''Super Spacefortress Macross'' is a 1992

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 ...

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 NMK and published by

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Banpresto was a partly-ow ...

. Based upon the 1984 anime film '' Macross: Do You Remember Love?'', it is the first arcade entry in the ''

Macross is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime media franchise/ media mix, created by Studio Nue (most prominently mecha designer, writer and producer Shōji Kawamori) and Artland in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth and t ...

'' franchise. In the game, the players control the

VF-1 Valkyrie In the fictional ''Macross'' Japanese anime series and its English adaptation ''Robotech'', the first mass-produced transforming aerospace fighter mecha is called the VF-1 Valkyrie. The VF-1 Valkyrie is referred to as a "variable fighter" in '' ...

variable mecha fighters, piloted by

Hikaru Ichijyo Hikaru Ichijyo (一条輝 ''Ichijō Hikaru'') is one of the main fictional characters of the '' Macross'' Japanese anime series.Character of Macross: Hikaru Ichijyo. Pages 102–105. ''Macross Perfect Memory''. Reference Book. 260 A4 pages. ...

and Max Jenius, in a battle against the

Zentradi The are a fictional, militaristic race of alien, humanoid giants and often the main antagonist in ''Macross'' media mix and its ''Robotech'' (1985) cartoon adaptation. It is transliterated as Zentradi, Zjentohlauedy, Zentrady, and Zentraedi fo ...

alien race. ''Super Spacefortress Macross'' was created by NMK, a defunct Japanese game developer known for shooters such as '' P-47: The Phantom Fighter'', ''

Saint Dragon is a horizontally scrolling shooter released as a coin-op by Jaleco in 1989. Ports to several home computer systems were published by Storm Entertainment in 1990. On February 6, 2020, ''Saint Dragon'' was released as part of Hamster's '' Arcade ...

'', ''

Task Force Harrier is a vertical scrolling shooter video game developed by NMK and released for arcades in 1989 by UPL in Japan and by American Sammy in North America. It was ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis as in 1991. Gameplay The game is a conventional scro ...

'' and ''

Zed Blade ''Zed Blade'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by NMK and originally published by SNK on September 13, 1994. It was the only game to be created by NMK for the Neo Geo platform. Set in a futuristic sci-fi setting, ...

'', with producer Toshifumi Kawashima heading its development. First launched in Japan by Banpresto, a subsidiary of

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...

that focused primarily on anime-licensed games, the game was later released in North America by

Fabtek Fabtek Inc. was a thriving video kit company founded in Bellevue, Washington, United States and started its operations there in 1987. Fabtek's name was derived from the initials of its founder Frank Ballouz (F.A.B.-tek), a former Atari and Nin ...

and in Australia by Leisure & Allied Industries, being the only ''Macross'' title that had an official international release. It remained exclusive to arcades and never received a home console conversion. ''Super Spacefortress Macross'' proved to be moderately popular in Japan but received mixed reception from critics and retrospective commentaries; reviewers commended game's fast-pacing and intensity, but others felt mixed regarding the action, perceived lack of innovation and originality in the gameplay as well as its easy difficulty and visuals, while criticism was geared towards its predictable bosses, weapon system and difficulty to distinguish incoming hazards due to the large number of sprites displayed on-screen. It received two arcade follow-ups in the form of '' Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross II'' (1993) and ''

Macross Plus is a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the ''Macross'' series. It was the first sequel to the original ''Macross'' television series that took place in the official timeline (''Macross II'' was quickly retconned by series creato ...

'' (1996). On December 26, 2024, the game got ported as part of the

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 ...

series.

Gameplay

''Super Spacefortress Macross'' is a science fiction-themed vertical-scrolling

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre 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 types of chara ...

game that is part of the ''

'' series. The plot is based on the 1984 anime film '' Macross: Do You Remember Love?'', in which the

alien race invaded the Solar System and waged a war against humanity. In response, the UN Spacy unveils the

variable Variable may refer to: * Variable (computer science), a symbolic name associated with a value and whose associated value may be changed * Variable (mathematics), a symbol that represents a quantity in a mathematical expression, as used in many ...

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...

fighter Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplane ...

s created via reverse-engineering of the alien technology obtained from the

SDF-1 Macross is an anime television series from 1982. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war. It is the first part of two franchises: The ''Super D ...

