Spectrum Warfare

Summary
Spectrum Warfare (スペクトル戦) was a game developed by Ocean Games (海洋ゲーム) and published by Nintendo (任天堂) for release on the NES. It released on December 19th, 1985. The game was later released in Japan for the Famicom (ファミコン) a year after it initially released in America. The game spawned many different pieces of merchandise such as 2 anime, 3 successful manga series, and many toy lines.

Development
The game began development on January 12th, 1985, a couple of weeks after they're last game, Neo Racer (ネオレーサー), had released in Japan. While Spectrum Warfare was being conceived, Nintendo had the developers begin development on an arcade port of Neo Racer. The company split everyone into two teams. The "alpha" team (which was developing the Neo Racer port) and the "bravo" team (which was beginning development on a new IP for the company).

While the alpha team was working on their game, the bravo team was working on an idea no one had ever heard of before. They were developing a shooting game. While this idea had been done beforehand in arcades and on consoles like the Atari 2600, however, they had never been done like the team imagined. They thought up an entire futuristic world for the player to discover. This world was in the middle of WWIII, with the developers imagining a more futuristic version of WWII. This idea came from the original designer of Neo Racer, Yoshioka Koizumi. After the success of Neo Racer, Koizumi was considered the top designer of the company. And so, the company high-ups requested Koizumi be apart of the development of the new IP. Koizumi graciously accepted.

Under Koizumi's leadership, the game went on to finish development on November 12th of 1985, a little more than a month before the game was officially released to the public. The development of the game went extremely quickly, which was because of higher-ups pushing the team to finish the game in time for the holiday season to improve the profit the game might make.

One of the only problems the game faced in development was the developers' countless all-nighters that they had to take to finish the game in time. Many of the developers became ill and couldn't come to work, so the company had to hire makeshift workers to keep the game on the schedule for the holiday season. This was a problem as the new developers weren't exactly acquainted with the source code. So these new developers had to learn everything about the game, which took a while. The developers got over this problem, however, and were able to finish the game on time for the holiday season in the United States.

Release
The game had a generally good critical response, with many critics citing how the game felt a little bit rushed. The game had many bugs at release, which many people complained about. The game sold fairly well and warranted a sequel and much merchandise. The game also went on to be featured in many different Ocean Games game compilations.

Gameplay
The game would be like your average shooter-sidescroller much like the game Contra (コントラ), for example. You'd be able to aim up, down, left and right.

Controls
The game's controls would be fairly simple to understand and master.

Shoot - You'd be able to shoot down your enemies by holding down the B button. The gun would keep shooting however long you held the button down.

Jump - You'd be able to jump by tapping the A button.

Move Left - You'd be able to move left by holding down the left D-Pad button.

Move Right - You'd be able to move right by holding down the right D-Pad button.

Aim Upwards - You'd be able to aim your weapon upwards by holding down the top D-Pad button.

Aim Downwards - You'd be able to aim your weapon downwards by holding down the bottom D-Pad button.

Aim Left - You'd be able to aim left by aiming your character leftward.

Aim Right - You'd be able to aim right by aiming your character rightward.

Graphics
The graphics for the game would be fairly advanced for the system, being more advanced than Nintendo's own Super Mario Bros. 3 (スーパーマリオブラザーズ. 3).

Every level would have different color schemes and a different background. They'd all have, if slight, differences.

Story
The story for the game would be fairly straightforward, with it being WWIII, and the people need someone to end the war permanently. And of course, that hero would be you, the player.

Stages
There would be 6 different, individual stages for you to complete.

Stage One
The first stage of the game would be of a destroyed Tokyo you'd have to fight your way through mindless robots until you got to the end where you'd have to fight a giant robot as your boss.

Stage Two
The second stage of the game would take place on the outskirts of Tokyo. You would be able to see explosions from the city in the background. In this stage, you'd be fighting robots once more. The boss would be the same robot as before, just upgraded, adding another phase to his fight.

Stage Three
The third stage of the game would bring the player to a massive futuristic war-boat as he fights back robots to be able to make it to the United States to find the maker of these robots to end the war once and for all.

Stage Four
The fourth stage of the game would take place in California, where the boat has landed. The stage would begin on the boat as you make your way to shore and finally get to America. The second half of the stage would take place in San Diego. You'd once again be fighting robots and defeating a larger version of the original boss with just a new phase attached to it.

Stage Five
The fifth stage of the game would take place in Nevada, as the main character of the game continues to search for the maker of these robots. However, at the end of the stage, he gets an anonymous tip that the creator is working out of Area 51 (エリア51), the old secret American government base. You'd once again be fighting the same enemies.

Stage Six
The sixth stage of the game would take place outside of Area 51, with you now fighting off robots while dodging laser fire from the base. The stage would end with you destroying the last of the maker's robots.

Stage Seven
The seventh stage of the game would take place inside Area 51, with you destroying the maker's machines, ending the robot's creation for good. The stage would end, not with a boss fight, but with a confrontation with the maker of the robots, dubbing himself "The Maker".

Stage Eight
The final stage of the game would consist of you fighting off The Maker, while he's taking punches at you with his mech armor. While fighting him, you'd have to dodge laser fire from the ceilings. You could destroy the turrets, however, making it easier to battle him. At the very end of the battle, you'd destroy the base, making it impossible for the machinery parts to be used again.

End Credits
The end credits of the game would be the main character walking away from the exploding base behind him, as the credits begin at the bottom of the screen and go up at the top of the screen.

Storyline
The storyline for the game would be that WWIII begins with a dictator, The Maker, creating many war-robots to destroy the world. However, the hero of the game travels from the destroyed Tokyo to Area 51 in Nevada. After reaching Area 51, he finds The Maker and defeats him. However, this wouldn't be the last that the players would see of The Maker.

Anime
The anime released for Spectrum Warfare was a limited series, having 9 episodes, each lasting 30 minutes long. The anime would have an over-arching story and each episode would lead into the next. The show would have their own main character (different from the game) and it also features a goofy version of The Maker.