Cannot find a particular Shmup! Please help!!!

reynor · Post by **reynor** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:33 pm

Hello all,

I've been looking for a particular Shmup for quite some time now and I can't remember the name of it nor can I remember which company released it. What I can do is describe the game and hopefully some of the Shmup experts can help me give me a title and or company that made this game... worst of all I can't remember when I played it (I just remember enjoying in the arcade and local corner store). The year could have been anywhere between 1988 and 1992 (yes I know that's a broad range) but I've been racking my brain trying to find this particular schmup and I've had no luck.

Basically it was a vertical shooter with Jets (I can't remember if there was more than one Jet type) but the real interesting thing about this Shmup was that you had a number of secondary special weapons that you could choose from at the beginning of a stage. There were weapons such as straight fire missles, homing missles, fire bombs, and numerous other weapons/items that I simply can't remember. The secondary weapon system was very similar to Sky Soldiers and Strike Gunner S.T.G. where the amount of secondary weapons left were shown in one of the corners of the screen (can't remember if it was bottom left/right or top left/right). Unfortunately the game I'm looking for is neither of these two... I've actually been looking for this title for a couple of years now and I'm starting to think that I'll never find the name of it, the company that made it, nor any screenshots or pictures of it... All I know is I had a blast playing it (and it inhaled my quarters like there was no tomorrow, and yes it only cost a quarter to play so that should give another vague indication of when it was released), it was a lot of fun.

If anyone could please help I would greatly appreciate it! Any help at all would be great. The title, company name, links to screenshots of the game, marquees, or cabinets would be great!

Thank you for your time. Hopefully someone can help me.

Take care.

- Reynor

rolins · Post by **rolins** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 9:58 pm

Daioh ?

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/daioh

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:40 pm

Task Force Harrier?

reynor · Post by **reynor** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:34 pm

rolins wrote:Daioh ?

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/daioh

Damocles wrote: Task Force Harrier?

No, it's definitely not Daioh... Daioh wasn't bad but the player didn't have any secondary weapons to choose from. In the game that I'm looking for there were about 8 - 12 different special secondary weapons that you could choose from at the beginning of the stage (can't remember if you could choose from these weapons after each level or only the first one). Also I believe the aircraft that you fly is more of a standard jet type, but I could be wrong.

As for Task Force Harrier I don't believe you could select from a special secondary weapon set in that either.

They're both good guesses, but unfortunately I do remember those ones but they aren't the one that I've desperately been looking for.

I remember that there were a number of different missile types (straight missiles, homing missiles... there were others ranging from 6 - 12 different types if I remember correctly and all of various strengths and speeds but I can't remember them). Like I said the game is very similar to Strike Gunners STG and Sky Soldiers in that you could select from a list of secondary weapons at the beginning of the game (and perhaps between levels... not sure about that though). It was sort of a fast paced shmup but had very good graphics for the time that it was released. Also I'm not sure if it was a Japanese Shmup but it was definitely available in North America.

I really wish I could describe some of the levels and bosses but I really can't remember much more than that.

If you know of any other vertical shmups where you could select from a list of secondary special weapons at the beginning of the game (and perhaps between stages) then please feel free to list them. Any help would greatly be appreciated.

I really wish I could remember more about the cabinet and marquee or even the company that created it but unfortunately my memory is at a loss. I believe that this shmup was a standard two player shmup (not definitely sure about this though), I believe it also had the standard setup of playing with a joystick and two buttons. Lastly, I believe it was out between 1988 - 1992... Again, I can't even be definite about when it actually came out though.

So if you have any other ideas, or even a list of games that had options such as these... Particularly the fact that you could choose from a number of weapons at the beginning of the game and the fact that it was a vertical shooter, not horizontal.

Thanks for any and all help, I really appreciate it.

Take care.

- Reynor

rolins · Post by **rolins** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:04 am

How about Varth?

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/varth

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:29 am

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/srch.php? ... 04&by=year

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:43 am

OOOOO

IS IT THIS?

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/pc_cshwk

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:45 am

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/skyadvnj
this?

icycalm · Post by **icycalm** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:57 am

R-Type?

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:04 am

icycalm wrote:R-Type?

-vertical
-missiles
-homing missiles
-fire bombs (napalm?)
-numerous other weapons/items
-amount of secondary weapons left
-jets
-a lot of fun

hmmmm

auryn · Post by **auryn** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:40 am

I think this might be it...

Koutetsu Yousai Strahl (1992)

http://www.mameworld.net/maws/romset/strahl

Mortificator · Post by **Mortificator** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 1:40 am

Whenever someone asks for help identifying a title on alt.games.mame, someone always says "R-Type." icycalm's probably just parroting the Wikipedia entry on it.

reynor · Post by **reynor** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:27 am

Hmm... I appreciate all the help but it's still none of those... Varth didn't have any special weapons, and it wasn't Captain Skyhawk...

As for Sky Adventure it had similar features only the plane was Jet instead and there were more secondary special weapons to choose from... plus the graphics were better. But that's the closest anyone has come so far... I remember that the missiles did leave a smoke trail and it just looked awesome (at the time of course). I just wish I could remember it...

It's definitely not R-Type and it's not Strahl (although Strahl does look good and R-Type is a classic) it was a vertical shooter not horizontal and you could choose your secondary weapons (missiles, bombs, shield etc. etc. before hand).

So Sky Adventure does have similarities as well but only as far as the secondary weapons are concerned.

If only I knew the company at least then I could narrow things down but I've already checked as many lists as possible and come up empty handed.

I really appreciate all the help though guys.

shoe-sama basically had the jist of it...

