is an overhead

run and gun video game Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

released for arcades in 1987 by

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. At one time, the company had annual sales of 20 billion yen in ...

Gameplay

left, Arcade screenshot Terrorists have seized the underground control complex of a

nuclear missile Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. All nine nuclear states have developed some form of medium- to long-range delivery system for their nuc ...

site, and it is up to the player to infiltrate the base and kill the enemy leader. Players begin armed with a gun with unlimited ammunition and a limited supply of grenades. Improved weapons and grenade powerups are made available within the game, either in plain sight or within crates that must be unlocked using keys. Additionally, crates may contain orbs or one of the six pieces of the Heavy Barrel superweapon. Like

SNK is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing arcade games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company established many franchises ...

's ''

Ikari Warriors ''Ikari Warriors'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released for arcades by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. At the time there were many ''Commando'' clones on the market. What d ...

'', the original arcade version featured 8-way rotary joysticks. The name of the game is from an in-game weapon. The ''Heavy Barrel'' is found in six pieces and is an energy cannon capable of destroying any enemy in the game with a single shot (except the final enemy, and possibly one other boss that may have required two shots). The weapon has a wide

arc of fire The field of fire or zone of fire (ZF) of a weapon, or group of weapons, is the area around it that can easily and effectively be reached by projectiles from a given position. Field of fire The term originally came from the ''field of fire'' in f ...

and can be fired as fast as the player's trigger finger permits, but after thirty seconds its use is exhausted, at which point the bearer reverts to his previous weaponry. The ''Heavy Barrel'' is best used to get past tough bosses, and the game only contains enough pieces to allow the weapon to be built three times in a single game. In a two-player game, whoever collects the sixth piece is equipped with the Heavy Barrel.

Ports

''Heavy Barrel'' ports by

Quicksilver Software Quicksilver Software, Inc. was an American privately-owned video game developer based in Irvine, California, United States. The company was founded on May 1, 1984 by three former Mattel Electronics programmers: Bill Fisher, Stephen Roney, and ...

for the

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

and MS-DOS were released in 1989. The Nintendo Entertainment System, NES port was developed by Data East and released in North America and Japan in 1990. All versions of ''Heavy Barrel'' were published by Data East. In 1989, ''Heavy Barrel'' was contracted to be ported to the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

by F.A.C.S. (Financial Accounting and Computing Software), a West Bloomfield Township,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

company. The graphics engine and much of the gameplay was in place, but the development company folded before the project could be finished. In February 2010,

Majesco Entertainment Majesco Games Corporation (formerly Majesco Sales Inc. and Majesco Entertainment Company) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, an ...

published ''Heavy Barrel'' for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

, as part of ''

Data East Arcade Classics ''Data East Arcade Classics'' is a compilation of video games created by Japanese video game company Data East. The collection disc is developed by American studio G1M2 and published and released by Majesco Entertainment for the Wii on February 1 ...

'', and for the

Zeebo The Zeebo is a discontinued home entertainment and education system from Zeebo Inc. It enabled users to play video games, and also connect to the Internet using its 3G modem, communicate online and run educational applications. The Zeebo was t ...

.Majesc
press release
, 16 February 2010

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Heavy Barrel'' on their January 15, 1988 issue as being the sixth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Both ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...

''s Clare Edgeley and ''

ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

''s Andy Smith gave an overall positive outlook to the arcade original.

Notes

References

External links

''Heavy Barrel''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a video gaming website that hosts guides and other resources, as well as an active Internet forum, message board forum. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and has been owned by Fandom (website), Fandom, Inc. since October ...

''Heavy Barrel''
at

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time (maga ...

''Heavy Barrel''
at

Killer List of Videogames Museum of the Game, which includes the Killer List of Videogames (KLOV), is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and h ...

''Heavy Barrel''
at

MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...

{{Portal bar, 1980s, Japan, Video games 1987 video games Apple II games Arcade video games Cooperative video games Data East arcade games Data East video games DOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo Entertainment System games Quicksilver Software games Run and gun games Video games developed in Japan Tiger Electronics handheld games