Sky Destroyer

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Sky Destroyer is a videogame in which the player controls a WWII Japanese monoplane. The pilot is required to destroy enemies to clear stages. It was released for the Famicom. The game was released by Taito Corporation in 1985.

The title screen
The title screen

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The player's plane is equipped with machine guns and torpedoes and ammunition is unlimited. The colour of the sky changes according to the time of the day (afternoon, evening, night). F6F Hellcats are common enemy fighter planes the player will encounter. Occasionally, the player would run into a B-24 Liberator.

Enemy resistance comes not only from the air, but from land and sea as well. Sometimes, an American naval destroyer or submarine would try to down the player's plane with AA fire. Aircraft carriers can sometimes be seen in the distant horizon (but can still be sunk with torpedoes). At the end of a stage, the player faces a mobile shore battery on an island. This battery must be destroyed in order to complete the mission.

In-game screenshot
In-game screenshot

There are bonus stages in this game.

[edit] Taking damage

If the player is hit even just once by enemy fire, his plane crashes and he loses one life point. The game is over when all life points are used up.

The player's plane is hit by enemy fire
The player's plane is hit by enemy fire

[edit] Graphics

The graphics in this game is, not surprisingly, very simple by today's standards.

Enemy surface warships do not appear to move past or under the player's plane. Instead, they reach a point of closest distance (between player and surface warship) and then move back out into the horizon. This could be due to a glitch or graphical limitations with early console games.

[edit] Sky Invader

Sky Invader screenshot
Sky Invader screenshot

A hacked version of this game made by an unknown manufacturer is known as Sky Invader. The differences between the original and the hacked version are:

  • Different title screen.
  • Different music.
  • Different planes (both the player airplane and the enemies are modified).
  • Different sky (the color of the background is always pink).
  • The water color is darker.
  • The player starts with 9 helicopters instead of 3 as in Sky Destroyer.
  • The stages are called "wars".