Cho Ren Sha 68K

Cho Ren Sha 68K (超連射68K) "Ultra Fire 68K" is a vertically scrolling dōjin Shoot 'em up (STG) game developed by Famibe no Yosshin. It was released in 1995 for the Sharp X68000 personal computer system. In 2001 a port was released for Microsoft Windows and in 2015 a port was released for the Atari Falcon030.^[1]

Gameplay

The player controls a small spaceship battling a variety of futuristic enemy craft.

The game is noted for its fast pace and depth. It also has a fairly unusual powerup system. There are three types of powerup items for the player to collect: firepower, bombs, or shields. The three appear together in a small ring and if the player chooses one, the other two disappear. However, if the player manages to stay within the ring for a time he will get all three. This maneuver is important for higher scores.

The game 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, which was made available separately in Japan.

Technical Information

The game runs at a fixed resolution of 640x480, using 256x256 internally.

The Windows release was for Windows 98. Running 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) (Japanese)

References