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(c)DAIPRO 1989,1991
(c)CAPCOM 1989,1991
Cartridge SHVC-E8
Shooter/ Horizontal
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Released in America as
U.N. SQUADRON
( SNS-E8-USA )
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Released in Europe as
U.N. SQUADRON
( SNSP-E8-### )
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Area 88 (aka U.N. Squadron for the rest of the world) is a
side scrolling shooter by Capcom, conversion from their own arcade game
released back in 1989. An evil general and his army are taking over the world.
A group of three highly skilled mercenary pilots who blow things up for cash,
Shin Kazama, Mickey Scymon and Greg Gates, accept the
mission readily. They are now flying an aircraft and ready to defeat
the greedy dictator and restore peace. A great feature of the game is
the ability given to the player to buy his own weapons and even fighter
planes. Right from the start, pilots are offered a F8E Crusader
fighter and some cash. Then, after each mission, the earned cash can be
used to purchase new weapons or a brand new fighter, giving the player
a great deal of customization. But beware, any special weapon and cash are
lost if the player happens to die during a mission. Furthermore, each pilot
comes with his own specialty. Shin, the young hero pilot, can level
up the standard plane's Vulcan gun faster than his friends. Mickey,
the hot-shot, can carry more special weapons and Greg, the veteran,
has more health and can recover faster from injuries. The game is vast and
offers not less than ten intense stages. Sadly, the game is one player only.
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Area 88 is based on a Japanese Manga series published from
1979 to 1986. It was created by Kaoru Shintani and tells the story
of Shin Kazawa, a mercenary fighter pilot training for the
Area 88 air force base. The manga was very popular in Japan and
was even adapted into at least three OVAs in 1985 and a twelve episode
animation series in 2005. Shin Kazawa is the hero character of
Capcom's arcade game released in 1989 and called Area 88. Curiously,
the game was renamed U.N Squadron in the rest of the world, even if
the manga was actually translated and published in the US by Viz Comics
under the original Area 88 name. UN Squadron also came out
for the Amiga (1990), Atari ST (1990), Amstrad CPC (1990), Sinclair ZX
Spectrum (1990) and Commodore 64 (1990). A sequel followed in the arcades
as US Navy (aka Carrier Air Wing in the rest of the world)
in 1990.
This Super Famicom version shows a couple of differences with
the original arcade game. First of all, players can buy different planes
for their pilots to fly, unlike the original arcade game where each pilot had
only only plane (F20 Tigershark, F14 Tomcat and A10 Thunderbolt).
Then the shop counts more and different power-ups and some stages are very different,
especially the end of the game and the boss awaiting there. But I won't spoil it.
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Game Staff (Copied from the American version's end credits) :
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SFX U.N.Squadron STAFF
Planner
Hisashi "mx5" Yamamoto
Programmer
Yoshito "LEO" Itoh
Masayuki "IMO" Akahori
Norito "COZY" Kojima
Koji "YOSHILIM" Yoshida
Harunobu "IMG" Imagawa
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Object Design
Masao "SAKSAN" Sakurai
Mayumi "TUBE" Tanabe
Scroll Design
Miki "KIX" Kijima
Yukari "KAKKUN" Kakuta
MACHAKO
Shizuyo "UCCHAN" Ukai
Chiharu "SILKROAD" Akagi
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Sound Programmer
SAKAGUCHI
Sound Design
BULL
MARI
IKE-BOMB
English Story
Scott "MADMAN" Maxwell
Very Special Thanks
Kiyomi "KANEKON" Kaneko
"BAMBOO"
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U.N.Squadron ARCADE STAFF
SPECIAL THANKS
SUPER TOM-PON
Iriko-Chan
MINORU
HIDE
NAKED
CAPCOM STAFF
and You!!
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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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Area 88 is an excellent conversion of Capcom's arcade hit.
The original game was a great shooter with an unique weapon system and
gameplay. Area 88 has an important part of strategy depending on
what pilot you pick and what special weapons and fighters you later
purchase (which wasn't available in the original arcade game). The game is intense
and frantic, the difficulty is well balanced and will challenge
beginners as well as hardcore gamers. Capcom also changed parts
of the game making it worth every penny, even for fans who happen to
know the original arcade game inside-out. A great shooter.
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