, to confront the Zentradi. The players control the VF-1 Valkyrie mecha fighters, piloted by

(1P) and Max (2P), through seven increasingly difficult stages over a constantly scrolling background, populated with an assortment of alien enemy forces and obstacles, and the scenery never stops moving until a

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a p ...

is reached, which must be fought in order to progress into the next stage. After completing the last stage, the game loops back to the first stage, with the second loop increasing in difficulty and enemies fire denser bullet patterns. Defeating the second loop results in achieving the true ending. A unique gameplay feature is the weapon system;超時空要塞マクロス (''Super Dimension Fortress Macross'') arcade flyer (Banpresto, JP) the VF-1 Valkyrie fighters can transform into one of three different modes (

Fighter Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplane ...

GERWALK In the fictional '' Macross'' Japanese anime series and its English adaptation '' Robotech'', the first mass-produced transforming aerospace fighter mecha is called the VF-1 Valkyrie. The VF-1 Valkyrie is referred to as a " variable fighter" ...

and Battroid) by collecting the corresponding

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 ...

icons, and the attack patterns range from spread shots to a straight laser. Each mode can be powered-up three times by obtaining "P" icons and picking up additional mode icons ("F", "G" or "B") unlock alternative "paths", providing more

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 ...

and modified attack configurations for the Valkyrie respectively. The Valkyrie can also transform into a fourth mode (Armored Battroid), via a rare

item Item may refer to: Organizations * '' Instituto del Tercer Mundo'' (ITeM), the Third World Institute * ITEM club, an economic forecasting group based in the United Kingdom Newspapers * ''The Item'', an American independent, morning newspape ...

drop that grants an extra armor and attacks using grenades with missiles. After taking an enemy hit, the armor is expelled and any power-up items collected while armored become bonus points. The Valkyrie fighters are equipped with a number of bombs at the start as well, which obliterates enemies and bullets caught within its blast radius. In some occasions, players can pick up a Valkyrie-shaped

1UP In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest ...

icon, which grants an extra life. Firing on determined locations is also crucial for reaching high-scores, as certain setpieces in each stages hosts a bonus point items within their scenery, as well as destroying enemies on certain spots. The title employs a

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 ...

system where their ship immediately starts at the location they died at. Getting hit by enemy fire or colliding against solid stage obstacles will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing the Valkyrie's

to its original state, and the game is over once all lives are lost unless the players insert more credits into the arcade machine to

continue Continue may refer to: * Continue (video gaming), an option to continue a video game after all the player's lives have been lost *Continue (keyword), a programming language keyword * ''Continue'' (film), a 2022 American drama film Music *''Continu ...

playing.

Development and release

''Super Spacefortress Macross'' was developed by NMK, a defunct Japanese game developer known for shooters such as '' P-47: The Phantom Fighter'', ''

'', ''

'' and ''

''. It is based upon '' Macross: Do You Remember Love?'', a 1984 anime film based around

Shoji Kawamori A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire/ ...

's popular ''

mecha anime Mecha anime and manga, known in Japan as and , are anime and manga that feature robots (mecha) in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; "super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where robots are ...

series. Development was headed by producer Toshifumi Kawashima, with planner Masahiko Takahashi acting as the game's sole designer.
Transcription
by Arcade History. ). Eisaku "Wisaku" Origami, Kenji "Ikezu Kenzi" Yokoyama and Hiromi "Kate" Seki, as well as three members under the pseudonyms "NA", "Nao" and "Mingmei" were responsible for the

pixel art Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers and arcade video g ...

. Tamio "Tommy" Nakasato, programmer of Capcom's 1942, and Youichi "Ore Dayo" Koyama served as co-programmers. The soundtrack was composed by Kazunori "Hide-Kaz" Hideya, Manabu Namiki (under the alias "Taro") and H. "Papa" Mizushima. ''Super Spacefortress Macross'' was first released in Japan in September 1992 by

, a subsidiary of

that focused primarily on anime-licensed games. Prior to launch, it was first showcased in a playable state to attendees at the 1992

Amusement Machine Show The Japan Amusement Expo (JAEPO) is an annual trade fair for amusement arcade products, such as arcade games, redemption games, amusement rides, vending machines, and change machines. The event is hosted one weekend per year in the Greate ...

from August 27 to 29. The game was later released in North America on October of the same year by

. The title was also released in Australia by Leisure & Allied Industries. It became the first arcade entry in the ''Macross'' franchise, and the only ''Macross'' title that had an official international release. The game remained exclusive to arcades and never received a conversion to home consoles.

