Slap Fight (スラップファイト), also known as Alcon in some versions, is a vertical scrolling shooting game developed by Toaplan and released in 1986 for Arcades. It was ported to the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, as well as the Thomson TO7 by Imagine, and later received an enhanced port to the Sega Mega Drive entitle Slap Fight MD. In 2023 it was released digitally for PC on the Steam and GOG storefronts by Bitwave games.
This was the second shooting game by Toaplan. Although it contained many complex elements such as power-ups (for the time), it was relatively easy to play without being too difficult. However, these complexities were not carried over to the subsequent games such as Flying Shark and Twin Cobra.
Story[]
Thousands of years ago, an artificial intelligence named Gaudi was born to push the limits of science beyond the galaxy. It grew at a terrifying speed far beyond the expectations of its birth parents, the Hulst alien race, until it gained sentience and gathered information on its own initiative. The birth parents who noticed this were confused about how to deal with a child who had grown too much. This slight misjudgment led to a battle for hegemony. The battle between Gaudi, who already had all the knowledge and information systems in its hands, and the Hulst aliens was incredible.
Knowing his power, Gaudi eventually took that step toward achieving his dark ambition to conquer the universe. And now, the giant witch was about to reach the earth beyond the space of 300,000 light-years.
But on Earth, which had already caught a warning signal from the few Hulst aliens who had barely escaped from Gaudi's rule, countermeasures were being prepared. That is this super-light speed fighter "Leopard". And now, in order to protect the peace of the universe, a warrior boarded this absolute ultimate weapon "Leopard" and headed for Hulst.
Gameplay[]
Slap Fight uses a simple two button configuration, with the first button being used to fire. All enemies are ground objects, and contact with them does not constitute a loss of a life. Also, for the first time in Toaplan's STGs, the turrets near the player ship are programmed to not fire bullets (so-called bullet sealing). This element is also carried over to Sky Shark. In the case of this game, the distance between bullet seals becomes narrower the higher the rank.
The game utilizes a similar power-up system as Konami's Gradius, with a bar at the bottom of the screen. The leftmost power-up slot lights up when the player acquires a star-shaped item that appears after destroying a specific enemy plane. The gauge moves to the right one by one as the player collects more items. The player can acquire a power-up by pressing the power-up button when the name of the power-up he/she wants to acquire is lit. At the same time, the gauge will disappear and the player must start collecting again from the first slot. Each weapon cannot be used in combination with any other weapon except side shots.
- Speed Up: Increases movement speed. Can be increased by 5 levels.
- Shot: The initial equipment fires a series of short-range shots. If it can overlap with an enemy aircraft, its power is high.
- Side shot: Fires short-range shots to the left and right of the aircraft. Can be used with other weapons. It is very effective in this game where enemies often come out from both sides.
- Wing: Parts of the left and right sides of the ship merge to increase the attack power. However, the wing makes the aircraft larger horizontally, so equipping it makes it more difficult to fly. The first wing cannot be removed, and the second and third wings disappear when the aircraft is hit (both wings disappear at the same time, even if one side is hit). When a shield is equipped, the entire ship, including the wings, is targeted, so the hit detection becomes larger.
- Bomb: A bomb blast is generated in front of the ship. It is powerful, but its range is shorter than that of a shot, and it cannot be fired in rapid succession.
- Laser: A laser extends forward while the button is held down. It is less powerful, but has a longer range. It penetrates small enemies, but it does not work on some enemies.
- Homing Missile: A guided missile is fired. When there are no enemies, it fires missiles in a straight line in 16 directions. Because they are less powerful and do not fire in rapid succession, they can be more difficult to use than other shots, but they are the easiest to use in this game.
- Shield: Protects against up to three enemy bullets. Its durability decreases over time (as indicated by the blinking of its own ship).
Shots, bombs, lasers, and homing missiles are mutually exclusive and cannot be equipped in duplicate.
Secrets[]
By firing shots, bombs, lasers, and homing missiles at the background graphics, different hidden characters will appear for each type of shot (in the case of shots, they will appear when equipped).
The helper, which appears when the shot is used continuously and moves randomly around the screen, can be controlled by the 2P side, a unique feature that makes it extremely difficult to play with two players at the same time.
If the first one to proceed from the start of the game without shooting any enemies or ground objects and misses, the player gains a homing missile and 3 levels of wing power-ups when restarting, plus bonus points depending on the area advanced, and can start from the area ahead. Area 5 and below receive 1,000 points (restart from Area 1), Area 6 receives a 150,000 point bonus and restart from Area 29, Areas 7-11 receive a 180,000 point bonus and restart from Area 32, and Area 12 and beyond receive a 240,000 point bonus and restart from Area 32.
At the start (including after being hit), put the lever in the upper right corner and hold down the shot button and the power-up button to start with one item taken. If you are hit without taking an item, you can take a speed-up immediately after the start.
Gallery[]
