Victory Road (video game)

Victory Road (怒号層圏, Dogō Sōken, lit. "Bellowing Atmosphere") is an arcade video game released in 1986. It is the sequel to Ikari Warriors.

Victory Road
English arcade poster
Developer(s)SNK (arcade)
Paradise Software (Sinclair)
Publisher(s)Arcade version:

SNK
Sinclair version:
Imagine Software

Erbe Software S.A., IBSA
Composer(s)Toshikazu Tanaka
SeriesIkari Warriors
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Apple II, NES, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, IBM PC
ReleaseArcade
1986
ZX Spectrum
1989
Atari ST
1988
Amiga
1989
NES
  • JP: 16 April 1988
  • NA: 1988
Genre(s)Run and gun
Mode(s)Up to two players simultaneously
CabinetJoystick (LS-30, 12-way rotary), 2 buttons
CPU2x Zilog Z80A @4MHz
SoundZ80 @4MHz (APU), YM3526 @4MHz, Y8950 @4MHz
DisplayRaster, Vertical orientation, standard resolution (216 x 288), 1024 colors

The objective is to defeat the enemy aliens using grenades and other weapons. The story directly picks up at the ending of Ikari Warriors. Congratulated by General Kawasaki for rescuing him, Paul and Vince return home to their native country in a plane arranged by the general. A mysterious storm appears and they are hurtled thousands of years into the future. They are met by an alien creature who says that the villain Zang Zip has taken over the land.

Gameplay

The original arcade game featured an 8-way rotary joystick that could be twisted in place to rotate the onscreen character allowing the player to face in one of eight directions while moving in another.

It features sampled voiceovers from the main characters and the game's bosses.

Screenshot of the NES version.

The NES version includes the added feature of collecting "zeny" as currency, which is used to buy improved weaponry and armor. The NES version emulates the controls of the arcade version by locking the facing of the character in one direction for as long as the "fire" button is depressed. Weapons no longer have limited ammunition. The player character begins with a flamethrower, but when the player loses a life, it is changed to a machine gun.

Weapon powerups are scattered throughout the levels, often hidden under rocks destroyable by the bazooka weapon or grenades.

There are no vehicles in this game, but it was replaced by armour, which allows player to take a limited number of hits without time expiration.

The game reuses the single-stage design from its predecessor, but added mini-stages where players fight a boss when entered through the green door.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Victory Road on their December 1, 1986 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the year.[1]

The Spanish magazine Microhobby reviewed the ZX Spectrum version of the game with the following scores: Originality: 20% Graphics: 70% Motion: 70% Sound: 70% Difficulty: 90% Addiction: 80%[2]

gollark: I don't think the rules should work that way, honestly.
gollark: The best part of fibre optic is that it has ***LASERS***, but with that approach the lasers are boring and far away.
gollark: It's fibre-to-nearby-box-then-copper.
gollark: BT's offering is in fact not proper fibre.
gollark: That's not fibre.

References
  1. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 297. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 December 1986. p. 23.
  2. (Spanish) Victory Road - ZX Spectrum de Imagine Software - article on Soloretro
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