is a 1994 rail shooter video game developed by Genki and originally published by Panasonic and Pack-In-Video in North America, Japan and Europe exclusively for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The first title created by Genki for the 3DO platform, the game is set in a futuristic Solar System in 2095 where a war against humanity erupts with the arrival of the Kaisertian alien race, as players assume the role of an Earth Defense Force fighter pilot taking control of the mecha-style Strike space fighter craft in an effort to overthrow the invaders and end the conflict. Its gameplay mainly consists of shooting mixed alongside full motion video with sprite-based enemies imposed on them using a main two-button configuration.
Headed by Sword of Vermilion director Hiroshi Hamagaki alongside Kileak: The DNA Imperative writer Manami Kuroda, Burning Soldier was created as a collaboration effort between Genki, Pack-In Video and Panasonic by most of the same team that would later work on several projects such as later entries in the Shutokou Battle franchise and future works from Genki. Though it was first launched for the 3DO, the game would later be ported to Microsoft Windows and released exclusively in Japan by Itochu Corporation on 3 April 1998, featuring very minimal changes and additions compared with the original version.
Burning Soldier garnered mixed reception by critics from video game magazines and dedicated outlets that reviewed the game since its original release on 3DO, who felt mixed in regards to several aspects such as the presentation, graphics and gameplay that drew comparison with both Starblade and Star Wars: Rebel Assault due to its nature, though the music received praise by some reviewers.
Gameplay
Burning Soldier is a science fiction-themed on rails game that is primarily played in a first-person perspective inside the ship, reminiscent of Starblade. Either one or two players simultaneously assume the role of an Earth Defense Force fighter pilot taking control of the mecha-style Strike space fighter craft through 18 stages arranged into four missions, each of which ends with a boss that must be defeated to progress further, in an effort to overthrow an invading alien race known as the Kaisertians from conquering the Solar System as the main objective. By entering a cheat code at the options menu, players have access to debug mode, where more settings can be accessed including the ability to play with four players simultaneously.
During gameplay, players must aim their reticle at incoming enemies and other hazards that appear on screen and shoot them before they hit the Strike ship to reduce its health bar. If the players are unable to destroy an enemy before it fires solid projectiles, damage can still be avoided by shooting the projectiles instead. Players can also use a charge attack by holding down the B button for approximately 1.5 seconds and then releasing it, launching homing shots at all on-screen enemies, however, it cannot target projectiles or bosses. Moreover, the player cannot fire while either charging or holding a charge.
All of the stages are rendered as a non-looping full motion video, including the boss stages and if the full motion video plays out before players manage to defeat the boss during this sequence, the players receive an immediate game over regardless of how much health they had left because of this. There are no extra lives, but the player has infinite continues, which allow them to resume from the beginning of the current mission.