Slap Fight (Toaplan/Taito, 1986)

[Randorama]

In this review we discuss Slap Fight, the second of a virtual trilogy or perhaps tetralogy of early Toaplan shmups I wish to write about. This game comes in various versions and bootlegs, with the US(A) version known as Alcon. The M(ega)D(rive)/Genesis version port is considerably different from the arcade original, and a solid version of the game. A recent PC port exists for Steam, which appears arcade-perfect though bare-bones (i.e. it features save states and only a few other options). The game is notable for being the second shmup by Toaplan after Tiger Heli and for having (relatively) complex mechanics and a wealth of scoring secrets. As the game was distributed by Taito, a Space Invaders enemy can appear and award quite a few points. A more in-depth G(ame)D(iscussion) is here, and technical details are here. Those who wish to know more about my personal experiences with the game can go read them in the squib. This review is 1613 words long or 4.1 pages, in times new roman, size 12, single space; please toggle your "reader mode", if you are reading it on a tablet. On we go with the review, thus:

Slap Fight (Toaplan/Taito, 1986) is a (ro)TATE shump that pits the small ship “Leopard” vs. the vast armies of the power-hungry AI Gaudi, who has set its sights on Earth. The game is notable for having no aerial enemies and thus no “death by collision”, a lot of flickering bullets, and a power-up system similar to Gradius’s. The game is also notable for having a rich set of scoring secrets and techniques that invite players to use different weapons at different sections/areas. Toaplan would release Twin Hawk/Daisenpu in 1989, together with Taito, as second title lacking aerial enemies. Their last title, Batsugun, was perhaps their only other shmup offering several scoring opportunities. My goal is to anticipate the game’s 40th anniversary by offering my readers a review convincing them to play and appreciate this game in depth, given its foundational status in the genre.

Our future review on Armoured Scram Object will offer a compact description of 1985 and 1986 as key years for the evolution of the genre. It is worth noting that in 1986 Taito also released Halley’s Comet and Tokyo, and Konami released Salamander as a spin-off/side story to Gradius. 1986 also saw the release of Sega’s Fantasy Zone, the original “Cute’em up”, Capcom’s hybrid action/shmup Legendary Wings plus Side Arms, and Nichibutsu’s mecha-oriented Ufo Robo Dangar. In 1986, a young Tsuneki Ikeda was also deeply impressed by Slap Fight and, in particular, how the later loops of the game provided veritable ”Bullet Hells”. He thus developed the taste for dodging thick swarms of bullets, and many ideas about how shmups’ design could have evolved pursuing this design style with more rigour and depth. 1986 and Slap Fight were, in a sense, the inception date and game of contemporary shmup genres.

With this terse overview of the game historical context and role, we can discuss Slap Fight/Alcon’s rather “standard S(cience)F(iction)” plot. Long time ago, in galaxy far away, the Hulst alien civilization created the AI Gaudi for some unspecified purpose. Gaudi grew so big and powerful that it took control of the whole galaxy and pushed the Hulst to the brink of extinction. However, a few members of this civilization manage to alert Earth citizens of the incoming threat. As Gaudi sets its ambitions on Earth, the Earth government prepares the “Leopard”, a ship able to counterattack Gaudi’s encroaching control over the planet. The game thus chronicles the Leopard’s fight against invading AI Gaudi for the freedom of “Blue Earth”. Any reference to legendary architect Antoni Gaudi, we can assume, is purely coincidental. That Gaudi the AI controls part of Earth, in Ray Crisis style, is my own conjecture, I admit.

Enough of the zany story; the game mechanics work as follows. Players control the Leopard with the joystick and can move it in eight directions. The A button controls attacks, which vary according to the activated armour/weapon system. The B button activates one of the armours/weapons or the other power-ups. Players can collect flashing star-shaped icons that trigger the selection of a power-up following a fixed progression, much like in Gradius. Collecting one star activates one speed increase (out of four); two, the basic “shot” attack; three, a side-shot covering the left and ride sides of the Leopard. The sequence of weapons/armours is then “wing”, “bomb”, “laser”, and “homing (missile)”, then “paddle”. Activating the “wing” attack increases the current weapon/armour power by one level (up to four); activating the paddle triggers a temporary invincibility barrier that decreases in duration over time. Gradius players will find the system intuitive, indeed.

The selection of different weapons however involves the Leopard implementing an armour/extra weapon system. Only one weapon can be used at a time, aside the “side” attack. Once players activate the second power level via the “wing” option, the Leopard’s sprite becomes bigger; at the third and fourth activations, two side pods attach to the Leopard. Hits will destroy these pods and depower the Leopard, but avoid death; the Leopard explodes/dies after one hit, at power levels one and two. If players are using one weapon (e.g. “laser”) and select the “shot” attack, they switch to the basic attack; the same rule holds when selecting another weapon. The paddle starts at roughly 20 seconds of duration and offers complete invulnerability; at the fourth activation, it lasts around 10 seconds. The different weapons offer distinct score opportunities in the game; we however these opportunities once we tackle the topic of difficulty.

