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Fighting Hawk -Taito (1988)
In an old abandoned military base, a pseudo-dictator has come across a surplus of the same model of tanks and helicopters. What should he do with all of them? Hire an army and go to war, of course. Since he’s not perceived to be a threat to our freedoms, you are the only one sent in to dispose of him and his quaint army. Remember, good fighting is required, since the military doesn't want to waste any more man hours on this little "war." Your fellow pilots call you the Fighting Hawk, even though you pilot a slow-ass A-10.
I swear I’ve heard this music before. I know how to hum the tune before I actually hear what note comes next. Either Taito has taken the tune from another game, some other game took the tune from here, or I’ve just been playing too many shooters and I can compose the music before the game does. But seriously, I’ve heard this tune before. It sounds similar to a track from an old Mega Man game, but I’m sure I’ve heard it in another shooter. That said, the music is actually pretty tranquil for a shooter. That doesn’t help Fighting Hawk since the game gets a little boring. You fight the same tanks and helicopters in every stage, just colored differently. There are also no real boss fights, save for the final stage. Sure, there are some larger tanks that you can fight from time to time, but they are not bosses. You don’t actually have to destroy them to move on, you can just survive them. One of the larger tanks looks like a pink cordless phone base. You can almost see the numbers painted on the “guns.” The game isn’t very difficult until you get to the final stage. You must destroy twenty-five high-speed, homing missile firing jets before you can fight the Dragon Bat jet. You have to do it in one life, too, so this level can get on your nerves. This game lacks speed power-ups, which would have been good for the fight against all the jets, because that stage actually scrolls faster than the others. That is the only stage that doesn’t make you drift off to the soothing, somehow familiar, music.
-Shawn
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