Windjammers (Neo Geo)

WindJammers
Cover Art
Developer(s)	Data East
Publisher(s)	SNK
Platform(s)	Arcade/Neo Geo AES
Release date(s)	NA 1994
Genre(s)	Fantasy sport/Action
Mode(s)	Single Player (against computer), Multiplayer Versus
Cabinet	Standard upright
Arcade system	Neo Geo
CPU	See Neo Geo
Sound	See Neo Geo
Display	See Neo Geo

Windjammers (also known as Flying Power Disc in Japan) is a fast pace, sport arcade game released by Data East on the Neo Geo arcade system in 1994 and later on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on June 22, 2010. Following the bankruptcy of Data East, the intellectual rights for this game were acquired by Paon^[1].

The game is based on an actual real world sport, called 10-S, using a flying disc. The game mechanics are essentially the same as Pong or Air Hockey, where players continuously shoot the disc at the goal zone of the opponent attempting to score. The game can be played against the computer or in a 2 player versus.

Contents 1 Characters 2 Courts 3 Physical Play 3.1 Defensive Play 3.2 Offensive Play 3.3 Winning the Game 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

Characters

There are six characters a player may choose from, each with their own speed/power settings, nationality and special throw.

Name	Country	For[2]	Speed	Power	Special Throw
H. Mita	Japan	Beginner	Very High	Very Low	Fire Snake
S.Miller	G.Britain	Beginner	High	Low	Sideburner
J. Costa	Spain	Medium	Medium	Medium	Rocket Diagonal
L. Biaggi	Italy	Medium	Medium	Medium	Thunder Loop
G. Scott	United States	Expert	Low	High	Missile Throw
K. Wessel	Germany	Expert	Very Low	Very High	Blitzkrieg

Courts

There are also six courts on which matches can be held.

• Beach - The smallest court available, 5 point zone in the center and 3 point zones on the edges.
• Lawn - Second largest court available, 5 point zone in the center and 3 point zones on the edges.
• Tiled - The second smallest court available, 3 point zone in the center and 5 point zones on the edges.
• Concrete - Same size as the lawn court, except with two barriers near the walls. Discs that hit a barrier will bounce off at an odd angle, making defense more difficult. 5 point zone in the center and 3 point zones on the edges.
• Clay - Same size as the lawn court, except with two barriers in the middle. Discs that hit a barrier will bounce off at an odd angle, making defense more difficult. 5 point zone in the center and 3 point zones on the edges.
• Stadium - The largest court available, 5 point zone in the center and 3 point zones on the edges. The central 5 point zone will grow larger every time a player scores more than once in a row, giving the player who is behind a greater opportunity to catch up.

Physical Play

The player maneuvers around his/her side of the court in any of 8 cardinal directions (allowing for almost fluid movement in any direction). They must act as the defense and offense, blocking the disc from entering the goal zone, and throwing the disc back to the opponents side attempting to score. Players throw the disc back and forth (with the speed of the disc generally increasing with each throw) until one of them scores a point causing the disc to be reset by the referee, throwing it to the player that was scored on to serve. There are yellow and pink zones with the former being worth 3 points and the latter being 5, with the zones positioning varying for each court. Also not catching the disc while it is in the air (described bellow) is considered a "Miss" and gives 2 points to the opponent.

Defensive Play

While the opponent holds the disc the player acts defensively by trying to grab the disc and therefore stopping it from entering their goal zone. In order to stop the disc the player simply needs to make contact with it. They can walk into the disc or dive for it with a button press (which is done at almost all times due to the high speeds of the disc). Sometimes the disc may be thrown into the air, due to the opponent, net, barriers, or bouncing off the player's back (when at high speeds), in which a target will appear on the court showing the landing spot of the disc and can be caught by standing on the target.

Offensive Play

While the player holds the disc they act offensively by trying to throw it into the goal zone of the opponent. The player can not move while holding the disc, and can not hold it for more than a few seconds. The player points with the analog stick in the direction he/she wishes to throw the disc, either directly at the opponents goal zone or bouncing the disc off the walls, or barriers (if in a court that contains them). Methods of attack are as follows:

• Normal Throw - A normal, directed throw as described above.
• Toss Up - By pressing the secondary button the player can toss the disc up in the air in the chosen direction, scoring 2 points if the opponent fails to catch it.
• Curve Throw - By sliding the analog stick in a curving motion just before pressing the throw button, the player can throw the disc normally but with a curve (with sharpness depending on how much the analog stick was curved) in the direction that the analog stick ended in.
• Power Throw - When the disc is launched into the air the player can position themselves bellow the disc and if done early enough they will charge up slightly and throw the disc very fast.
• Special Throw - When the disc is launched into the air the player can position themselves bellow the disc and if done early enough (even earlier than one would for a power throw) they will charge up fully (with a saying), and throw the disc extremely fast like a power throw, but in a special motion that varies between characters making it harder for the opponent to defend.
• Power Toss Up - While charging for a Special throw the player can optionally press the toss up button at the end of the charge to throw the disc up into the air like a toss up, but faster and spinning, causing it to spin/roll into the goal zone of the opponent when it contacts the ground
• Counter - When the opponent charges and launches a Special Throw, if the player can grab the disc while directly facing their opponent and then quickly throw it, the disc will be returned with the same special movement of the opponent's Special throw but even faster (allowing for multiple counters to reach incredible speeds)

Winning the Game

When playing against the computer the player plays one match against each character (with the next characters difficulty increasing each time) until all are defeated, thus winning the game, and when playing 2 player versus one match is played between the two players. A match consists of 3 sets that last 30 seconds (with the timer not stopping when a point is scored unlike most sports). A set is won by the player who has the most points at the end of 30 seconds, or if a player reaches 12 points with a tie giving a win to both players. A match is won when the player wins two sets, if players tie in both of the first two sets (giving each of them two wins) the game enters a sudden death round where the first player to score (3 or 5 points) wins.

Notes

• This game is currently supported in MAME

References

External links

• Windjammers at the Killer List of Videogames
• Windjammers at MobyGames