A/X-101 was a decent game, in its time.
The cliched storyline of the game is only the beginning of its rather trite nature, but all the same, A/X-101 was a decent game, in its time. The game puts you in the cockpit of one of humanity's last star fighters. Your ship must somehow be on autopilot, because you have no control over navigating it; the ship always follows a preset course while you control its guns. This game scheme can be rather tedious and slow paced at times, your ship's speed can't be increased, and most of the enemies can be destroyed easily, so often times you will find yourself sitting around looking for a target. And after playing for a few times and having memorized where the enemies come from, you'll get pretty bored with the game.
You "fight" alongside allies but they are never anywhere to be seen and their only value is to provide information with their rather annoying voices through small cut scenes throughout the game, as well as "motivate" you to get revenge when one of them is killed. If they had been cut out altogether, the game would gain some appeal.
Sound is one of the worst parts of the game. There are very few sound effects, and you'll probably hear the same laser noise thousands of times throughout the game. The constant hum of your ship becomes increasingly annoying over time, and worst of all, the game's over-the-top music only comes during cut scenes, but usually serves to almost completely drown out the characters talking, and cannot be turned off. In its defense, the game sports above average graphics compared to other Sega CD games of its time, and much of the game play is in 3D. Cut scenes are rendered reasonably well, and most ships in the game really do look cool. There can sometimes even be the hint of dynamic lighting though it's probably pre-rendered.
But graphics alone can't really excuse the game's bland storyline, poor sound, and boring game play. The game may be interesting for a rental only, after a few days, you'll be tired of it, anyway.