Game Boy Games #5

Choplifter II: Rescue and Survive (1991)
By: Beam Software  Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: Nintendo Game Boy First Day Score: ???,???
Also Available For: Nothing

I've never really been a handheld gamer for some weird reason - it was always the home consoles that interested me - so when I saw that Choplifter III had been released on the SNES I was mildly startled. I had long enjoyed the original game on my delightful Master System, and here, apparently, was the third game, but what in the blue blazes had happened to the second game? The answer wouldn't find my eyes until many moons later but it turned out that Choplifter II was a Game Boy exclusive of all things. Crikey, I exclaimed! Once I got over the shock of this unexpected news and considered the game for a moment, I was immediately sceptical that such a game would work on the small, blurry screen. The view of the action would have to be much more zoomed-in so you could actually see stuff for one thing, and that would open you up to being killed by something when it scrolled onto the screen right next to you. I suppose I should play the game before condemning it for my imagined slights (to partly quote Thor from The Avengers) though, huh?!

Rescue the hostages before the tank shoots them!

First things first: the game logo on the title screen flickers (I assume deliberately) which is why it looks weird here. This is irritating and needed to be mentioned. Once I started the actual game, however, things were much less irritating. To begin with at least, the game looks and plays very much like what is probably the best known version of the first game, not to mention my favourite version, found on the aforementioned MS. There are way more levels to get through here though - fifteen in fact, spread evenly over five themed 'sectors' named: Ground Battle, Cave Battle, Sea Battle, Jungle Battle and City Battle. Something tells me a battle awaits in those locations! The side-scrolling levels feature lots of hostages running around near buildings which also tend to have enemy forces patrolling nearby. Your job is to rescue a minimum quota of these hostages before you can advance to the next level or sector. The hostages can be killed by the idiotic enemy forces though, so either take them out first or be quick!

The between-level map of the first sector...

As with the first game, you can fly left or right across each level's landscape (or indeed seascape), and your chopper can be turned to face left, right or directly at the screen. The latter can be used for ascending or descending in tighter spaces but mainly for dropping bombs straight down onto enemy vehicles beneath you, rather than them firing left or right across the screen when you're facing those directions. Since many enemies are between obstructions (buildings, trees, etc), this is often the only way you can take them out. Your main weapons are described as bombs too, even though they shoot across the screen like large bullets or small rockets. There are pick-ups to look out for though, either left behind by destroyed enemies or just laying around already. These include larger bombs, missiles, a flamethrower, shield, extra life, stealth (makes you invisible) or rope (needed in some areas to rescue hostages). Unlike your main weapon, these are all very limited in number, but very handy nonetheless.

See if you can guess which sector this is!

I was surprised to see you get an energy meter here too, rather than the one-hit deaths of the original. It's pretty easy to take damage though - obviously enemies and their projectiles do a number on it, as does flying into walls, scenery, buildings, trees, or pretty much anything you can see, even if you are barely moving. Luckily, some downed enemies drop stars which replenish it, but if your chopper goes down with any hostages on board, they will also be lost. Worse still, if you go down with enough hostages on board that there are no longer enough left pootling about the stage to meet the level's minimum quota, it's an instant game over rather than just costing you a life, so it's always a good idea to unload any passengers as soon as possible, and certainly before you tackle a tricky-looking section. The enemies mainly consist of various types of tanks and ground-based guns, and smaller scenery or building-mounted guns, but later stages see occasional tougher enemies show up such as jets and choppers, and even a submarine that launches an ICBM on the watery sector!

Crikey, that's a scary game over screen!

The stages themselves present the odd hazard or two as well, such as falling rocks, watery spouts, etc, and even the weather is against you since rainy/thundery clouds will cause you damage too! These things can only be avoided but most enemies are destroyed easily enough with the basic bombs in terms of how many hits they take, but they are often positioned so that you might take damage trying to reach them. It probably sounds like a super tough game but it's really not all that bad if you take things carefully (i.e. slowly), and mercifully enough, there is no time limit. The only bummer really, is that some enemies respawn, but for the most part they only need to be taken out to reach hostages running around near them, so they can usually just be avoided after respawns. Fortunately, there are more hostages on each level than you need so you can afford to lose a few here and there, but you do get a substantial bonus as well as an extra life if you manage to rescue all of them.

There are lots of tight sections in the cave sector...

Suffice to say, there is quite a bit more to the game than the simple-but-addictive original which got too hard too quickly for my tastes. The graphics here are in the same style but a little more zoomed-in and they do the job superbly aside from some ropey scrolling. Everything is crisp and clear, and there are some really nice presentation screens as well as the cool little map between levels/sectors. The music is a little loud and blaring but it's pleasant enough and there are a decent number of choons. The only issue I had with the game really, was the controls. They're fine for the most part but turning around (tap left or right rather than hold) is sufficiently fiddly that it can cause problems when trying to manoeuvre in tight spaces. It's not too bad when you get used to it though, and everything else about the game is great. There's even a password system which is ultra-handy. As you may have gathered then, my initial concerns have not been realised. Instead, I'm pleasantly surprised to find a fantastic, addictive game which not only works perfectly on the GB but may be my new favourite game on it.

RKS Score: 9/10

Gameplay Video: here's a video of the whole game being played by one of the talented fellows at World of Longplays (check out their great channel here). Oh, and don't watch if you want to avoid spoilers!