Need help identifying shooter.

[Helm]

There's a short story that goes with this. I was on a ship going from Athens to Crete, back in the old days when said ships had arcades to keep the bored passengers, well, their children happy for the 5hr trip. I was very young, and very much into coin-ops, not having anything better than an Atari at home. This was in 1993 or so? I was 9. This is important as the shooter I'm trying to identify could not have been any newer than that, and is probably from the 1989-91 batch, as greece was a little slow, and Double Dragon machines stood next to Bubble Bobble machines which stood next to the original Tetris machines for decades.

In the arcades was this person that went to a shoot-em up with ONE COIN, he was about 20, and I went with my rolls of coins behind him and waited my turn. I thought, just one coin, he'll be up in no-time.

Then I proceeded to stare in amazement as he one-coined the whole shooter. For the life of me, I can't remember if it was horisontal or vertical, I think vertical. realistic-f16-type ships, if I remember correctly, absurd amounts of firepower for the player but not what I'd classify as manic.

Anyway, he finishes, and we watch the ending together. I remember a typical blonde american young pilot in a pilot jacket smiling at the player, MAYBE his ship's specs and whatnot. Then, and this is a distinctive memory, the game started from the beginning again (not a second loop) and as I went to put my first coin in he told me 'hey, you don't need to put another coin in. I've tamed it.' which is quite an awesome way to say that the game restarted without needing another credit. He then handed the machine over to me, where I proceeded to suck immensely, but he laughed and encouraged me. He was rad.

I fell in love with shooters ever since, not to mention that the dude that did the 1coin became a serious role-model that as you will see below, I've yet to outgrow. I've never one-coined any shooter in the arcades, but my highscores stayed at the top for weeks sometimes, I've finished Pang on Panic Mode... I never do 'continue's with my coins... I became a proper gamer. I've seen people one-coin In The Hunt and Raiden games in front of me after that, but that first memory has stayed with me, and I'm now interested in finding this game and taming it myself.

Sorry for the rambling post, thank you in advance if you can help.

[iatneH]

Nice story!

I'm guessing Aero Fighters, but it might be a bit on the new side (1992).

You'll probably be getting a lot of replies here with links from klov.com, but it's a great resource and you might want to browse a bit too and see if any of the titles or screenshots will spark your memory. Good luck!

[Helm]

I checked out Aero Fighters and I picked up some bits of wisdom I'll be sure to keep in mind, such as:

If you're a ninja pilot, your projectiles will be shaped as shuriken.

If you're selling heroin in downtown Tokyo, advertise!

The statue of liberty is holding out on a power-up for you.


But no, I don't think this one's it.

[Twiddle]

A little bit of advice -- a game that loops doesn't actually get "tamed" when the first loop is finished; it starts again, only harder than the first time around.

Usually.

http://unmamed.mame.net/non_upl.html

is Task Force Harrier it?

Other "realistic jets" games from that time period:

Sky Smasher by Nihon System
Fighter & Attacker by Namco (I think this might definitely be it)

[Helm]

The reason I suspect it wasn't just second loop with added difficulty is because I feintly remember the game defaulting in it's startup screen again after victory game over. But I could be mistaken. In there existing or not existing a second loop for the game I'm looking for, should not be considered strong criteria, as memory is unreliable after 13 years.

[ST Dragon]

I'm pretty sure the game you're looking for was Carrier Air Wing by Capcom, as it meets all your criteria: "realistic jets", F-14, F-18 & A-6, released in 1990, the ending shows a blonde American Jet pilot with his pilot jacket and once the game ends, it does restart to level one without having to insert another coin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEP3meav ... re=related

And for the record, I too used to play Carrier Air Wing back in the day (1993) during the endless shooting sessions on the boat trip to Crete from Athens!
Ideal shooter for playing on a boat!

[Ruldra]

Nice 5-year old thread bump.

[ST Dragon]

Well it could have been worse
At least he got his answer...

[psy]

Thread bumps are harmless when they're relevant :/