Accepted [+] [X] Scramble Formation Update submitted by Andrzej Warszawski
Scramble Formation (c) 1986 Taito Corporation.
Fly over the city of Tokyo in your bi-plane; you must shoot down hordes of enemy planes, vessels and tanks whilst avoiding their attacks.
Collect and control multiple biplanes to increase your firepower and help you in victory.
- TECHNICAL -
Runs on Bubble Bobble hardware derivative
Game ID: G20 00500A
Prom Stickers: A71
Main CPU: (2x) Zilog Z80
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80
Sound Chips: YM2203
Screen resolution: 224x256
Players: up to 2 (alternate)
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 2 => [A] Shoot, [B] Change formation
- TRIVIA -
Scramble Formation was released in April 1986.
Despite this release period, the high score is anonymous.
Changing the language from Japanese to English in dip switches changes the title from Scramble Formation to Tokio.
The "English" title is misspelled - Tokio. This should have been written with "y" (Tokyo).
The bullets fired out of aircraft are actually ASCII exclamation marks.
This game has no end.
Taito released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Taito Sound Team Demo Tape ver.1986).
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Formations :
1) Line: safety mode. This mode allows both aerial and ground attacks, but you only get a narrow shot area. The multiple biplanes are susceptible to getting hit too, so watch your flight.
2) Delta: aerial attack mode. The firepower can only hit flying planes, no ground shoots.
3) Crux: ground attack mode. Only ground objects and vessels can be hit. This is also the only mode that can destroy the boss ship revealing itself from between the clouds.
* If you press A and B at the same time, kamikaze pilots will be released. This can be used as a sort of shield.
- UPDATES -
Newer rom doesn't have the amusement park depicted. Instead, a huge forest is a replacement. The removal of amusement park was an action to prevent from a possible lawsuit from Disney.
- PORTS -
NOTE: Please visit the Romstar release entry for a list of ports released in North America.
* Consoles:
FM Towns Marty [JP]
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (Oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[EU] Sony PS2 (Oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLES-53438]"
[KO] Sony PS2 (Jul.18, 2006) "Taito Legends [Model SLKA-15056]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (Jan.25, 2007) "Taito Memories II Joukan [Model SLPM-66649]"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX2 (1987)
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (Oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
- SOURCES -
Game's manual.
Game's picture.
Game's ROM.
Game's screenshots.
Accepted [+] [X] 1943 Mark II Update submitted by Andrzej Warszawski
1943 Mark II (c) 1987 Capcom USA, Inc.
Export game. For more information, see the Japanese entry: "1943 Kai - Midway kaisen".
- SOURCES -
Game's ROMs.
Accepted [+] [X] Suzuka 8 Hours Update submitted by Andrzej Warszawski
Suzuka 8 Hours (c) 1992 Namco.
A motorcycle game from Namco loosely based on the real-life event.
- TECHNICAL -
Derivative of Namco System 2 hardware
Game ID : EH
Main CPU : (2x) Motorola 68000 (@ 12.288 Mhz), M6809 (@ 3.072 Mhz), HD63705 (@ 2.048 Mhz)
Sound Chips : C140 (@ 21.39 Khz), YM2151 (@ 3.57958 Mhz)
Players: up to 2 (when cabinets are linked)
Controls: 2 handles (gas and brake, both analog), tilt steering (like on a motorcycle)
Buttons: 0
- TRIVIA -
Suzuka 8 Hours was released in May 1992.
Suzuka 8 Hours is one of the world's major endurance motorcycle championship. The event is eight hours long and is held every year in Suzuka (Japan), on a 5.8 km (3.6 mi) circuit owned by Honda.
Because of the length of such race, several pilots ride the same bike and the winning team must complete the largest amount of laps. Suzuka 8 Hours was first inaugurated in 1978 and joined the world championship series in 1980.
The in-game event doesn't last 8 hours, but only up to 6 minutes. The race length can be adjusted between 3 and 6 laps in the service mode.
The motorcycle is wrongly referred to as "car" in test mode.
The game features dynamic day-to-night time cycle during later laps.
The game has no scoring system; instead it has a top time table (per full race).
Even when you complete the full race, you'll get a game over, which is unreasonable in this case.
This is the first video game officially sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company. Note: Coca-Cola was invented in May 1886 by a pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. A bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name 'Coca-Cola' to Dr. Pemberton. Robinson suggested this name because both the words Coca and Cola named 2 of the ingredients. Also the 2 'C's' would look good in advertising. The name 'Coca-Cola' first became a registered trademark in 1893.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Suzuka 8 Hours doesn't have a start button, so you need to put your hands on handles directly after you insert a coin.
