Twin Hawk, known in Japan as Great Whirlwind (大旋風, Daisenpu) is a vertical scrolling arcade shooting game developed by Toaplan released by Taito in 1989. It was ported to the Sega Mega Drive in Japan and Europe, and to the PC Engine. Another port was released to the PC Engine CD, entitled Daisenpu Custom. In 2024 it was released digitally for PC on the Steam and GOG storefronts by Bitwave games.
Story[]
The previous war, which turned the entire continent of Europa into a scorched earth, ended with the victory of the Allied Forces at the cost of great sacrifice. And five years after the end of the war... While leaving scars of war here and there, each country was steadily recovering and the town was regaining its tranquility. It became the most fierce battlefield during the war. The same was true in Gorongo. No, at least it looked like that.
However, for Gorongo, it was just a brief moment of peace. Giovanni, who is in the position of General Gorongo, has rebelled. He settled on Bobo Island, which is located in the south of Gorongo, declared an independent country "Fangania", and planned to conquer his homeland Gorongo by force. First, the small city of Cuska, which is a key point of transportation, was attacked, and then the major cities in the country were attacked one after another.
President Bratt of Gorongo ordered an immediate counterattack, but before the Fangania army, which had been consolidated with the latest armament, the Gorongo government army was destroyed by each individual. In less than half a year, the government troops, who had been cornered to the mountainous area near the border, stole the eyes of the Fangania troops and escaped to a secret base under construction. A special squadron, "Great Whirlwind", was organized there, and was conducting intense training for a counterattack. However, due to Fangania's relentless enemies, the unfinished secret base has finally been found.
Soon the enemy attack corps will come here. We don't have time anymore. An emergency start order was given to the special squadron, which was not yet in a state where it could be said that it had reached a sufficient level. In the absolute power sphere of the enemy, the great whirlwind has now taken off into the sky with the wishes of the Gorongo people.
Gameplay[]
The player controls the aircraft with an 8-way lever and two buttons (shot and helper).
As in the shooters "Tiger-Heli" (1985) and "Slap Fight" (1986), which were developed by the same developer, there are no enemy aircraft in the air and only tanks on the ground. There is also no left-right scrolling. Instead, the larger the enemy tanks are, the harder they are to destroy, and as the scrolling progresses, the difficulty level increases as larger tanks appear one after another.
The game is cleared when the enemy fortress (super-large tank), the last boss, is destroyed. However, since there is only one map, the same map as at the start of the game is deployed after the game is cleared. However, the enemy tanks' shells are generally faster, making them harder to avoid and lowering the hit rate, further increasing the difficulty level.
Twin Hawk allows two players to play cooperatively and join in the middle of the game, and even after a life is lost, the player will not return to a certain point but will be restored on the spot. Daisenpu does not do this, which makes Daisenpu a lot harder than Twin Hawk.
Although there is no clear division between the different levels, all four levels are separated by the BGM and the presence of a boss battle.
Helper[]
This is a unique system that replaces the bomber. By pressing the Helper button once, six support aircraft (Helpers) appear from the bottom of the screen, forming a formation and firing a series of shots.
If a helper is hit by an enemy bullet, it will make a suicide attack on the front of the screen when it crashes. All helpers can also make a suicide attack by pressing the helper button again. There is no time limit on the attack, so the helper can maintain its high attack power for a long period of time by, for example, positioning itself in front of the screen so that enemy bullets do not hit it.
If the helper button is pressed before the helper forms a formation, the helper will disappear and a bomber will be released in front of the ship. The strategy of the game is to have the helper appear and fight at the top of the screen, so it is more reasonable to use the helper instead of the bomber except in an emergency.
Items[]
- Power Up (P): The aircraft powers up by one level. A single shot will produce multiple bullets. If the player's aircraft is destroyed by being hit by a bullet, the power-up ability is cleared.
- Helper (H): The number of available helpers is stocked. Up to 2 helpers can be stocked.
- 1UP: The number of remaining lives of the player will be increased by 1.
The fewer helpers remaining, the more stock items are likely to appear, so the proper strategy is to use them sparingly.
Bosses[]
- Killer Joe
- Gray Baron
- Mad Octopus
- Dragon Fly
- Griffith
- Fred & Ginger
- Glen Fire
- L-Box
- Green Pepper
- L-Dish
- Cannonball
Gallery[]
