Repulse

Arcade Video game published 40 years ago:

Repulse (c) 1985 Sega.

Repulse is a 1985 arcade game by Sega. It was renamed '99: The Last War when licensed to Kyugo (who developed the hardware) and Proma. There's also a bootleg version of it named Son of Phoenix.

With a spaceship, the player shoots several kind of robotic enemies and spaceships. At the end of every stage (except for the first one), the player meets a huge enemy spaceship as the stage's boss. Player's spaceship is equipped with a limited force shield which allows it to resist any kind of attack, though energy drains both while it is active and whenever the ship gets hit during use. Power-ups come in the form of ally helicopters (except scene I, where a space shuttle drops the power-up), that bring to the player a new shot (much faster than the normal one) and refills the ship's force field meter.

Scenes in this game are:
I. Encounter,
II. Invasion,
III. Crisis,
IV. Counterattack,
V. Advance,
VI. The last war.

- TECHNICAL -

Main CPU : (2x) Zilog Z80 (@ 4.608 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) General Instrument AY8910 (@ 1.5 Mhz)

Players : up to 2 (alternating turns)
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2
=> [A] Shoot, [B] Shield

- TRIVIA -

Repulse was released by Sega in June 1985. Produced by Crux.

Default high scores (rank, score and name):
1 50000 (Ichiban)
2 50000 (Niban)
3 50000 (Sanban)
4 50000 (Yonban)
5 50000 (Goban)

Licensed products:
'99 The Last War (Proma)
'99 The Last War (Kyugo)

Known Bootlegs/Hacks:
Son of Phoenix (Associated Overseas)

Stages in this game are known as "scenes" and are numbered in Roman numerals, although IV and VI are poorly written; they look more or less like N and mirrored N respectively.

High score allows to enter up to 10 characters.

Extra life can be earned every 50000 or 70000 points, depending on the dip switch set by operator.

- UPDATES -

One version has different stage 1, played during daytime. Other versions have all the stages played after dark.

Son of Phoenix (bootleg) has a different ending: [You have saved the world. You were simply, "marvelous". The end?]. No staff roll appears after this message.
The beginning is also different (and longer): [In 1980 the Phoenix empire was defeated and returned to their native Centuri solar system. Now after many years of planning, the son of Phoenix will lead the alien army to destroy earth and avenge the death of his father. You must stand alone to protect everything we believe in, yuppies, hamburgers, and mom. Good luck, we know you will be marvelous.].

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* Power-up:
After the middle of each stage there's a helicopter (a shuttle on 1st stage) that drops a power-up item. So, don't destroy it until it releases the power-up. Be careful with the helicopter scrap after destroying it, it can kill you.

* Bonus life:
At the 2nd and 4th stage there is a chance to pick up a 1up item: a group of blocks appears floating on the upper part of the screen, you have to shoot the blue one. You have to hit it with one shot, if you don't, the blue block will turn red.

* Moai Statues:
Be careful with the Moai Statues at the 6th (last) stage. Always check if its eyes turn red; if it starts flashing, it will shoot.

* Energy meter:
Don't use the energy all the time, it doesn't replenish after a scene. So if you ended a scene without any (or with very low) energy, you have to wait for a helicopter to drop the energy parachute, or (if you have more than 1 life) enforce a life loss.

- STAFF -

Director : Shunkoh Miki
Programmers : Shunkoh Miki, Tatsuya Uemura
Character designers : Atsushi Kawaguchi, Minoru Harada, Hiroyasu Kobayashi
Music & sound effects : Tatsuya Uemura

- CONTRIBUTE -

Edit this entry: https://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=2206&o=2