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B-Wings [Model DFC-BW]

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40 Years old Nintendo Famicom cart. Data East Corp. [Japan]

B-Wings [Model DFC-BW] screenshot

B-Wings © 1986 Data East Corporation.

B-Wings is a vertical shooter, conversion of an arcade game originally released in 1984. The Earth Federation has dispatched its FX-1 prototype star fighter to counter an impending enemy attack. The elite pilot and his ship must both go on a suicide mission deep inside enemy territory. The general gist of the game is to fly though thirty levels, destroy enemy ships, ground installations and massive Gobunasu armored fortresses. Although the FX-1 is relatively weakly armed in its simplest form, it has the ability to equip weapon modules called Wings. They come in ten different types - Anti-Wing, Cannon Wing, Dyna-Wing, Fire-Wing, Jump-Wing, Hammer-Wing, Multiple-Wing, Side-Wing, Van-Wing and Wide-Wing. Each Wing weapon-module has its own special characteristics - some have a longer range than others, some shoot in a specific direction, some use explosive shells whereas others fire a frontal jet of flames or shield the fighter against enemy attacks. Although the player can select a power Wing at the beginning of the game, a collision with another enemy ship results in the destruction of such module (the second action button also ejects the equipped Wing). Thankfully in these emergency situations, the player has the option to collect other Wings left behind by special flying pods. The second action button also allows the player to dive down for a short amount of time in order to avoid enemy attacks (ejecting the equipped Wing in the process). B-Wings features a two-player alternating option.

Goodies for B-Wings [Model DFC-BW]
Click to enlarge
(members only)
TECHNICAL

GAME ID: DFC-BW
BARCODE: 4 961082 610012

TRIVIA

B-Wings for Famicom was released on June 03, 1986 in Japan. It was sold 4900 Yen.

The game was never released outside Japan.

TIPS AND TRICKS
* Stage select:
On the title screen, hold Up and press A, hold Right and press A, hold Down and press A, hold Left and press A, hold Left and press B. You will hear an explosion sound confirming you that the code is enabled. Press Select twice to highlight the Continue option and press Up and Down to select a level. Press Start to play.

* Weapon select:
Once the Stage select code has been activated, pause at anytime during the game and press Select to cycle through the available Wings (this comes in limited quantities though).

* Hidden Wings:
There are three hidden Wings in the game that seem to appear after destroying certain obstacles (it is not really clear which ones). The first one shoots large ring-shaped beams, the second one shoots black spheres (identical to the Hammer-Wing) in eight directions and the third Wing shoots pink helix-shaped beams in four directions.

* Secret Items:
Most of these secret items are hidden inside certain obstacles, and turn into an umbrella when shot at (which doesn't seem to have much effect). The most common item is shaped like a letter - the player must shoot it in order to change that letter and eventually equip another Wing. Another one is a flashing Vol item that gives the player the ability to switch weapons. Once activated, the player can pause the game and press select to equip another Wing. However, this only works once, and another Vol item needs to be picked up to switch again (they can be stocked up though). Other items are a lot more obscure - a set of items with card faces on them give various upgrades such as an armor or extra lives, and one shaped like a horse head (or a chess knight piece) doesn't seem to do anything (maybe just extra points?). Finally, another one shaped like a shooting star gives the player the ability to warp ahead and skip four stages!
STAFF
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SOURCES
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ROM dump (MAME).
Game's description by Laurent Kermel; http://www.videogameden.com