Xain'd Sleena (Soldier of Light )

Xain'd Sleena is an side-scrolling arcade videogame from 1986. The main character, Xain, is a kind of galactic bounty-hunter or freedom fighter who must defeat evil forces who oppress five planets, each with different weather and geology, including forest, desert, and volcanoes, and a final metallic planet. Each planet is played with horizontal scroll, and after a final stage boss, the player jumps to a spaceship and plays an interlude stage where the ship must break through enemy ships heading to the next planet. After three planets there is a fight against a giant spaceship.

The player can select the order in which he/she wants to play the various planets, so, there is no 'official' sequence of play. However, playing them roughly from left to right tends to prove halfway sensible.

The planets:

Cleemalt Soa: An asteroid without obvious atmosphere - an obvious hazard is the free-space in between part, where the player has to jump correctly to cross a gap. falling down results in loss of a life - and usually you have only three of those. The final boss is a swordfighter who will kill you with one strike if he hits - so stay away from him. Just shoot him up and jump away again.

Lagto Soa: A jungle world full of giant insects, carnivorous plants, as well as a dinosaur-like creature in the middle of a swamp. some may find this easier than the aforementioned. The final boss has some kind of mecha unit which you have to destroy, and then you have to shoot him himself. He tends to get more shooty (and thus dangerous) once his mecha is gone.

Cleedos Soa: Desert world. Think Dune, including sandworms. There is a temple in the mid-section guarded by a certain type of alien resembling green-hooded Javas and their "master", resembling a huge metallic head. Needs lots of hits, and do not touch! The final boss has a flying suit and is pretty shooty. Be sure to kill extra enemies before facing him.

Kworal Soa: Underwater world - full of fish, jellyfish, and lobster-like aliens. The actual level is played rather quickly, the final boss is all the tougher. He fires missiles in volleys in quite some speed, and is also pretty nimble, plus he can jump. A very difficult opponent.

Guwld Soa: The volcanic world, which I consider the most difficult level for maneuvering - eruptions will kill you, as will falling into lava, and for both those hazards there are lots of opportunities. The final boss here wears a big power armor and shoots heavy laser blasts on short range, or missile volleys if you get to long range. He seems unable to jump, though, which you will have to use to your advantage.

Hint: There is a certain small species of alien that seems unarmed that will attempt to flee once you spot it. If you shoot it, it drops a P-labeled Pod that will give your weapon some kind of random boost, which is almost essential versus final bosses. Unfortunately, if you lose a life, the boost is lost again.

This was one of the first games to allow the player to crouch, ease up, and double jump.

The planets may be inspired by the planets beyond the asteroid belt. Jupiter to Guwld Soa, Neptune to Kworal Soa, Saturn to Cleedos Soa, Uranus to Lagto Soa, Pluto to Cleemalt Soa