Alien Soldier/YMMV


 * Anticlimax Boss: Once you find out how to damage Z-Leo, you'll find him WAY EASIER than many of the other bosses (such as Seven Force and Epsilon-1).
 * Breather Boss: Melon Bread is just as easy as he was in Gunstar Heroes, and you can, as before, kill him before he can even attack. Right after him is Seven Force.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: The whole soundtrack; of worthy note is Runner AD2025, the first stage theme.
 * Even Better Spinoff: While Gunstar Heroes is a classic Treasure masterpiece even to this day, this game refines the combat, is faster and even more intense, provides greater challenge and reward in equal measure, has even better music, and gets rid of some of the more awkward gameplay changes and the occasional bits that didn't work.
 * Goddamned Bats: Those bee-like enemies that you fight between boss battles. Better have the homing ready, as they come in swarms, shoot at you, then fly erratically and kamikaze you. The bomb-dropping alien birds also do get really annoying too.
 * Goddamned Boss: Some of the bosses may not be tough, but they are certainly annoying.
 * Non Sequitur Scene: A blue teddy bear, menaced by kissing aliens, operates a power boat and is unceremoniously thrown overboard by a giant lobster. Hell, half the bosses are like this; a cyborg wolf with an Arm Cannon riding a horse, anyone?
 * Those Several Bosses: Listing these would take up half the article. The queen bitch of them all, however, must be Siren Force. You fight her underwater, depriving you of your fire-based weapons, in a constantly moving vortex full of mines, with a timer that's about to run out. Oh, and after you've fought Valkyrie, Medusa, Silpheed and Artemis Force, none of which are exactly a walk in the park.
 * Epsilon-1, your character's Super-Powered Evil Side which manifests itself in an evil giant robotic eagle bent on destroying humanity. Its weak spot, the head, is obscured by its two talons that absorb ALL shots they touch. Oh, and EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of his attacks do 200 damage, enough to kill you in a few hits or so. Finally, the only weapon that does decent damage against it is the ammo-scarce Lancer Force (provided it doesn't get blocked by the talons). Which you might probably have run out of after three boss battles in a row against Sunset Sting, Viblack, and Back Stringer.
 * The only reason that this bird is not as hair-tearingly difficult as Seven Force? It's one of the few bosses that doesn't do Collision Damage to you.