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Mr. Heli
Japanese arcade flyer
Developer(s)Irem
Publisher(s)Irem
Composer(s)Masahiko Ishida[4]
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, PC-Engine, Virtual Console, Evercade VS.
ReleaseArcade:
Ports:
1989
Genre(s)Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)1-2 players alternating turns
Arcade systemIrem M-72 system hardware

Mr. Heli, fully titled in Japan as Mr. HELI no Daibōken (Ｍｒ．ＨＥＬＩの大冒険, "Mr. Heli's Great Adventure") is a multidirectional scrolling shooter developed and published in arcades in 1987 by Irem. It was released in North America as Battle Chopper.

Gameplay

Arcade screenshot

Players control a wacky fighter chopper named Mr. Heli, while shooting enemies, collecting power-ups, and defeating bosses to advance levels.

Ports

Mr. Heli was ported for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Atari ST by Firebird, as well as for the PC Engine in Japan by Irem. This version was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console on March 18, 2008, only in Japan. It came back for the Wii U Virtual Console on April 15, 2015 in Japan, and was then released for the first time in the United States and Europe on February 1, 2018.[5][6][7]

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Mr. Heli on their January 15, 1988 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[8]

Ciarán Brennan of Your Sinclair magazine reviewed the arcade game, calling it "a lovely little game" that is "very imaginative and beautifully" paced.[3] ACE magazine reviewed the PC Engine version in 1989, rating it 890 out of 1000 and listing it as one of the top five best games available for the console.[9]

Legacy

Mr. Heli later appeared in the Japan-only Game Boy title Shuyaku Sentai Irem Fighter, along with other characters from the game, as well as characters from three other Irem franchises: R-Type, Ninja Spirit and Hammerin' Harry. Mr. Heli was mentioned in one of the billboards seen in the final stage of Irem's Vigilante and also appeared in R-Type Final as a playable ship. Battle Chopper is also available on the Evercade retro games console as part of the Irem Arcade collection cartridge.

References

  1. ^ Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 120–1. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. ^ "Mr. Heli (Registration Number PA0000412487)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b Brennan, Ciarán (10 March 1988). "Slots of Fun". Your Sinclair. No. 28 (April 1988). pp. 78–9.
  4. ^ Tanaka, Haruhisa; x68303 (25 March 2014). "R-Type Creator Interview (クリエイターインタビュー): Masahiko Ishida (石田雅彦)". Shooting Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 9. Micro Magazine. pp. 58–65. ISBN 978-4896374551.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2018-01-17 at the Wayback Machine).
  5. ^ Mr.HELIの大冒険 | Wii U | 任天堂
  6. ^ Battle Chopper for Wii U – Nintendo Game Details
  7. ^ Battle Chopper | TurboGrafx | Games | Nintendo
  8. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 – テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 324. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1988. p. 21.
  9. ^ "Console Wars" (PDF). ACE. No. 26 (November 1989). October 1989. p. 144.

External links

Arcade version
Home versions
R-Type series
Irem
Categories