Gunhed
ガンヘッド1989Gunhed
ガンヘッドALSO KNOWN AS BLAZING LAZERS
A fast vertical shooter with a wide range of weapons.
Gunhed is one of the first games released on the PC Engine. It is often remembered as one of the console's best shooters.
| RELEASED IN JAPAN | 7 July 1989 |
|---|---|
| RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA | November 1989, as Blazing Lazers |
| MADE BY | Hudson Soft and Compile |
| DIRECTED BY | Masamitsu Niitani, president of Compile |
| TIE-IN | The 1989 Japanese film Gunhed |
The player flies the Gunhed Advanced Star Fighter through nine vertically scrolling areas. Each area has one or more bosses that must be destroyed to move on. A hit costs a life and sends the ship back to the last checkpoint crossed.
A flashing orb destroys every enemy on screen and lets the player resume from where the ship was lost. There are four continues.
The main cannon can be upgraded or replaced by numbered power-ups and purple gel capsules. Optional extras include multibodies that copy the ship's moves and homing missiles.
Cluster bombs clear the area around the ship. A button cycles the ship's speed through five settings, trading agility for control.
A fictional galaxy is under attack by the Dark Squadron. Its only hope is the Gunhed Advanced Star Fighter. The fighter must destroy the Dark Squadron and its eight Super Weapons.
Masamitsu Niitani, president of Compile, directed the game. The team had earlier worked on Zanac and Puyo Puyo.
For North America, the film references were removed. The game was released there in November 1989 as Blazing Lazers.
Computer and Video Games scored the game 96 percent. Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it 77th in its 1997 list of the 100 best games.
The Virtual Console versions arrived in North America in 2007, and later in Europe, Australia and Japan. The game came to the PlayStation Network in Japan on 21 July 2010.
The Software Bible calls it one of the games that really sold the console to some people.
- In the film, Gunhed is a giant robot whose name stands for Gun Unit Heavy Elimination Device.
- NEC considered calling Super Star Soldier Blazing Lazers II, because the two played alike.
- Famitsu gave the Japanese game 30 out of 40.
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