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Although I put Life Force on my Top 100, the thought occurred to me that I couldn't remember if I had ever beaten it without using the 30-life code. My guess would be "yes", but even so, I was almost positive I had never beaten the second quest. Looks like I had a job to do.

I played this game for several days in a row and had a moderately easy time beating the first quest without using the 30-life code. It wasn't too long before I conquered the second quest as well. I wouldn't say that Life Force is "too easy", but I can say that the rumors of its extreme difficulty are greatly exaggerated. I had doubts that the game was truly "masterable". It seems like sometimes when I'd play it, I could beat it fairly easily. Other times I'd get completely wiped out. But now it seems like I'm beating it fairly consistently (the first quest at least), so it appears I may have been wrong. Either way, this mission to save the galaxy from the planet-devouring alien, Zelos, is one of the finest shooters to have ever appeared on the NES.
GRAPHICS: 10/10
Graphics are certainly a highlight of Life Force. Not only is the level of detail and use of color amazing, but the art and animation style is mind-blowing. Enemy ships move and behave in manners appropriate to their style: Small ships spin or flap towards you, gun turrets rotate to face you, and blood cells eerily bob and float as if inside invisible liquid. When the stone walls crumble in the Egyptian temple level, they break from the wall and rotate as they fall, creating a very realistic effect. In the fiery Prominence stage, giant arcs of flame tear across the screen in a fashion that can make you wonder how that was done on the NES.

The bosses are huge and colorful. You haven't lived until you've seen the giant Pharoah Mask light up and take action, or witnessed the rotating arms of Intruder elegantly glide and spin as if under the influence of Mode 7. Other bosses include a giant free-floating brain, an enormous dragon head, and a grinning skull with googly eyes that you confront at the end of a ribcage large enough to engulf a solar system.

Incidentally, I dug up an old Nintendo Power "Pak Source" guide from many years ago that listed all NES games released at that time and the ratings NP's staff had given them. They gave Life Force a 3/5 for graphics which, by their standards, was rather low. This is further proof for my theory that they rolled dice to come up with their scores.