Looking for the name of another shoot-'em-up.

[xbl0x180]

I remember this was a side-scrolling, shoot-'em-up that featured a helicopter (a little bit like Silkworm). I think this was a late-80s, early 90s game. The first boss, if I recall correctly, was a battleship that shot up rockets... there was another boss that looked like a robot. The sprites in this game were kinda big.

Anyone remember its name?

Thanks in advance

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Was this particular arcade shmup game PCB conversion kit a yoko or a tate based game to begin with? In the USA, there were some pretty odd-ball shmup titles released like Dooyong's "R-Shark" PCB at my local Nickel Play arcade hangout back in 1997-1998 (I liked the fact that you could still take out some enemies kamikaze-style, even after your fightercraft got shot down).

Could the mystery arcade shmup title be: Jaleco's "P-47"? I do recall playing P-47 at a pizza hangout back in 1989-1990 as it did get a proper stateside release as a Jamma PCB conversion kit...pretty cool shmup game for it's time.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[xbl0x180]

Nah. This isn't a top-scroller. It definitely looked more like Silkworm's helicopter and it was a side-scroller. It had that "Blue Thunder"/"Air Wolf" helicopter style with large sprites. You'd shoot down jet fighters and junk. The first boss was a battleship that shot up rockets. I used to play this in the early 90s. S**t, I used to like this game, too, but I forgot the name.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Back in the early 1990s, I did see/play the horizontal side-scrolling "Cobra Command" shmup PCB conversion kit at the Regency Game Palace arcade (there does exist the laserdisc coin-op of the same name as well), CC does feature some large player/enemy sprites.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[xbl0x180]

*strokes beard*

Your kung fu is good. That's the game. I guess my memory of it is even worse, as the first boss is a submarine that launches rockets (not a battleship).

Awersome. Thanks, man

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Glad to solve your mystery arcade shmup PCB of the day, xbl0x180. Yeah, the arcade scene in the Modesto, CA area back in the early 1980s/1990s was the place to be whether it be uprights, deluxe sit-downs, or pinballs with several arcades to patronize. I've seen my fair share of them shut their doors for good back in the day, not to mention playing some cool retro shmups in some of them. At least, mame emulation hits the spot for some of my old-school shmup fixes or playing them in their original PCB format doesn't get any better than that.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Stevas]

Hey guys, noob here.

Kinda been lurking here for a while now; it's a mine of info on, well, pretty much my favourite genre of games.

First, an aside. Sorry.

Did anyone see Eastenders last night? Sorry. (There'll be a lot that, I'm guessing.) I apologise for bringing down the tone. (And that.)

I don't normally watch it, honest.
However, in the process of cleaning up a drink spill, I got very distracted by two things on screen in the background, as it were:
1. "Who IS that guy? I definitely recognise him... and his voice..."
2. "What IS that game playing the attract sequence in the background? Definitely seen it before..."
Anyway, long story short, I suddenly realised two things:
1. "Holy hell, it's DAVID ESSEX. On EASTENDERS. What the fu-"
2. "SUPER SPACE FORTESS MACROSS. Get in. Knew I'd get it eventually. Oh, they just showed the name..."
Which led to a third:
3. Eastenders (hell, any soap) would probably have even more viewers if they regularly changed the arcade cab in the cafe, giving just enough glimpses of it for the OCDers like me to get sucked in trying to figure out which one the hell it is. It would certainly make it more bearable to those of us who are forced to sit through it, anyways.
Oh, and don't just give it away like that, you duckeggs.

ANYWAY.
/End of aside

Here's my question.

Yes, I am just about to ask my question, after typing out all that rubbish above - and yes, I am still expecting some of you to still be reading.

Ever the optimist. Or idiot.

A few years ago now - I'm thinking maybe four or five? - a friend and I were abroad and we found an arcade. It had a bunch of cabs that were set to play a selection of NeoGeo stuff, the usual dance rubbish, etc. - but there was one that, to this day, I still can't identify.

And here's the annoying bit: IT DID ROCK.

It was Zero Gunner 2... but not. It was a vert, had a tall screen (maybe taller than 3:4 - and I'm thinking ZG2 had a 4:3 screen even in the arcade?), it was two player, helicopters, and even had the rotate-around-your-target gimmick. It was NOT Zero Gunner 1.

I've since got hold of Zero Gunner 2 on my DC, and well, it's similar... but quite different to what I remember.

Help me. Am I just going mad and that was Zero Gunner 2? Or has there been something so similar they might as well have called it Zero Gunner 2.1?

Oh, and:
/Stands up
Hi, I'm Stevas and... I'm a shmupaholic.
/Sits back down
/Avoids eye contact


Edit: got my 3:4 and 4:3s mixed up.

[emphatic]

@ Stevas: Under Defeat? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq8TJmAAbB4

[Stevas]

Hey there.
Nice try, but no. In that one you can slide your aim slightly to the left and right, but in the one we played in the arcade you could definitely rotate all the way around a la ZG2.
Not to say Zero Gunner 2 and Under Defeat aren't good shmups - they are - it's just... it's really bugging me. As I remember how it played it's so obviously Zero Gunner 2, but the levels were, and the setting was, completely different.

There's not some hack of ZG2 out there, is there?

[emphatic]

Metal Hawk? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWmbIFwJXc

[Stevas]

Ha, again, no!
There was no rotating-of-the-entire view going on - but you could rotate your heli to face all directions; also isn't that one just single player?

Now, I'd think it was just my memory playing tricks, but here's the thing. The mate I mentioned, he was the same when he seen Zero Gunner 2. As in, "huh... not... quite what we played over there."

Edit: it really does make me think there's some sort of special version of ZG2 out there I'm unaware of. Kinda like a Zero Gunner 2 Plus! or a Special! or even a Black Label equivalent.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Could it be another arcade shmup PCB title of "Twin Eagle 2" from Seta? Btw, TE2 runs off of the SSV arcade platform & is a low-res 15khz game. Your helicopter can shoot 360 degrees if you pull off a combo move. It's presented in a vertical screen orientation...a 4:3 CRT based arcade RGB monitor setup to be precise. One of my local arcades had gotten this cool TE2 PCB conversion kit in and it was presented on a really nice 27" RGB monitor setup.

The Zero Gunner 2 arcade game that you mention of runs in a high-res 31kHz format = 640 x 480 format. There was only one arcade version of ZG2 released in the arcades + Psikyo did release it on the DC console as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~