-vertical
-special secondary weapons that you choose from at the beginning of the game such as missiles or homing missiles
-numerous other weapons/items (that I can't remember now)
-amount of secondary weapons left (amount shown in one of the corners of the screen kinda like Sky Soldier).
-jets
-a lot of fun

You could pick your weapons before the stage started and the closest examples of how the secondary weapon screen looked would be Sky Soldier, Strike Gunner STG, and Sky Adventure... Sky Soldier is probably the closest so far because of the types of weapons but there were even more in the game that I'm thinking of... My brain's gonna explode if I try to think any harder about it but I've been wanting this for quite some time and if I could find it I would probably pick up the entire cabinet if they haven't all fallen off the face of the earth...

Please keep it up though, there might be something I've missed in my search. I appreciate the help.

- Reynor

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:39 am

Raptor: Call of the Shadows?
Vapor Trail?
Tyrian 2000?
WTF?

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:09 am

GHOST PILOTS?

reynor · Post by **reynor** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:18 am

No it's not Raptor or Tyrian... those are PC games. The one I'm looking for is an Arcade game.

Also it's definitely not ghost pilots... like I said there were special weapons and the aircraft that were used were jets.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:45 am

That sounds like STG for SNES. Pretty much the only game that fits the description.

overkill55 · Post by **overkill55** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 5:12 am

Specineff wrote:That sounds like STG for SNES. Pretty much the only game that fits the description.

He said its an arcade title

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 6:03 am

overkill55 wrote:
Specineff wrote:That sounds like STG for SNES. Pretty much the only game that fits the description.
He said its an arcade title

http://arcade.svatopluk.com/strike_gunner_stg/

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 6:28 am

winner

ARCADIA · Post by **ARCADIA** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 6:35 am

reynor wrote:-vertical
-jets
-a lot of fun

Fighter & Attacker?

nem · Post by **nem** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:37 am

reynor wrote:-jets
-a lot of fun

Ace Combat?

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:45 pm

The Coop wrote:
overkill55 wrote:
Specineff wrote:That sounds like STG for SNES. Pretty much the only game that fits the description.
He said its an arcade title
http://arcade.svatopluk.com/strike_gunner_stg/

reynor wrote: The secondary weapon system was very similar to Sky Soldiers and Strike Gunner S.T.G. where the amount of secondary weapons left were shown in one of the corners of the screen (can't remember if it was bottom left/right or top left/right). Unfortunately the game I'm looking for is neither of these two...

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:16 pm

Do you remember part of the name, say like the first letter of something?

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 4:49 pm

BrianC wrote:
The Coop wrote:
overkill55 wrote: He said its an arcade title
http://arcade.svatopluk.com/strike_gunner_stg/

reynor wrote: The secondary weapon system was very similar to Sky Soldiers and Strike Gunner S.T.G. where the amount of secondary weapons left were shown in one of the corners of the screen (can't remember if it was bottom left/right or top left/right). Unfortunately the game I'm looking for is neither of these two...

snes version and arcade version are different

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 5:01 pm

shoe-sama wrote:snes version and arcade version are different

That doesn't matter. Reynor specially said he's not looking for Strike Gunner STG and didn't mention a specific version. His description suggests he's looking for an arcade shmup, not a console one.

reynor · Post by **reynor** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 6:09 pm

LGB wrote:Do you remember part of the name, say like the first letter of something?

No, unfortunately I don't remember any of the words or even letters that were in the title... It was one of those games that I played every weekend when I was younger. I only remember the gameplay but I can't describe any of the levels nor the enemies. The big thing that I can remember was the fact that the player had a fantastic selection of weapons and that the special effects of these weapons looked pretty darn good for the time. The closest I've come is Sky Soldier and Strike Gunner STG but Strike Gunner doesn't have quite the same weapons (although there are a couple that are very similar... but the weapon effects looked even better in the game that I'm thinking of) and as for Sky Soldier there aren't as many secondary weapons to choose from in it but the layout of the weapon selection screen is very similar as are the amount of munitions left (which shows in the bottom corner of the screen but I don't remember where the amount of special weapons left are shown in the game that I'm thinking of... a very similar look to Sky Soldier though). Because of the similarities that Sky Soldier had I thought perhaps the game could have been made by SNK / Romstar but I couldn't find anything else by them that was similar... Sky Adventure does have a unique secondary weapon set as well but it's easy to distinguish that it's not the game that I'm looking for because of the planes and enemy types.

I don't know why it's been so impossible to find this one measly but highly enjoyable game...

Thanks for all the help though guys, please let me know if you think of anything else.

- Reynor

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:06 pm

Is it possible that you are mixing up multiple games in your memory? The thing is that there aren't that many arcade shooters where you are offered a large selection of weapons before each level. Did you always play it alone? Maybe a friend/relative remembers the name? And excuse me for asking, but if you've really been playing the game every weekend, why didn't you ever bother to look at the name?! I mean, how is that even possible?

Other than that I suppose you'll have to check out all vertical shooters from the years in question on that list
http://www.mameworld.net/maws/srch.php? ... 04&by=year

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:25 pm

reynor wrote: perhaps the game could have been made by SNK / Romstar but I couldn't find anything else by them that was similar...

SNK? Then it must be Alpha Mission II which had some pretty impressive weaponry from the start of the game.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:34 pm

BrianC wrote:
shoe-sama wrote:snes version and arcade version are different
That doesn't matter. Reynor specially said he's not looking for Strike Gunner STG and didn't mention a specific version. His description suggests he's looking for an arcade shmup, not a console one.

Well, all that's irrelevant, because I was only showing overkill55 that STG was an arcade title, and not suggesting it was the game in question.

I read the thread too

Edit: I "read read the thread"... must be tired