Fighting Hawk (Playstation 2)

Vertical
Checkpoints ON
4 Difficulty levels
6 Stages
Ship speed fixed
- - - - - - -
Developed by Taito in 1988
Published by Taito in 2005

If it weren't for Fighting Hawk being included in a Taito compilation, many people would certainly think the game was yet another product from Toaplan. Of course there are some underlying signs that don't exactly click, such as the soundtrack that slightly resembles Master of Weapon and that typical font Taito used in pretty much all their arcade games of the time. But everything else screams Toaplan, in an explicit homage that's perhaps even more pronounced than that of Gekirindan.

Taito Memories II Vol. 1 "Joukan" on the Playstation 2 is where you can find a port of Fighting Hawk, also available in full TATE glory. My impression is that this game is quite obscure even among Taito's connoisseurs, a commercial failure that got lost amidst the glut of shmups that took over the scene in the end of the 80s. Although averagely competent, it stands in the shadow of heavy hitters such as Kyuukyoku Tiger / Twin Cobra and Hishouzame / Flying Shark, which in turn are its main sources of inspiration. This means, of course, that players who enjoy the gameplay of these Toaplan shooters will feel right at home with Fighting Hawk. 

Splitting tanks halfway into the 1st area

Getting used to the gameplay is as simple as it gets. One button shoots and another triggers a salvo of homing missiles while melting all on-screen bullets, acting like a variation of a life-saving bomb. As is customary in this series of Taito compilations, both inputs can mapped as you please in the controller, just remember that a turbo function is definitely needed for the shot button unless you'd like to mash the controller (and your wrist) into oblivion. Then it's all a matter of learning enemy and boss patterns, their reload routines and memorizing a few sections in order to get through them with less hurdle.

With six levels of relatively long duration divided in 149 "areas", Fighting Hawk plays out as if it had been designed between Tiger-Heli and Twin Cobra, only with a much less aggressive difficulty progression. And once you get your shot powered up by taking the upgrade items, the game also starts to resemble Flying Shark / Hishouzame. The difference here is that when maxed out the firing stream acquires a spread opening that's very handy to take care of enemy waves approaching from all sides. Besides the power-up, the item gallery also includes extra bombs, bonus medals (1.000 points each) and 1UPs. Extra lives are also awarded by scoring, the first with 60.000 points, the second with 180.000 points and then further ones at every 100.000 points you're able to achieve.

Besides regular memorization, in shooters like this one the most important thing to have in mind is to beware of sniping tanks taking you off guard. Most of the danger in Fighting Hawk comes from below, either from tanks approaching in parallel tandem or from large bombers that enter the screen with no warning whatsoever. That's why from stage 3 onwards it's only safe to hug the bottom of the screen if you know beforehand what's coming next. And in the last stage a sequence of 25 jets arriving from below must be destroyed before facing the dragon bat final boss.

Fighting Hawk's attract mode
(courtesy of YouTube user Replay Burners)

The path to the dragon bat spans all sorts of terrain. Forests, rivers, snow fields, urban and industrial terrains, sea. Enemies include all sorts and colors of tanks, turrets, floating rafts, boats, helicopters and battleships. The overall emphasis is on a military background, yet weird stuff appears every now and then, such as the race cars in the snow stage.

The notion that the game is a much tamer variation of the Twin Cobra formula is definitely helped by the generous assortment of bombs. There are checkpoints, but with five fresh bombs for each new life any of the bosses or mid-bosses can be easily bomb-spammed if you don't want to take any chances. The only advantage of preserving bombs is to take the end-of-stage bonus of 1.000 points for each bomb in stock. In addition to that, whenever you have shot or bomb maxed out (5 bombs in stock), any respective in-game item is automatically spawned as a medal.

Click for the option menus translation for Fighting Hawk on Taito Memories II - Vol. 1

In the balance between survival and scoring, there's also the possibility of exploiting checkpoints, but this has to be well planed. Some of them send you relatively back, others allow the progress of the credit in an easier fashion. In the end, Fighting Hawk grants a final bonus of one million points for completing the game.

Below is my final 1CC result for this mild Toaplan copycat. It was fun for the ease and the diversion, definitely a recommended break of similar style if the likes of Twin Cobra or Flying Shark seem temporarily insurmountable.

