is a

vertically scrolling shooter A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background scrolls from the top of the screen to the bottom (or, less often, from ...

released in arcades by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casi ...

in December 1987. There was a European release of the game called ''Typhoon'', which is the name used for

Imagine Software Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20. The company rose quickly to prominence and was noted for its polished ...

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 Commodore 64 ports. The players control a "Tom Tiger"

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 ...

(in the 2D stage) and later a "Jerry Mouse"

fighter jet Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

(in the 3D stage), and shoot enemies in the air and bomb them on the ground, collecting

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chos ...

s and defeating bosses to advance levels.

Gameplay

The game takes place in a fictional 2007 where the Earth has been conquered by alien invaders. The player combats the occupation forces using vehicles under operation code named 'A-Jax' created to liberate the Earth. Game play is divided into two scrolling sections with two different vehicles: the first being a vertical scrolling section with the helicopter and a Rail scrolling stage with the jet/space fighter. The game spans eight stages and extends to 30,000 points, a second at 150,000 points. During the helicopter segments, the player has access to four different weapons including the Vulcan, Bomb, 3-Way, Triple and Laser. Each weapon is available through their own specific pick-up icon. However, the helicopter can only equip one firing weapon at a time with the Bomb being constant. The player also has access to Options which add additional firepower. The jet segments contrast highly from the helicopter segments, they have a complete lack of available power-ups and additional weapons beyond a machine gun and bomb.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''A-Jax'' on their January 15, 1988 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the year.

References

External links

* *{{WoS game, id=0005493, name=Typhoon
''Ajax''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch, published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called is focused on rereleasing Neo ...

Page 1987 video games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Commodore 64 games DOS games Helicopter video games Konami games Vertically scrolling shooters ZX Spectrum games Sharp X68000 games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games Konami arcade games Video games developed in Japan es:Typhoon (videojuego) Hamster Corporation games