- SERIES -
1. Suzuka 8 Hours (1992)
2. Suzuka 8 Hours 2 (1993)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Nintendo Super Famicom (1993)
- SOURCES -
Game's picture.
Game's ROMs.
Game's screenshots.
Accepted [+] [X] Konami RF2 - Red Fighter [Model GX561] Update submitted by Andrzej Warszawski
Konami RF2 - Red Fighter (c) 1985 Konami industry co ltd.
Drive your car through 6 courses, avoiding other cars and motorcycles. Drive through fuel bubbles to gain more fuel. Run out of fuel and it's game over.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : GX561
Runs on Nemesis/Gradius hardware
Main CPU : Motorola 68000 (@ 9.216 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) General Instrument AY8910 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), K005289 (@ 1.789772 Mhz), Sanyo VLM5030 (@ 3.579545 Mhz)
Screen orientation : Horizontal
Video resolution : 256 x 224 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.61 Hz
Palette colors : 2048
Players : 1
Control : steering wheel with no lock + 1 pedal (gas, digital) or 2 (gas and brake, both digital), high-low gear shift
Buttons : 0
- TRIVIA -
Konami RF2 - Red Fighter was released in October 1985.
Exported outside Japan as "Konami GT [Model GX561]".
This game has collecting gas bubbles more or less in common with Road Fighter, as well as flights occurring on later stages.
Not all versions of RF2 or Konami GT have a brake pedal.
This game can be converted into Hyper Crash (when Konami GT with or without brake option in dip switches is set there)
Alfa Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Konami Game Music Vol.2 - ALC-22904) on September 25, 1986.
- UPDATES -
Konami GT was published as a PCB image instead of Bubble System cartridge. The game doesn't have a warming up countdown, doesn't tell to deposit a coin before the title screen shows up, attract mode is still played after around 20 seconds of inactivity from insertion of a coin and the "step on accelerator" text is flashing slower than in RF2.
- SCORING -
* 5 yards driven = 10 pts
* Gas bubble = 500 pts; 1000 pts and every 500 pts, up to 5000 pts (when not crashed; accident resets to 500 pts per bubble)
* bonus score = 500 pts per fuel unit (awarded after stage) + 3000 when a skull appears.
* biplane flight (on stage 2) = 1000 pts
* helicopter flight (on stage 3) = 2000 pts
* spaceship flight (on stage 4) = 3000 pts
* UFO flight (on stage 5) = 5000 pts
* sled flight with reindeer and Santa Claus (on stage 6; doesn't always appear) = 5000 pts
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Continental Circus Update submitted by Andrzej Warszawski
Continental Circus (c) 1988 Taito corporation.
Continental Circus is a Formula One-styled racing game in which the player races over 8 Grand Prix circuits (loosely based on real-life circuits from back then), trying to complete one full lap before the time limit expires. The game features pit-stops and dynamic weather; the latter in the form of rain and storm.
If the player's car is hit by either a rival car, hits into a trackside barrier, checkpoint pillars, pit road barrels or billboards, the car will be damaged and begin smoking. The player must pit in at the earliest opportunity to get the car repaired, otherwise the fire will spread and the car will eventually explode.
Should the player's car have a second collision before the Pit-stop is reached, the car will explode, wasting precious time before a replacement car appears.
Continental Circus' Grand Prix tracks are as follows:
BRAZIL / Brazil GP - Qualified Rank 80
AMERICA / U.S.A GP - Qualified Rank 60
FRANCE / French GP - Qualified Rank 50
MONACO / Monaco GP - Qualified Rank 40
GERMANY / Germany GP - Qualified Rank 30
SPAIN / Spain GP - Qualified Rank 20
MEXICO / Mexico GP - Qualified Rank 10
JAPAN / Japan GP - Qualified Rank 03
- TECHNICAL -
Taito Z System hardware
Board Number : K1100351A
Prom Stickers : B33
Main CPU : (2x) Motorola 68000 (@ 12 MHz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 4 MHz)
Sound Chips : Yamaha YM2610 (@ 8 MHz)
Screen resolution: 320x224
Players : 1
Control : Steering wheel (either locked or free, depending on dip switch) + 2 analog pedals (gas and brake; only cockpit version features both), high-low gear shift
Buttons : 1 => start (only in Japanese version)
- TRIVIA -
Even if the title screen says 1987, Continental Circus was released in March 1988 in Japan.
Like Nintendo's 1981 classic, "Donkey Kong", Continental Circus was the victim of a mistake during the translation from Japanese to English. The game was originally to be called 'Continental Circuits'. All the artwork on the US games was later corrected to say 'Continental Circuit' but the original Taito PCBs are clearly labeled with the epithet 'Circus'.
F1 is often called the 'F1 circus' because it is like a big circus that travels to different cities across different continents.
