Grind Stormer, known in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 as , is a vertical scrolling shooter developed for the arcade by Toaplan

Toaplan

, sometimes written as Toa Plan, was a video game developer from Japan. They were responsible for the creation of a wide array of relatively famous scrolling shooters and arcade games, yet the company declared bankruptcy in 1994.-Games developed :...

, and ported to the Sega Mega Drive

Sega Mega Drive

The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...

 in 1993 by Tengen

Tengen (company)

Tengen was a video game publisher and developer that was created by arcade game manufacturer Atari Games.-History:Atari had been split into two distinct companies. Atari Corporation was responsible for computer and console games and hardware and owned the rights to the Atari brand for these domains...

. It is considered a successor to Slap Fight

Slap Fight

, also known as Alcon, is a 1986 vertically scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Toaplan and published by Taito.-Summary:It takes its inspiration from Xevious and Gradius...

as it uses a similar power-up system. The player assumes the role of an arcade player controlling the NA-00, a space fighter on an alien planet destroying every enemy in its path while amassing a score and surviving a merciless checkpoint system.

Story

The game takes place in the year 2210 where 'the ultimate arcade machine' Grind Stormer/V-V has finally been released. A VR

VR

VR may refer to:In communications:* Vatican Radio, the official broadcasting service of the VaticanIn music:* Vengeance Rising, a Christian thrash metal band* Velvet Revolver, a hard rock supergroupIn people:...

 shooting game, Grind Stormer/V-V becomes so addicting that the government assigns a young man to investigate the arcade phenomenon in order to question it's true purpose and to perform the impossible: to beat the game.

Gameplay

The game was released on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive as a 2-in-1 package: players could choose to play either V-V or Grind Stormer, but the only real difference was in the power-up system: In Grind Stormer, the players had the normal weapon layout with instant power-ups and Bomb icons (gems). This game version also had Speed-Up icons as well as Speed-Down icons and points items. In V-V, the players collected gems that allowed them to choose power-ups, weapons and even a shield icon in a menu screen a la Gradius

Gradius

The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...

. The ship also had Options that accompanied it at all times to provide cover fire. This game version had the Speed-Ups available only as a selectable power-up.

Weapons

Shot - The standard Vulcan weapon, the Shot beam could fire in three different directions, but when the ship's Options moved together the smaller shots would converge into one large beam. This was the ship's default weapon.

Search - A weapon that only affected the Options, this would turn the Options into homing devices that sought out any enemies on the screen (even if they were invulnerable). This item would turn the ship a light violet once equipped.

Missile - This weapon fired non-homing rockets: the rockets' advantage was in their incredible firing rate. This item would turn the ship blue once equipped. Options would follow the ship in a manner similar to segments of the 'Snake

Snake (video game)

Snake is a video game that originated during the late 1970s in arcades and has maintained popularity since then, becoming something of a classic...

'.