Reception and legacy

''Super Spacefortress Macross'' was moderately popular in arcades; In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed it on their October 15, 1992 issue as being the seventh most-popular arcade game during the month. The Japanese publication ''Micom BASIC Magazine'' also ranked it at the number six spot in popularity on their December 1992 issue. ''Super Spacefortress Macross'' garnered mixed reception from critics prior to and since its launch. ''

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

Julian Rignall Julian "Jaz" Rignall (born 6 March 1965, London, England) is a writer and editor. He has also produced content for corporate websites such as GamePro Media, publisher of ''GamePro'' magazine and ''GamePro.com'', marketing collateral and adverti ...

described the game as "the most yawnsome, bog-standard vertically scrolling shoot 'em up I've played since the last one", criticizing its "dull" action, bland visuals, predictable end bosses and weapon system. ''

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

''s John Cook stated that the title's fast-paced action made it worth playing, but noted that it offered nothing original. ''

Gamest was a Japanese video game magazine that specialized in covering arcade games. Published by Shinseisha, it first began in May 1986 and originally published bi-monthly, later changed to be a monthly-issued magazine in the late 1980s. The magazine al ...

''s five reviewers regarded it to be a cohesive game as a whole, finding its low difficulty to be accessible but unsatisfactory when compared to more difficult shooters like ''

Dogyuun is a 1992 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan. Set on the colonized fictional planet of Dino in the future, where an alien race of metallic robots have invaded a police communication center and held ...

'' and felt mixed regarding the graphics, as well as expressing doubt if people would play it for the brand recognition. ''

Digitiser ''Digitiser'' was a video games magazine that was broadcast on Teletext in the UK between 1993 and 2003. It originally billed itself a"The World's Only Daily Game Magazine" The page was launched on 1 January 1993 on page 370 of the Teletext serv ...

''s Paul Rose and Tim Moore wrote that it was fun despite the lack of originality and found its gameplay to be decent. However, Rose and Moore criticized its "leathery" graphics when compared with titles like ''

Axelay is a 1992 scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Set in the fictional solar system Illis where an alien empire known as "Armada of Annihilation" invades its planets includin ...

'' and ''

Thunder Force IV known in North America as ''Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar'', is a shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Technosoft for the Mega Drive in 1992. It is the fourth installment in Technosoft's ''Thunder Force'' series, and ...

''. Retrospective commentary for ''Super Spacefortress Macross'' has been equally mixed. ''

AllGame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

''s Kyle Knight found it to be a good shooter without gimmicks, stating that its gameplay was entertaining but noted the lack of innovation. Knight commended its intense action and the large number of sprites on-display, but also criticized this aspect due to the difficulty of distinguishing incoming hazards on-screen. He felt that its simple-looking background elements were reminiscent of ''

Terra Cresta is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game released by Nichibutsu in 1985. The player controls a flying craft to destroy the Mandler army before they destroy all of humanity. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and collecting differe ...

'', but criticized the visuals for being outdated as well as the "dull" and repetitive music. José Ángel Ciudad of Spanish magazine ''GamesTech'' regarded it as "spectacular vertical shooter that repeats classic schemes." ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

''s Stuart Hunt commended its visual style for being intricately detailed and the variety found within the levels, but also criticized this aspect for being "drab", while noting that more hardcore players would find "little" in terms of challenge. Hunt ultimately deemed it to be "a competent shooter but one that feels a bit flat against the genre's best titles." Following the release of ''Super Spacefortress Macross'',

would publish two more ''Macross'' arcade games: '' Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross II'' (1993), a

horizontal-scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre 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 types of charact ...

based on the 1992

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

'' Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again'' developed by NMK, and ''

'' (1996), another vertical-scrolling shooter based on the OVA and anime film of the same name developed by

MOSS Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

Notes

References

External links

''Super Spacefortress Macross''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databas ...

''Super Spacefortress Macross''
at

Killer List of Videogames 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 has been referred to as "the IMDb for pl ...

''Super Spacefortress Macross''
at

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