Sentinels (Hudson) is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up (shmup) video game developed and published by Hudson Soft. It was released in 1993 for the PC Engine CD (known as TurboGrafx-CD in North America).
Gameplay In Sentinels, players pilot a futuristic fighter spacecraft through various stages, engaging in combat against waves of enemy ships, ground targets, and end-of-stage bosses. The core gameplay adheres to the standard conventions of the genre:
- Combat: Players must shoot down enemies while dodging their projectiles and environmental hazards.
- Power-ups: Collecting specific items dropped by defeated enemies or found in the environment can upgrade the player's weapon systems, increase their firing rate, enhance movement speed, or provide secondary weapons like bombs or option units.
- Scoring: Points are awarded for destroying enemies, and players often aim for high scores, sometimes competing on leaderboards (though primarily local in its original release).
- Boss Battles: Each level culminates in a battle against a large, challenging boss with distinct attack patterns.
Plot The game's narrative is typical for the genre, featuring a standard science fiction premise. Players are tasked with defending Earth or a crucial planetary system from an invading alien force or a rogue artificial intelligence. The primary goal is to pilot the advanced "Sentinel" craft and neutralize the threat.
Development and Release Hudson Soft was a prominent developer and publisher for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 platform, and Sentinels was one of their contributions to the console's CD-ROM library. The CD-ROM format allowed for features such as CD-quality audio soundtracks and potentially larger game assets compared to standard HuCard releases, which was a common advantage utilized by many PC Engine CD titles. Despite being a Japanese release, it was part of a strong period for the shmup genre on the PC Engine CD, which saw many genre entries both from Hudson and other companies.
Reception Sentinels is generally regarded by fans and critics as a competent but not groundbreaking entry in the crowded shmup genre of the early 1990s. While praised for its solid controls and responsive gameplay, it often did not achieve the widespread recognition or critical acclaim of more iconic shmups on the platform or contemporary systems. It remains a notable part of Hudson Soft's extensive library for the PC Engine CD.