Extra Life is a weekly column focused on giving games a first, second, or third chance. Each week, someone will look at a game they missed, remember fondly from their childhood, or just thought was passed over. It could be a game that received universal appraisal, or one that seemingly nobody played.

When I was but a lad of 8 years old (maybe 9), my parents got me a Game Boy for my birthday along with several launch titles. Among these games were Tetris, Super Mario Land, The Castlevania Adventure, and Solar Striker. While I had, of course, played the NES versions of the first three games, Solar Striker was entirely new to me. This Nintendo-published and developed game involved a spaceship and lots of enemy fighters, lots of bullet-dodging, and one-hit kills. I was, and still am, one of the six worst vertical-shooter players in the United States, but damn it if I didn't put real effort into Solar Striker.

The evil Reticulon aliens had one class of ship that resembles a terran fly. Instead of going "splat," though, they go "boom."

Solar Striker told the now-clichéd story of one man piloting Earth's "last hope," the Solar Striker fighter ship, against an onslaught of Reticulon alien ships. The Reticulon want to take over the world, and Earth's government apparently only had enough money to build a single Solar Striker ship. The game is about as simple as you'd think: the screen scrolls down and enemy ships appear in formation. You shoot them or they shoot you. While many enemy ships require several hits to destroy, the Solar Striker is made of tissue paper, and will explode with little provocation.

Precious Power-Ups are rare but always appreciated. Like every other shooter known to man, they increase your firepower.

The game boasts an impressive array of enemy vessels, each type with a unique behavioral pattern. Some come flying diagonally toward you, some move in L-shapes across the screen, and others come in flow, fire some shots, and quickly speed away. Once you find a Power-Up container, your shot increases from a single laser to two, then three, then two missiles. Every time you die, your power decreases by one step. The game is actually pretty doable until the fourth level, when mid-bosses begin appearing. I died so damn often in this game that I eventually memorized enemy placement and could play through the first two levels with minor effort. But when the fourth level comes up and that mid-boss who splits into four separate bullet-spewing enemies appears...man, screw this game.

This is the game's first boss. He's pretty easy but requires a good deal of bullet-dodging.

The farthest I got in Solar Striker was the end of the fourth level. That boss was merely a half-screen-sized graphic with a smallish round circle that you shot to deal damage. Meanwhile, like eight cannons sprayed bullets in all goddamn directions at you. As far as my brain could figure, there were no safe zones. I gave up pretty quickly after hitting that particular wall. Despite the game's brutal difficulty, it was fun in a masochistic way. The sound effects were kind of cool, but I don't remember there being much of a soundtrack. If I can dig the game up out of my parent's basement, I may give it another try. Twenty years of improving my gamer skillz may well give me an edge!

I saw this screen a LOT, as you may imagine.