Released in America as STARSHIP HECTOR
( NES-HH-USA )
Hector '87 (aka Starship Hector in the west) is a
shooter by Hudson Soft. In the year 4622, humanity creates
time machines capable of travelling back to the Earth's
enchant past. However, most of the research ships have been
destroyed by an unkown bio-mechanical enemy. The players pilots
the new Noah class time-fighter and must fight a wide range
of odd ships in the most ominous environments. The game includes
six time zones called Histories (ranging from Inca
temples to Egyplians giant sarcophaguses) and alternates
between vertical and horizontal stages. The Noah is equipped
with two kinds of weapons - a main upgradable Vulcan gun and cluster
ground bombs. The ship also comes with a shield meter and takes
several hits before going down - however, the game doesn't reward
the player with any powerups and enemies only drop life/shield
pods when destroyed. Hence Hector '87 was part of
Hudson Soft's Caravan tournment, the game
also features a two and five minutes attack mode.
Hector '87 was the third game to be featured at Hudson Soft's Caravan
Festival. See Star Soldier for more information about the festival.
It is interesting to notice that the American covert art is a mix of
the Japanese Famicom version of Hector '87 and
Star Soldier (picture on the right).
Teaser text from the American version:
In the Star Year of 2038, the 4th World War on Earth
destroyed all of mankind. The Starship Hector was thousands
of light years away on an exploration mission. Upon their return to
what is now ancient Earth, the Starship Hector found Earth
to be desolate and inhabited by gruesome bio-mechanical
creatures.
Starship Hector must fight its way past many different
empires of these bio-mechanical creatures to save Earth's
future. This challenge will be the toughest battle the Starship
Hector will ever face. You must skillfully change battle
strategies constantly.
This is the ultimate challenge to your battle skills. The
objective is to help the Starship Hector to survive in Ancient
Earth and to defeat the gruesome Bio-Mechanical Creatures.
Earth's future is in your skillful hands!!
Game Adviser
Shimataro Ura
Mr. Kawada
Mr. Shimada
Lu Iwabuchi
Tsukasa Shindo
Rom Programmer
Atsuo Nagata
Katsunoru Takahashi
Director
Hector Oyama
Special Thanks For
Mr. Tsuji
Produced By Hudson
G O O D I E S
Japanese Guidebook
O M A K E
Click on picture to enlarge
S E C R E T S
LK
Add your Pov here !
P O V s
I have mixed feelings about Hector'87... I definitively
like the fact that Hudson Soft tried something different -
Hector'87 has some character and the Inca/Egyptian
themes really gears the game towards new territories. However,
it was featured at the Caravan Festival and I
miss the fast and intense gameplay Star Force or Star Soldier had
on offer. The lack of power-ups is a bit disappointing and
I feel that the alternance of horizontal and vertical stages slows
down the game's pace. Taken on its own, Hector'87 is
a decent shooter but as part of the Caravan Festival,
it doesn't really feel related to the score attack series.
It is interesting to notice that the American covert art is a mix of
the Japanese Famicom version of Hector '87 and
