is a

scrolling shooter In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

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 motion sensing device to gener ...

developed by

Visco Corporation is a software company located in Japan. It was founded in 1982 by and later became corporate on August 8, 1983 while revealing itself as "Visco" in Japan. They originally developed video games for several platforms from the arcades and NES ...

and originally published by

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

on June 15, 1992. It is the first title to be created by Visco for both the

Neo Geo MVS The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system i ...

(arcade) and

Neo Geo AES The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

(home) platforms. Andro Dunos, along with 1996's Breakers are the only two Visco developed games to be officially licensed for distribution on the Neo Geo AES platform. All other Visco games were only released on the Neo Geo MVS arcade platform. Taking place on a

futuristic The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...

setting Setting may refer to: * A location (geography) where something is set * Set construction in theatrical scenery * Setting (narrative), the place and time in a work of narrative, especially fiction * Setting up to fail a manipulative technique to ...

where an unknown

alien race Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

from

outer space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

has steadily increased their

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing co ...

activities, players assume control of the Yellow Cherry and Red Fox space fighter crafts in a last-ditch effort for

mankind Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

to overthrow the alien forces. Though it was initially launched for the Neo Geo MVS, ''Andro Dunos'' was later released for the Neo Geo AES on July 17 of the same year. ''Andro Dunos'' was met with mixed reception from both critics and reviewers alike since its initial release on the MVS and later on the AES, who commended various aspects of the title such as the colorful and detailed graphics, sound design, simplistic controls and the ability to choose between multiple weapons, but the gameplay was criticized for being unremarkable and not original. On March 25, 2022, a sequel developed by Picorinne Soft and published by Just for Games and PixelHeart titled ''Andro Dunos II'' released for Microsoft Windows,

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Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

, and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, with versions for the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

and

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being planned for release later in the same year.

Gameplay

''Andro Dunos'' is a scrolling shoot 'em up game reminiscent of '' Hellfire'' and '' Whip Rush'' where players take control of the Neo Type space fighter crafts Yellow Cherry (P1) and Red Fox (P2), which are sent by the defense system of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

across eight levels that take place on a futuristic sci-fi setting, where an unknown alien race from outer space who have steadily increased their invasion activities against humankind that must be eliminated in order to finish a long lasting war as the main objective.''Andro Dunos'' user's manual (Neo Geo AES, US) In addition to the single-player mode, the game also features a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode. If a

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a soc ...

is present, the players are allowed to save their progress and resume into the last stage the game saved at. A notable feature of the game is the ability to choose between four different weapon sets at any given time in a linear order by pressing the B button and they can be increased up to multiple times from their original state, while charging the currently selected weapon with the A button allows the ships to unleash a powerful shot against enemies. However, this strategy is a risky proposition for players, as the weapon decreases its power level down to one, weakening the ship's current

firepower Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. (It is not to be confused with the concept of rate of fire, which describes the cycling of the firing mechanism in a weapon system.) Firepower involves the whole range of potent ...

as a result. If the player's ship is hit by enemy fire, they will be

respawn In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of an entity from the game ...

ed but with the penalty of decreasing the ship's power to one level before being hit. Once all lives are lost, the game is over unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing, which resets the main weapon down to level two and the other three sub-weapons down to the first level as well.

Release

''Andro Dunos'' was initially launched for the arcades by SNK on June 15, 1992, becoming the first title developed by Visco Corporation to be released on the Neo Geo MVS hardware. The game was also released for the Neo Geo AES on July 17 during the same year. Along with the 1996 Visco developed fighting game Breakers, these two games are the only officially licensed Visco games to release on the Neo Geo AES platform during its original commercial run from 1990 - 2004. Although it was never originally

ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a Computing platform, computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) ...

to the

Neo Geo CD The is the second home video game console of SNK Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format retailing at per titl ...

, an officially endorsed conversion of the game by independent developer and publisher Neo Conception International (N.C.I.) was released for the console in 2012, which was part of an acquisition deal with Visco in regards to the rights of their

intellectual properties Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

. A

version is slated for an August 2022 launch. Columbus Circle & French based PixelHeart released an officially licensed reproduction on the Neo Geo AES platform available in both English and Japanese in 2020.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Andro Dunos'' on their September 1, 1992 issue as being the twentieth most-popular arcade game at the time. The game received mixed reception from both critics and reviewers since its initial release in arcades and Neo Geo AES.

Notes

References

External links

''Andro Dunos''
at

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''Andro Dunos''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andro Dunos 1992 video games Arcade video games Cooperative video games Dreamcast games Multiplayer and single-player video games Neo Geo games Neo Geo CD games Science fiction video games Scrolling shooters Shoot 'em ups Side-scrolling video games SNK games Video games set in outer space Video games set in the future Visco Corporation games Video games developed in Japan