Cho Ren Sha 68K
| Cho Ren Sha 68K | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Famibe no Yosshin |
| Publisher(s) | Famibe no Yosshin |
| Programmer(s) | Koichi Yoshida |
| Composer(s) | Ruzarin Kashiwagi |
| Platform(s) |
Sharp X68000 Microsoft Windows Atari Falcon |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Cho Ren Sha 68K (超連射68K) "Ultra Fire 68K" is a vertical-scrolling Dōjin Shoot 'em up developed by Koichi Yoshida, who goes by the nickname Famibe no Yosshin with music composed by Ruzarin Kashiwagi, who also goes by the nickname Loser. It was first released in 1995 for the Sharp X68000 but in 2001, a port was released for Microsoft Windows. In 2005, a updated version of the Windows port was released with an added hard difficulty, while fixing some bugs from the original version. In 2015, a port was released for the Atari Falcon 030 computer.[1] In 2017, another updated version was released for the Windows port.
Gameplay
In Cho Ren Sha 68K the player takes control of a small, unspecified spaceship battling a variety of futuristic enemy spacecrafts in an unnamed ring space station.
The game is noted for its fast pace, depth and for the fairly unusual powerup system. There are only three types of power-up items for the player to collect: firepower, bomber or shields. The three appear together in a small, electrified ring that does not harm the ship and if the player chooses one, the other two disappear. However, if the player manages to stay within the ring for a very brief period of time, he will get all three. This maneuver is important for reaching high scores across the multiple gameplay sessions. After reaching one million points, the shield icon is replaced by a 1up icon and the player has the option of taking just the 1up or risk to stay within the ring to grab all the items. Losing the 1up means that it will not appear again unless the player reaches another million points to get another opportunity.
The game also features a loop system whereby after defeating the last boss, the player starts from the beginning with increasing game difficulty, up to eight loops in total.[2]
The game is also notable for its soundtrack composed by Loser Kashiwagi, which was made available separately in Japan.
Technical Information
The game runs at a fixed resolution of 640x480, using 256x256 internally. The original X68000 version ran at 55 frames per second, while the Windows version ran at 60 frames per second, but the increase in the framerate also increased the difficulty of the game by a 9%. The Windows release was for Windows 98, which means that running the game on newer computers may require setting the executable to run in "compatibility mode" or the freeware utility RunFirst to avoid sound issues.[3]
Reception
In 2013 and 2014, it was voted into "honorable mention" status in the "Top 25 Shmups of All Time" vote on shmups.system11.org.[4]
Notes and references
- Famibe no Yoshin (developer/publisher) (in Japanese)
References
- ↑ "Cho Ren Sha 68k for the Atari Falcon 030". blog.anides.de. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ↑ "Cho Ren Sha 68K". shmups.system11.org. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ↑ "Cho Ren Sha 68K". pcgamingwiki.com. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ↑ "Top 25 Shmups of All Time (through 2013)". shmups.system11.org. Retrieved 12 September 2014.