Continental Circus was unique at the time in that certain cabinets came supplied with a '3D visor', through which the player viewed the action. The visor, similar in outward appearance to the one used in Atari's "Battlezone", produced a simple but effective 3D effect. This effect could be disabled by the arcade operator via the dip switch settings.
This game was released in the US and rest of the world a year later (in 1989).
The race car driven by the player is the 1987 Camel-sponsored Honda/Lotus 99T Formula 1 car as driven by Ayrton Senna (1960-1994) and Satoru Nakajima. Sponsor names such as 'Camel' and 'DeLonghi' are misspelled deliberately to prevent copyright infringement under Japanese (and every other national) law.
Special thanks are written in staff roll as "Spacial thanks".
Briefing before round 5 displays wrong country - Germany. This country exists from October 1990. But the cabinets have round 5 written correctly as W. Germany.
Mexico GP is actually former US GP west, raced on the streets of Long Beach, California.
All versions measure the speed in a kilometer per hour.
World and US roms are licensed from US Navy under US patent no. 4021846.
4 staff members are marked out in staff roll using pink color (see the staff section and "P" letter put into brackets).
Even when you complete the entire game, you get a game over after you enter initials.
Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Kyukyoku Tiger : G.S.M. Taito 2 - D28B0008) on November 21, 1988.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Fast Start: Hold gas to the full during countdown; tires will smoke. Release gas quickly and hold it back to gain speed.
* Remember to drive to the pit road when the bolide is smoking. When you fail to do so, engine will fire and the screen will show "impending explosion" warning. You may not complete the stage when the bolide explodes.
* Don't forget to change tires when the rain emerges - the bolide handles worse at turns and this may also prevent you from completing the stage.
* You have no option to continue on Japan GP when the time runs out or your position is lower than #03.
* Use brakes only in emergency situations - when overtaking is difficult or before sharp turns on stages 4; 7 and 8.
* Don't turn too lightly when not required - you'll cause the bolide to spin (when you don't center the steering wheel), which will eventually make you accelerate from 0 km/h, more or less like after explosion, but without the time necessary to place the replacement bolide (approximately 5 seconds). Try to keep the steering wheel centered on the straights when you don't need to overtake.
- UPDATES -
Japanese rom has copyright notice not allowing to play this game outside Japan. This version is also started differently - using start button instead of pressing accelerator pedal. Additionally, it's not licensed from US navy.
- STAFF -
CREATE STAFFS
Produce: Junji Yarita, Yoshimitsu Kasahra
Software: Tohru Sugawara, Hidenori Sasatani, Kenzo Nomura, Eiichi Sato
Character: Junji Yarita, Yoshimitsu Kasahara, Seiji Kawakami, Shinobu Iwabuchi (P), Toshiyuki Nishimura
Hardware: Seigo Sakamoto, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Takashi Ohhara
Mechanic: Akira Takahashi, Itsuji Yamada, Tohru Hirata, Yukihiro Akiyama, Masaharu Hori
Design: Naoko Yoshida (P), Shinobu Sekiguchi, Kazuo Nakagawa, Takeo Shiraishi, Atsushi Iwaoka
Sound - All Direction & Music Arranged: Mar. (Ztt)
Sound - Sub Direction: Yack (Ztt)
Sound - Software : Naoto Yagishita, Hisayoshi Ogura, Shiro Imaoka, Kazuyuki Ohnui
Sound - Hardware: Eikichi Takahashi, Tsukasa Nakamura
Electric: Fumio Takeda, Satoru Shimomura, Masatoki Sasaki
Special thanks: Akira Iwai, Genya Kuriki, Hidehoro Fujiwara, Harutoki Kume, Hiroyasu Nagai, Ichiro Fujisue, Mari Iwano (P), Mikio Hatano, Natsuki Hirosawa, Takaaki Deguchi, Takeshi Ishii, Tetsushi Abe, Tetsuro Kitagawa, Toshiko Shimoda (P), Toshiyuki Sanada, Tsutomu Yoshikawa, Yasuhiko Tanaka, Yasuo Tsumori, Yoshinori Aiura, Yoshio Imamura
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[EU] Sony PS2 (Oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLES-53438]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[US] Sony PS2 (Oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLUS-21122]"
[KO] Sony PS2 (Jul.18, 2006) "Taito Legends [Model SLKA-15056]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (Jan.25, 2007) "Taito Memories II Joukan [Model SLPM-66649]"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1989)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1989)
[EU] Atari ST (1989)
[US] Commodore C64 [EU] (1989)
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1989)
MSX [EU] (1989)
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.10, 2005) "Taito Legends"
- SOURCES -
Game's picture.
Game's ROMs.
Game's screenshots.
Staff roll after game completion.
See goodies section.