Let us first address the aesthetic Facets, however. Slap Fight has a clean if rather generic design; the Leopard traverses four vaguely defined Stages that involve ancient ruins, enemy bases, deserts and other “SF-looking” backgrounds. While design and artistic direction may not look memorable, enemy vehicles are quite well-animated and Stages offer bright, “shiny” palettes and highly detailed art for the time. The Leopard has a generic, “flying tank” look when unequipped, but can turn into a massive, cool-looking space-/air-ship once all “wing” options are activated. The third and fourth bosses, apparently two different forms of AI Gaudi, also appear as zany “giant brain robot” entities, offering a vaguely humorous rendition of this dramatic fight. The game thus may suffer from a relatively generic approach to art direction, typical of the time, but offers well-animated graphics and a relatively variegated use of vibrant colours.

The OST is probably less appealing, even if by legendary Masahiro Yuge. Slap Fight has a minimal OST consisting of four themes (e.g. Expect Success, Stage one; Gain a Victory, and section-specific themes (e.g. Reach the Desire, the “score entry” theme). The MD/Genesis version is notable for being an “upgrade” over the original version, thanks to a young but already immensely talented Yuzo Koshiro. The general “8-bit” feeling underpinning this soundtrack also features prominently in the set of sound effects. Weapons produce exquisitely “retro” explosions, the “paddle” power-up produces a high-pitched, constant and annoying beeping sound when active, and so on. Most enemies do not produce any sound when attacking or exploding, but bosses do so when hit via some odd bleep. Slap Fight may be a prototypical example of Chiptune music, if only because it may be a very early example of it. Overall, Slap Fight/Alcon sounds and looks vintage but “well-crafted 1980s”, in a slogan.

Let us turn to the topic of difficulty. I anticipate matters a bit and suggest that Slap Fight/Alcon offers a top-tier beginners’ challenge at 10/50 points of difficulty. The reason why I propose this score is that the game offers four Facets of difficulty worth each 15, 15, 10 and 10 points: game mechanics, Stage design/layout, Rank, and the interaction of the first two Facets. Game mechanics offer two key challenges: players must learn to use the Gradius-style system and must learn how to handle “wing” power-ups once they reach level three and four. Players can choose not to upgrade also to keep rank at lower levels, however. Stage design/layout is relatively simple, even for a 1986 game: once you know where enemies pop up and destroy them at once, the first loop becomes easy to handle. The third and fourth bosses’ thicker bullet patterns require some practice, though.

Once players however master the four Stages’ enemies’ layouts and the 100 (sub-)areas making up these Stages, they should become able to recover from deaths at any respawning point. Furthermore, Rank revolves around survival time and power levels, but resets once players die. Thus, players who learn to handle maxed out Rank and respawning patterns should have any easy time to 1-CC the first loop. The game has infinite loops, and extends are at 30k and 100k, plus every 100k, so players may also decide to face a steeper challenge by pursuing multiple loop clearances. Notably, enemies shoot and move increasingly faster at each loop, thus rendering successive loops considerably harder and close to modern Bullet Hell shmups in difficulty. Furthermore, the game has several weapon-based scoring techniques and secrets, as explained in this guide. Players who pursue these techniques will experience some interesting if easily manageable challenges.

I thus propose that the game mechanics attract 2/15 difficulty points, Stage design/layout 6/15 points, rank 4/10 points, for the aforementioned total of 10/50 difficulty points. For score-based runs, I also propose another 5/10 difficulty points, but only for runs pushing for higher scores. The “optional” difficulty for the game thus reaches 15/50 points, i.e. a mid-tier challenge for intermediate players. Add two points per loop, for a guesstimate of how hard the game can become on “endurance” runs. Consider, however, that every eighth loop involves bullets and enemies reverting to basic attacking speed and aggressivity. Nevertheless, players who attempt counter-stop scores at 9999990 points and thus try to clear 20 loops or so may face a challenge in the grand master range, at more than 40/50 points of difficulty. As in the case of Flying Shark and many other early shmups, players can pursue exceedingly difficult but optional goals.

Let us be concise; we wrap up. Slap Fight/Alcon is a 1986 (ro)TATE shmup by Toaplan and published by Taito that pits intrepid ship the Leopard against Gaudi, an alien invading AI. Players must clear four Stages and their 100 areas to defeat this threat to peace on Earth by using a power-up system similar to the one in Gradius. The game is notable for only having terrestrial enemies and thus lacking collisions, and a smooth difficulty curve. The game also features endless loops that inspired Ikeda-san and other CAVE programmers in their creation of “Bullet Hell” games, and a treasure throve of scoring tricks. Players who want to know the roots of modern shmups should thus “study” and enjoy this game in detail, indeed.