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ハレーウォーズ
©Taito Corporation 1989
Release: 1989-01-14 (¥3500)
DiskCard TFD-HAL
Shooter / Vertical
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Halley Wars is a vertical shooter and is the conversion of Taito's
arcade game released in 1986 (aka Halley's Comet in japan).
The Halley's Comet is back from outer-space and scientists all over
the world are excited by this event. But this time, things do not really go
according to plans and an unexpected fleet of alien spaceships appears from
behind the comet. Their destination is Earth and Humanity's finest
spaceship and pilot is sent to counter the attack. It can fire a
standard laser gun which can be upgraded by collecting power-ups
hidden inside grey containers. Smaller ships can also be picked
up and a maximum of four of them can join the ship and increase
its fire power. These tinny ships can also be used as bombs
when the other action button is pressed. Other add-ons s
also appear and can massively increase the overall fire-power once
attached to the ship. The most original
feature of the game is certainly the percentage of damage inflicted
to the Earth itself. Any alien spaceship or meteor that
passes through the ship's firepower ends up damaging our
mother planet. Once it reaches 100%, it is game over, even
if the stock of available ships is full. Players have many flying
objects to watch for, from fast alien formations to fast
tailed meteors and floating debris.
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It is interesting to notice that Taito released the original arcade game
Halley's Comet on the same year the comet crossed the Earth's skies,
back in 1986. I wonder if Taito will release an anniversary version
in 2061, next appearance of the famous comet. The arcade game (pictured on the left)
has a vertical bar on the right of the screen, showing how close
the comet is from the player and the Earth. The game's layout is also completely
different. The Famicom Disk System version
came out in 1989 and was renamed Halley's War. Two other versions of the
game exist. One released for Sega's Game Gear in 1991 and a second one,
more recent, for cell phones.
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Story from the game's introduction sequence:
For the 31st time Halleys comet is approaching. It has
gradually changed course. Closer and closer to our planet.
Starships invertigating the comet have been destroyed.
Aliens were hiding inside. You are the last hope of mankind.
Command our most advanced spaceship. Save the planet from
certain destruction.
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
O
V
s
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Halley's Comet, the original game, was fun and original for
the time. Halley Wars, the renamed Famicom Disk System version
lacks many of the features that made the original game so attractive.
Background graphics are virtually the same from one stage to the next
with a couple of nice features to look at from time to time. The soundtrack,
if not bad, is the same in every stage. This kind of bothers me greatly,
there was probably enough space on the disk to store more music track. The Earth
life percentage is a nice idea, however I just wondered what the hell
happened the first time I played. My ship just blew up for no visible reasons
and the game was over despite the three ships I had left. Then I
finally realized what the percentage meter was about but this is
a nasty feature and probably the one that kills you the most.
All in all Halley Wars is an unusual and interesting shooter,
but a couple of design flaws keep it from being truly great.
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