This popular vertically scrolling shooter packs quite a visual punch with the Super Fire, a powerful weapon whose blast resembles the wings of a fiery bird. The game's intense battles and sound effects provide white-knuckle action to those players brave enough to play it.
FIRE SHARK
Japanese title: 鮫!鮫!鮫!
| Release | 1989 |
| Genre | Vertically scrolling shooting |
| Platforms | Arcade PlayStation 4 Nintendo Switch Astro City Mini V Mega Drive Steam Others |
Story
In the year 19X9, the S Army's Heavy Machinery Corps, a unit known as "Red Star", used its overwhelming military strength to invade Gabul and then advance on a small republic located in the Middle East. The nation's liberation army known as “Yumin“, which had suffered many brutal incursions from the S Army, poured the last of its resources into resurrecting the heroic fighter known as “Flying Shark“ and revive it as “Fire Shark“. The time has come for you to take off as the pilot of the Fire Shark. Go forth! “Fire Shark“! Your codename is “Shark! Shark! Shark! “!
Controls & How to Play
The game is played with an 8-way joystick, a Shot button, and a Bomb button.
Use the Shot and Bomb buttons to destroy enemies.
If your plane is hit by enemy fire or collides with an airborne enemy, it will be destroyed and you will lose a life.
You will not lose a life for colliding with enemies located on land or on the sea.
When you restart after losing a life, your power-ups will be reset and you will begin with only the Wide Shot power-up and three bombs equipped.
The game is over if you lose all of your lives.
There are a total of ten stages.
【Items】
Blue, green, and red flashing items appear when you defeat certain enemies.
Pick these up to give you a new shot type based on the color you acquire.
If you pick up an item that is the same color as your equipped shot type, you will receive 5,000 points instead.
Blue-flashing item: Wide Shot
Fires forward in a fan-shaped path and covers a wide area.
Each time you power up, the number of directions your attacks travel will increase.
Green-flashing item: Beam Shot
Shoots a powerful wave-like beam in a straight line in front of your plane.
Each time you power up, the number of waves will increase, thereby boosting the shot's damage.
Green-flashing item: Beam Shot
Shoots powerful flames in front of your plane when you hold down the Shot button.
Each time you power up, the number of flames will increase, and once fully powered up, you are able to cover all directions from your plane except directly behind you.
"P" item
These appear when you defeat certain enemies.
There are three power-up gauges at the top of the screen, and they will light up each time you acquire a power-up.
Even if you lose a life, the count is not reset.
Pick up three of them to power up your shots (3 levels).
After your shot is powered up, the gauge will be depleted.
It is also possible to stock up on "P" items even when fully powered up, and if you die while having three in stock, you will automatically power up by one level when you restart.
If you pick one up when you are fully powered up and already have three in stock, you will receive 5,000 points instead.
"S" item
These appear when you defeat certain enemies.
They increase the speed of your plane (3 levels).
If you pick one up when you are already at top speed, you will receive 5,000 points instead.
"B" item
These appear when you defeat certain enemies.
Pick this up to add one bomb to your inventory.
You can store up to ten of these bombs.
Bonus item
These appear when you defeat certain enemies.
You will receive 100 points for each one of these lightning bolt-shaped items that you pick up.
When you clear a stage, you will receive bonus points equal to 1,000 points multiplied by the number of bombs you have remaining and the number of bonus items you acquired.
"1UP" item
These appear when you destroy certain enemies.
There are certain conditions for making them appear.
Pick it up to receive an extra life.
Impressions
The game's powerful, fire-heavy visuals that covered the screen were unparalleled at the time! The soundtrack also delivered tense shooting action to gamers everywhere! Players were also amazed by the hardcore difficulty! At its core, the game was a simple vertically scrolling shooter, but it was packed full of Toaplan goodness! That's ultimately what made it so popular with players, despite the rather high level of difficulty. Additionally, a Mega Drive version was also released by Toaplan, with considerable weight thrown behind its launch, including a TV commercial that was produced and aired. As a result, it became a highly rated shooting game both in Japan and overseas, ranking 8th in the 1990 Best Shooting Game category despite intense competition in the arcade scene, and the Mega Drive version also received a spot in the Silver Hall of Fame from a coveted Japanese publication.