Earth Defense Force (also called Super Earth Defense Force E.D.F. in-game and Super E.D.F. in Japan) is a horizontal shooter game developed and published by Jaleco for the SNES. Originally an arcade game, it featured a two player cooperative gaming mode which was later removed during its port to the SNES. In its SNES incarnation, graphical adjustments were made to some of the game's levels, and new selectable weapons were added.^[1] It was released on the Wii Virtual Console in the PAL region on October 29, 2010, January 11, 2011 in Japan, and July 14, 2011 in North America.

Story[link]

The story varies between the different versions of the game.

The Arcade original takes place in the equivocate future date of Earth, 20XX. The newly formed Azyma Empire dedicates itself to protecting the Earth from any possible threat. To do this, the empire constructs a massive computerized satellite called the Orbital Buster, and this satellite also serves as the Empire's flagship. Unfortunately, an error causes a malfunction in the Central Computer, causing the Orbital Buster to launch an attack on all surrounding satellites and to misidentify the human race as an enemy of the Azyma Empire. The Earth's only hope lies in the recently developed XA-1 and XA-2 spaceships held under the organization known as E.D.F: Earth Defense Force.

In the Super Nintendo version, an evil alien race has populated the dark side of The Moon. After initiating an attack on the Earth, it is revealed they have a secret weapon being developed on The Moon, one capable of destroying all life on Earth. The E.D.F. is ordered to send their XA-1 fighters in to drive out the invaders and destroy their ultimate weapon.

Gameplay[link]

Released as a horizontal shooter game in the US in January 1992, the object of Earth Defense Force is based on survival of the game's levels, punctuated by the defeat of bosses at the end of each one.^[2] It is a fixed-length game, with a proper ending at the completion of the last level.

The player normally begins each level with three "shield" points, each able to absorb one enemy attack. The shield points are represented in the upper right corner by green ovals under the heading "Shield". Additional shield points can be earned once a predetermined game score is reached. Up to five shield points are represented on screen. However, a player can acquire more than five shield points, but they can not be seen. This is extremely rare though, due to the difficulty of the game and the score intervals at which additional shield points are acquired. Loss of all shields results in the loss of one of three credits, or continues, and loss of all continues results in the player seeing the game over screen.

Reception and legacy[link]

Reception
Review scores
Publication	Score
Allgame	[3]

Since its release, Earth Defense Force has met with moderate critical reviews, as evidenced by a three out of five star rating by Allgame. Subsequent to its release an enhanced version was broadcast via the SNES' Satellaview subsystem to Japanese gamers under the title BS Super Earth Defense Force.

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external and internal aggressors. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in a nation's armed forces. Armed force is the use of armed forces to achieve political objectives.

The study of the use of armed forces is called military science. Broadly speaking, this involves considering offense and defense at three "levels": strategy, operational art, and tactics. All three levels study the application of the use of force in order to achieve a desired objective.

Organization[link]

In most countries the basis of the armed forces is the military, divided into basic Armed services. However, armed forces can include other paramilitary structures. For example, according to the Lithuanian law on organisation of system of national defence and military service (version actual from November 11, 2004), the Lithuanian armed forces in case of war also include border guards, public police service, parts of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union and guerrillas.^[1][2]

Benefits and costs[link]

Map of the military expenditures as a percentage of GDP by country, CIA figures.

Military spending in 2007, in USD, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The obvious benefit to a country in maintaining armed forces is in providing protection from foreign threats and from internal conflict. In recent decades armed forces personnel have also been used as emergency civil support roles in post-disaster situations. On the other hand, they may also harm a society by engaging in counter-productive (or merely unsuccessful) warfare. Expenditure on science and technology to develop weapons and systems sometimes produces side benefits, although some claim that greater benefits could come from targeting the money directly.^[who?]

References[link]

1. ^ Lietuvos Respublikos Krašto apsaugos sistemos organizavimo ir karo tarnybos įstatymas, 1998 m. gegužės 5 d. Nr. VIII-723, redakcija, aktuali nuo 2004-11-11 iki 2005-02-14, 3 straipsnis, 1 dalis, 2 punktas [1]
2. ^ Lietuvos Respublikos Krašto apsaugos sistemos organizavimo ir karo tarnybos įstatymo 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21, 28, 34, 36, 38, 39, 42, 44, 45, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 62, 67, 73 straipsnių pakeitimo ir papildymo įstatymas, 2004 m. lapkričio 11 d. Nr. IX-2560, 2 straipsnis, 1 dalis [2]

See also[link]

War portal

• Mercenary
• Militaria
• Military
• Military fiat
• Military history
• Military incompetence
• Military intelligence
• Military dictatorship
• Military junta
• Military rule (disambiguation)
• Military Aid to the Civil Power
• Military Aid to the Civil Community
• List of battles
• Staff (military)
• Civil-military relations

Armed forces of the world

• List of militaries by country
• List of militaries that recruit foreigners
• List of countries by military expenditures
• List of countries by number of active troops
• List of countries by size of armed forces
• List of countries without an army
• List of air forces
• List of armies
• List of navies

Earth Defense (aka: The Earth Defend) is an unlicensed game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis; it was developed by AV Artisan and published by Realtec in both North America and Taiwan, without a license from Sega.

The game cartridge and box shapes as well as quality in graphics and box art are identical to AV Artisan's previous titles Funny World & Balloon Boy and Whac-A-Critter, both published by Realtec. Earth Defense was also rare in that it was a simultaneous 2 player vertical scrolling shoot 'em up on the Genesis which primarily featured single player shoot 'em ups. The player takes on the role of a jet pilot assigned to liberate five world continents from a technologically advanced army.

Weapons[link]

Players had two different types of weapons to choose from during combat. A vulcan/spread shot weapon and a wave/beam shot weapon. Rather than possessing bomb-like items, the players had a shield item that made the ship temporarily invulnerable.

Levels[link]

Stage 1: Brazil, South America

Stage 2: Washington, America

Stage 3: Siberia, Russia

Stage 4: China

Stage 5: Nigeria, Africa

Compatibility Issues[link]

The game cannot be played through a Sega 32X. The game must be put directly into the Sega Genesis' cartridge slot. When the game is inserted into a Sega 32X, the RealTec logo will show up, but the Sega Genesis will keep resetting itself. The game will not run at all on the Majesco Sega Genesis 3.

Notes and references[link]

Earth Defense at GameFAQs

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