Choplifter (SMS, 1986)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-7 Challenge-9/8* Story-4
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-7 Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
*Flying backwards trick
+
2.5D gameplay (can turn and shoot on the z-plane towards the camera - can also strafe while doing this)
Unusual 5-way aiming (moving backwards lets you shoot slightly upwards and the lower angles depend on your forward movement speed)
Rescue mission (shoot prisons to make NPCs come out and then land to make them hop aboard before they get killed by the enemy)
Fairly detailed physics for the time (landing quickly on NPCs crushes them, landing while moving forward quickly makes you crash)
Pretty good enemy variety
Can destroy most regular enemy bullets
Pretty intense action (frequent respawning of enemies and their unit reinforcements never run out)
You're generally safe at your home base (level 3 is an exception)
Defender-like gameplay (levels scroll both ways but they don't loop here)
The visuals are quite close to the arcade ver. (it's also easier to make some things out here)
Some in-doors segments
Good animation for the time and the game features parallax scrolling
+/-
Your pilot avatar looks the same as the NPC prisoners
One hit kills and you respawn at the base (destroyed turrets stay destroyed and rescued prisoners stay rescued after losing a life at least)
Enemy spawning machines are invincible
Pretty forgiving hit detection
Some turrets are protected by obstacles and can't be shot (would've been cool if you could get bombs to destroy them with)
Can't shoot away from the camera/into the screen
Some gameplay differences compared to the arcade ver. (in the arcade version enemies are more frequent from the get go and there's also a fuel mechanic to worry about, on the other hand NPCs move a bit quicker there and foreground enemies seem much less frequent while rescuing them, your gun's rate of fire is also higher in that version)
Can land on water (if you stand still you'll be attacked by sharks in most spots though)
Can't keep playing after finishing the quota on a level (40 out of 64)
A bit odd how z-plane shots sound like bombs (the manual also refers to them as bombs but they are clearly not - the higher your chopper is the further ahead they reach)
Only minor slowdown
-
No continues (if you lose 25 or more prisoners it's also game over so the game is much harder than you'd first expect)
Loose scrolling (the game adjusts it heavily if you keep moving in one direction but this creates issues (can lead to cheap hits but can also be abused to make turrets unable to shoot due to being slightly off screen and to make some enemies not spawn by flying backwards) in various situations where you're not just moving between locations)
Some control issues (no auto-fire and your gun's rate of fire is pretty low which leads to having to go back and shoot again at various ground targets, some delay when trying to stop so that you can shoot straight forward - this and not being able to shoot straight while moving slows the pace down quite a bit compared to Fantasy Zone for example)
No alternate weapons or weapon upgrades
Some trial & error (landing right in front of the door of a destroyed prison will make the NPCs burn inside, some fast surprise attacks such as in the cave, can move through the regular plane enemies without dying)
No difficulty options
Repetitive and fairly short (the rescue mission gameplay leads to backtracking since the levels don't loop and only scroll sideways (randomized enemy unit spawning helps make gameplay less repetitive though), starts repeating tilesets and enemies after the first 4 levels - 6 levels long, no bosses or final enemy base to take out)
Fairly easy to shoot a prison by accident before you've cleared out the enemies around it (triggering the prisoners to come out)
No ending (just shows the credits)
Notes:
-Based on the 1982 game by Brøderbund
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-7 Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
*Flying backwards trick
+
2.5D gameplay (can turn and shoot on the z-plane towards the camera - can also strafe while doing this)
Unusual 5-way aiming (moving backwards lets you shoot slightly upwards and the lower angles depend on your forward movement speed)
Rescue mission (shoot prisons to make NPCs come out and then land to make them hop aboard before they get killed by the enemy)
Fairly detailed physics for the time (landing quickly on NPCs crushes them, landing while moving forward quickly makes you crash)
Pretty good enemy variety
Can destroy most regular enemy bullets
Pretty intense action (frequent respawning of enemies and their unit reinforcements never run out)
You're generally safe at your home base (level 3 is an exception)
Defender-like gameplay (levels scroll both ways but they don't loop here)
The visuals are quite close to the arcade ver. (it's also easier to make some things out here)
Some in-doors segments
Good animation for the time and the game features parallax scrolling
+/-
Your pilot avatar looks the same as the NPC prisoners
One hit kills and you respawn at the base (destroyed turrets stay destroyed and rescued prisoners stay rescued after losing a life at least)
Enemy spawning machines are invincible
Pretty forgiving hit detection
Some turrets are protected by obstacles and can't be shot (would've been cool if you could get bombs to destroy them with)
Can't shoot away from the camera/into the screen
Some gameplay differences compared to the arcade ver. (in the arcade version enemies are more frequent from the get go and there's also a fuel mechanic to worry about, on the other hand NPCs move a bit quicker there and foreground enemies seem much less frequent while rescuing them, your gun's rate of fire is also higher in that version)
Can land on water (if you stand still you'll be attacked by sharks in most spots though)
Can't keep playing after finishing the quota on a level (40 out of 64)
A bit odd how z-plane shots sound like bombs (the manual also refers to them as bombs but they are clearly not - the higher your chopper is the further ahead they reach)
Only minor slowdown
-
No continues (if you lose 25 or more prisoners it's also game over so the game is much harder than you'd first expect)
Loose scrolling (the game adjusts it heavily if you keep moving in one direction but this creates issues (can lead to cheap hits but can also be abused to make turrets unable to shoot due to being slightly off screen and to make some enemies not spawn by flying backwards) in various situations where you're not just moving between locations)
Some control issues (no auto-fire and your gun's rate of fire is pretty low which leads to having to go back and shoot again at various ground targets, some delay when trying to stop so that you can shoot straight forward - this and not being able to shoot straight while moving slows the pace down quite a bit compared to Fantasy Zone for example)
No alternate weapons or weapon upgrades
Some trial & error (landing right in front of the door of a destroyed prison will make the NPCs burn inside, some fast surprise attacks such as in the cave, can move through the regular plane enemies without dying)
No difficulty options
Repetitive and fairly short (the rescue mission gameplay leads to backtracking since the levels don't loop and only scroll sideways (randomized enemy unit spawning helps make gameplay less repetitive though), starts repeating tilesets and enemies after the first 4 levels - 6 levels long, no bosses or final enemy base to take out)
Fairly easy to shoot a prison by accident before you've cleared out the enemies around it (triggering the prisoners to come out)
No ending (just shows the credits)
Notes:
-Based on the 1982 game by Brøderbund