Night Striker

The 3-D arcade shooting game from Taito is coming to the PSX! Your craft is a flying hovercar that can transform into a humanoid mech in certain situations. Your job: Shoot anything and everything that moves! The Arcade Mode is joined by an intense Time Attack Mode that will put aces to test with a screen full of hostile projectiles and enemies!

The night is cold and dark, and somewhere out there Dr. Lindbery Masca and his daughter are being held captive by an underworld terrorist organization. It's the year 2009, and you are a pilot with the United Nations Special Service Agency Task Force, alias Night Striker. In a world reminiscent of Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner, you must fight your way through six stages of high-tech enemy war machines in an effort to rescue the kidnapped laser optics expert and his daughter.

Taito's Night Striker features a streamlined sit-down cabinet with an adjustable seat and stereo surround sound that blasts at you from six four-inch speakers. That's right—six speakers. Two up front, two in the headrest, and two under the seat. When your futuristic aircraft scrapes the ground or bursts into flames, this game lets you feel it.

That's not all. Interior lighting effects create the illusion that the cabinet is actually streaking through the neon-illuminated night. And a simple aircraft-type joystick and trigger give you complete control.

Each stage begins with your AV 2000 cruising through one of the city's well-lit tunnels. You soon come to a split in the road where you have to decide which route to take. Your decision determines the location of the battle and the types of enemies you will face. Locations include the city, the suburbs, factories, ancient temples, tunnels, the sky, and the open sea. Although the settings are beautiful, the enemies are the usual waves of helicopters, jets, and biomechanical oddities.

Each time you suffer a hit, one of your shields is destroyed. Your OBC (on-board computer) warns you when the shields have disintegrated completely. One more hit after that and — well, remember those two speakers under the seat?

Stage 1 always begins in a large city. Your opponents attack as you patrol a wide, skyscraper-lined highway. To elude them, you must maneuver your aircraft as in Thunder Blad, blasting enemies and avoiding the catwalks between buildings. When you've cleared the level, a "boss timer" appears in the lower left corner of the screen and your OBC warns you of approaching targets. The boss timer counts down from ten, but if you can avoid the boss's fire until the timer runs out, the boss will just turn away and leave. You don't have to destroy him — you merely have to survive the attack. This applies to each stage, but it7s not as easy as it sounds.