U. N. Squadron

STORY / GAMEPLAY
You are a skilled mercenary combat pilot and member of the U.N. Squadron that sets off to fight terrorist enemy forces and protect the world. After selecting one of three playable characters like Mickey Simon and his F-14 Tomcat, Shin Kazama with the F-20 Tigershark or Greg Gates and the almighty A-10 Thunderbolt, all of which were from the manga. There is a map with available levels to choose from, followed by a choice-menu of available fighter planes (out of six) and three available secondary weapons (out of eleven), such as cluster shots, napalm and powerful lasers, to buy before starting the mission. The interesting part here is to have enough money (initially starts with an amount of 3000) to buy these weapons and crafts within their price range. But as long as you progress and get points throughout the game, you earn more cash to spent wisely. Gameplay is straightforward. You move your aircraft about the screen shooting both airborne and land-based installations and tanks. There is a life / energy bar that is depleted over the course of a single life as the aircraft takes damage, a trait highly uncommon among other comparable arcade shooters that normally use a system of reserved and collected lives. At the end of each stage there is the end of level boss, ranging from a Stealth Bomber, a nuclear submarine to a fortress that requires several passes to destroy. Also, the game features a simultaneous 2-players option, adding more to the fun.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
This is a very brave attempt for an arcade conversion to the 8 bit home computers. The C64 conversion has nice visuals although I do prefer the CPC version that handles better colors, larger sprites and more detailed backgrounds. But the C64, although the sprites are comparably tiny, runs way faster and smoother than both ZX and CPC counterparts. As for the sound, the C64 includes a great intro music theme that plays much like the Amiga and Atari ST! Unfortunately, there is no in-game music beyond some basic sound effects.

GAMEPLAY SAMPLE VIDEO
On our video below you may watch the original arcade and all home conversions of the game.
The C64 conversion is at 08:21.