Ocean Commander (Playstation 2)

Arena
Checkpoints OFF
1 Difficulty level
21 Stages
Ship speed by icons
- - - - - - -
Developed by CyberPlanet Interactive
Published by Phoenix Games in 2007

I little while after I started collecting shmups in physical form, Ocean Commander for the Playstation 2 proved to be one heck of a challenge to get. Originally released for the Windows PC, it came out for the PS2 in very low quantities only in Italy, which meant it wasn't as readily available as the secondary port for the Nintendo Wii (there's also a version for the Nintendo DS, but let's not go there). Anyway, at least it wasn't an expensive find back then. I have no idea how it stands today in terms of rarity.

And lo and behold! I finally took the time to play it after all these years. I was kinda looking forward to it because this serves to end my run of crappy beatable shmups released by Phoenix Games for the Playstation 2, the most legendary company to dish out all sorts of stupidities upon the market during and long after the PS2 was commercially gone.

But hey, is Ocean Commander that bad?

Unfortunately it is. With the crappiest of honors and with no 60Hz mode in sight, meaning you're stuck with that typical shimmering of the native 50Hz European frequency. Graphics and music aren't that bad for a cheap title, but the gameplay...

Ripping through one of the poor bosses

Ocean Commander is an arena side-scrolling shmup where players control a futuristic submarine and battle waves of enemy vessels, water-propelled crafts and mechanical threats in an underwater setting. The idea looks great on paper and in screenshots, with definite vibes from old school classics such as Seaquest and Sqoon. Your mission is to protect territorial waters as a special arms commander, fighting against an evil empire that has been making attempts to conquer the underwater city. You must stop dr. Shark’s evil plans to conquer Federation Earth before it's too late.

Playing the game is a bit weird, but soon you'll get used to it. Move the submarine with the left analog stick and use the right stick to control the target, pressing button R2 to fire. Provided you have it in stock, press R1 to trigger the "thunder strike", a bomb that inflicts damage all over the screen and melts bullets. It's odd that they just didn't transform the game into a twin-stick shmup, which would make a lot of sense, but I guess the developer didn't want to fiddle with the controls devised for the original PC game.

There is a single life bar that gets refilled in every level. If the life bar is gone the game is over. Green orbs randomly dropped by destroyed enemies can be taken to recover lost energy, whereas red orbs increase the stock of thunder strike bombs. Besides the regular score, there's also a counter for money that can be used in between stages to purchase permanent enchancements to the submarine. These include three upgrade levels for maneuvering speed, power-up, shield, rapid fire, torpedoes, homing missiles, laser, defensive orbs, bouncing spheres, lightning, ground missiles and spread shot. Prices increase with each purchase.

Upgrade mechanics are very similar to games like Heavy Weapon, also available for the Playstation 2 and more modern platforms. However, while Heavy Weapon does offer real thrills and challenge, Ocean Commander is nothing more than a repetitive snoozefest that's prone to put anyone to sleep after some time. It doesn't take long for the submarine to turn into a powerhouse that destroys everything across its path with almost no damage taken from eventual hits. Bosses have a few phases as you tear them down, but their patterns are extremely predictable and one or two bombs are enough to leave them on the brink of defeat. Since every level gives out at least two to three spare bombs, you'll only die during a boss fight if the controller fails or if you fall asleep.

A taste of Survival mode in Ocean Commander for the Playstation 2
(courtesy of YouTube user GXZ95)

Regardless of how cheap the whole experience gets after a while, from my brief time playing Ocean Commander it was clear that the best weapons to acquire and upgrade first are the homing missiles and the laser. In general, there's no need to worry though. As if the core game wasn't easy and tedious enough, getting through all sections of that map takes pretty much two hours in Mission mode. At least you're given the chance to divide the torture into shorter sections by choosing "Back" in between the levels, resuming the credit later by selecting "Continue". Just note that successively continuing doesn't reset the score. And if you beat the game the Continue option stays there forever, always giving access to the fight against the last big boss. 

Besides Mission mode, a Survival mode allows you an endless session where torture gets escorted by an utter lack of firepower. If you live long enough blue orbs will fall to start granting you a few power-ups.

The Hall of Fame high score table in Ocean Commander is as stupid as the game itself, since it doesn't allow you to enter initials and keeps adding whatever score you get for PLAYER. The screen below is the final tallying after I dispatched the last boss, the single enemy to be defeated in the 21st and final stage of another unspeakable experience in gaming mediocrity.

Good bye, Phoenix Games! But wait, if you spot any other shmup made or published by them that I haven't tried yet please let me know. I'm a sucker for torture sometimes. :)