes I guess! Bit like G'n'G deciding which weapon to keep mid level.
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i love this game ❤❤❤
