Windjammers (video game)

Windjammers
Cover art
Developer(s)	Data East
Publisher(s)	SNK
Platform(s)	Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Release date(s)	Arcade JP: February 17, 1994 NA: 1994 Neo Geo JP: April 8, 1994 NA: 1994 Neo Geo CD JP: January 20, 1995 NA: 1995 PlayStation 4 PlayStation Vita WW: TBA
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Cabinet	Standard upright
Arcade system	Neo Geo

Windjammers (also known as Flying Power Disc in Japan) is a fast paced sports 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] It was delisted in Japanese Virtual Console for the Wii on December 24, 2013, making it the only delisted Neo-Geo game for the Wii Virtual Console. A port of the game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita is currently being developed by DotEmu, and will support online multiplayer.

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.

Characters

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

A setting can be found in the BIOS screen to switch the nationality of the Korean character to UK; the artwork remains the same, but a different voice will be used.

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.

Gameplay

Screenshot of gameplay

The player maneuvers around his/her side of the court in any of the 8 cardinal directions (allowing for almost fluid movement in any direction). They must act as the defense and offense of their side, blocking the disc from entering the goal zone, and throwing the disc back to the opponent's 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, which causes the disc to be reset by the referee, who throws it to the player that was scored on so that they can 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 below) 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 launched into the air, due to the opponent, the net, barriers, or sometimes 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, which can be caught by standing on said 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, and presses the primary button. The player can throw it either directly at the opponents goal zone or attempt to bounce 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 joystick in a curving motion just before pressing the throw button, the player can throw the disc like the Normal Throw, but with a curve.
• Power Throw - When the disc is launched into the air if the player positions themselves below it early enough they will charge up slightly and throw the disc very fast.
• Special Throw - When the disc is launched into the air if the player positions themselves below it early enough (even earlier than one would for a power throw) they will charge up fully and say their unique phrase, and then 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 towards the goal zone of their opponent at high speed, making it extremely hard to block.
• 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 by default and up to 99 seconds on the arcade version. (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. A tie gives 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 (regardless of the zone value) wins.

Reception

On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the Neo Geo version of the game a 28 out of 40.^[3] Edge Online did a retrospective review giving it 5 out of 10 stating that "there’s nothing particularly outstanding about it". ^[4]

Video game website Giant Bomb began regularly playing the game on camera in 2013, eventually giving it their "Old Game of the Year" award.^[5]

References

External links

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