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-Data East (1989)
A mysterious organization has taken over the city of New York. A team of one skilled pilot has been formed to take back our city. You are the pilot. Your team is the Hyper Offence Formation that attaches to your plane. Obtain it and those city-hijacking sons-of-bitches won’t know what hit ‘em.
I have fond memories of Vapor Trail. I would spend countless quarters on this game at the local arcade. Why? You know, I’m not sure. You shoot the same enemies in every stage, so enemy variety is at a minimum. For the most part, the bosses are pretty good, except for the heavily armed platform you fight. Ooooo, it’s a platform! The aircraft carrier with the tank treads that rolls across the desert is still really cool, though. The same exact rockin’ Top Gun sounding music plays in every stage, but when you get to the boss the music changes. The special weapons aren’t all that great either. You can choose between three different fighters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Valkyrie is slow and powerful, the Seylen is fast but weak, and the Silph is average in both. It’s nice to be able to get hit twice, once in awhile three times, before you die and hear your pilot scream, “I can’t hold it!” Ah, maybe that’s why I played it so much back then. This game had voices. Games are expected to have voice-overs now, but in 1989 the human voice in games was a big deal. Besides your pilot’s mutterings, your commander talks to you, too. He told you to "destroy the core!" (sounds like Gradius) and to “Go for the kill!” Yea, you knew you were almost done fighting the bosses when you heard that. Vapor Trail may lack variety in enemies and especially music, but it’s one of those classic shooters. It was damn fun back then and is still some fun now.
-Shawn
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