''Silkworm'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by

Tecmo , was a Japanese video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or ...

and first released for arcades in 1988. In

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

it was ported to the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and sign ...

, Atari ST, Commodore 64,

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...

and

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

(1990) systems by

The Sales Curve SCi Entertainment Group plc (formerly The Sales Curve Limited and SCi (Sales Curve Interactive) Limited) was a British video game publisher based in London. The company was founded in 1988 by Jane Cavanagh and floated on the stock exchange in 1 ...

and released by

Virgin Mastertronic Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwoo ...

. ''Silkworm'' inspired the game '' SWIV'', while not a direct sequel, it followed the same core gameplay design of a helicopter/jeep team, albeit as a vertically scrolling shooter instead of a horizontally scrolling one and was described as "inspired by" and a spiritual successor by several reviews, both of the time and contemporary, respectively.

Release

''Silkworm'' was released at a time where side-scrolling shooting games were among the most popular genres - it was released at the same time as ''

Forgotten Worlds ''Forgotten Worlds'', titled in Japan, is a side-scrolling shooter video game by Capcom, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is notable for being the first title released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game ...

'', ''

Sanxion ''Sanxion'' is a 1986 scrolling shooter by Thalamus Ltd, developed by Stavros Fasoulas. It was the first game released by Thalamus. Fasoulas also wrote '' Delta'' and '' Quedex''. Gameplay ''Sanxion'' is a horizontally-scrolling shooter. The ...

'', '' Mr. Heli'' and ''DNA Warrior''. The Spectrum version took three months to develop and was converted from the Amiga version which was almost identical to the original.http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=SinclairUser/Issue087/Pages/SinclairUser08700060.jpg The game reached number three in the UK Spectrum sales charts, behind ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dan ...

'' and ''

Dragon Ninja also known simply as either ''Bad Dudes'' (on the American NES port) or (in Japan and Europe), is a side-scrolling cooperative beat 'em up game developed and released by Data East for arcades in 1988. It was also ported to many computer and g ...

.'' In November 1990, Virgin re-released ''Silkworm'' as part of the ''Edition 1'' compilation, which also included ''

Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series initially developed by Technōs Japan and released as an arcade game in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals. The original ...

'', and the shoot'em ups ''Gemini Wing'', and ''

Xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

''.

Gameplay

The player can take control of a

jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...

mounted with a machine gun or a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...

mounted with forward and downward firing guns. Two players can work simultaneously and

cooperatively Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many ani ...

against enemies, with one playing as the jeep and one as the helicopter. Silkworm featured a variety of enemies, some of which had specific weaknesses, such as the armoured AA guns that could only be harmed when their shields were down to fire. Enemies included the "Goose" helicopter - a giant, heavily armoured "mini-boss" helicopter that was composed of several smaller vehicles connected together. The players collect shields (which could alternatively be shot by the player in order to destroy all enemies on the screen), power cells which increase firepower and an additional bonus can be added to the score achieved. The game gets harder on the completion of each level, which feature destructible environmental elements, such as buildings and ancient ruins. The speed was one of the defining parts of the gameplay, which the programmers who worked on the home conversions were keen to preserve, using a variety of programming techniques. Silkworm featured a background music theme composed by

Barry Leitch Barry Leitch (born April 27, 1970 in Strathaven, Scotland) is a Scottish video game music composer, responsible for the music in many games spanning multiple consoles and personal computers. Most notable is his work from the '' Lotus Turbo Challen ...

, which went on to be included on a ''Sinclair User''

covermount Covermount (sometimes written cover mount) is the name given to storage media (containing software and or audiovisual media) or other products (ranging from toys to flip-flops) packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper. The name comes from th ...

ed cassette, along with ''

Shinobi A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

'' and ''

Continental Circus ''Continental Circus'' is a racing simulation arcade game, created and manufactured by Taito in 1987. In 1989, ports for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX and ZX Spectrum were published by Virgin Games. The arcade version of ...

''.

Ending

As an arcade game Silkworm has no ending, but the home conversions were altered to have either a victory screen, or a more involved final sequence. The end text reads:

AND HISTORY RECORDS THAT DURING THESE 11 DAYS MANY LIVES WERE LOST. PEACE RETURNED TO THE NOW DECIMATED COUNTRYSIDE. THE PEOPLE RETURNED TO FIND CROPS RUINED, CHURCHES DEFILED AND THE VILLAGE POND DRIED UP. A MEETING OF THE ELDER'S PLEASANT PEASANTS IN THE LOCAL PUB DISCOVERED THAT THE PEOPLE SAW THE FUNNY SIDE OF IT.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Silkworm'' on their April 1, 1988 issue as being the fifth most popular table arcade unit at the time. The game was well received. Your Sinclair praised the 2-player mode and the sound effects.

Legacy

The game '' SWIV'' was considered a spiritual successor to ''Silkworm'', which

had previously converted to home computer formats in 1989. The game's heritage is evident from the game design whereby one player pilots a

, and the other an armoured

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...

. ''SWIV'' is not an official sequel, as noted by ex-Sales Curve producer Dan Marchant: "''SWIV'' wasn't really a sequel to ''Silkworm'', but it was certainly inspired by it and several other shoot-'em-ups that we had played and loved." ''SWIV'' was described in the game's manual as meaning both "Special Weapons Intercept Vehicles" and "Silkworm IV".

References

External links

*
Feature on the game at VoxelArcade
* *
Interview with the Amiga programmer Ronald Pieket WeeserikInterview with the Atari ST programmer John Croudy
{{Authority control 1988 video games Arcade video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Helicopter video games Horizontally scrolling shooters Nintendo Entertainment System games SCi Games games Video games scored by Barry Leitch Video games developed in Japan Virgin Interactive games ZX Spectrum games