Screenshots from VG Museum

Year released: 1988 (SEGA Master System)

Number of Players: 1

Graphics: When you start, the view is overhead, while the screen automatically scrolls upward. Then, for the next stage, the view is behind your helicopter as it flies forward (a railed shooter like the Space Harriers and Starfoxes). Colors are simple and clean, and the railed shooting sections are a lot cleaner than Space Harrier for SEGA Master System.

Play control: Half of the time, the screen automatically scrolls upward as it looks downward towards your helicopter. You can move your helicopter all over the screen with the d-pad, and other helicopters will come out and swing themselves at you, trying to hit you and thereby killing you. There are also tanks on the ground that shoot at you. You can press 2 to shoot forward and knock out enemy helicopters, or press 1 to drop a bomb below you to knock out a tank.
The other half is the railed shooter. Once again, you can use the d-pad to move anywhere on the screen. However, enemies move from the background of the screen towards you, using the same tactics that they use in the overhead sections, except now it's all in 3D. When a tank shoots at you, you can dive under the shot, above it, or on the sides. It's a nice parallel in gameplay. Same shots, too--2 to shoot in the sky, 1 to drop a bomb. However, in these sections, when you drop a bomb, it shoots forward along the ground after you drop it, meaning you can shoot tanks off in the distance, rather than having to be right on top of them like in the overhead sections.

Sound: Nothing noticeable. Normal 8-bit helicopter and explosion noises.

Challenge: Pretty much covered this in play control. Like Space Harrier and Rambo, the learning curve isn't gracious, but once you get the hang of the gameplay, it sticks with you. Like learning to ride a bike.
When you die, you don't immediately start over. It takes you to a screen where it tells you how many lives you have, and then puts you back into the stage pretty close to where you died.

Gameplay: It feels like a mix of two admirable games--Rambo and Space Harrier. While the autoscrolling washes out the strategic gameplay of Rambo somewhat and the railed shooting sections are washed out in gameplay variety, it's still quite an enjoyable mix.

Bottom line: One of those things that defines a certain group of old school gameplay. There's nothing really prime here except for the fact that it mixes autoscrolling overhead action with railed shooting. These two go hand-in-hand and refresh each other with their similar yet different styles.
If you like shooting stuff old school style, check out Thunderblade.

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