Silpheed: Super Dogfighter
Silpheed: Super Dogfighter is a scrolling shooter developed and published by Game Arts and first released in Japan on 1986-12-05 for the PC-88. It was published in the US by Sierra On-Line for Apple IIGS, TRS-80 CoCo, and MS-DOS. In the game, you pilot the SA-08 Silpheed prototype space fighter in an attempt to stop Xacalite from taking over the Milky Way.
My cousin had this game for his Tandy 1000 around 1990. I remember being very impressed with the game because it looked much more advance than scrolling shooters I had seen before it. I especially liked the music. We weren't very good at it at first, but, as we honed our action game skills and got better at it. Later, as an adult, I tried to play the game again and got even further, about halfway through the game. I also finally got to hear the game with MT-32 music, which is fantastic.
Contents
Status
I do not own this game, and I have not beaten it.
Review
- Overall: 5/10
- Best Version: MS-DOS
— This section contains spoilers! —
Good
- The pseudo 3D look is very effective; the ships rotate and zoom neatly.
- The red-gray palette was a good choice, and the use of dithering on the graphics is well-done and it really helps the illusion of 3D.
- The game has really nice music. It's even more impressive on Sierra's port using the MT-32.
- I really like the HUD which shows your shields, power-ups, and ship damage.
- I love how, as you become damaged more, you lose functionality in your ship.
- For a home computer game released in 1986, this was technologically ahead of its time.
- I like how you slowly build up a collection of more powerful weaponry.
- The game has some nice media. The intro and cut-scenes are attractive, the scrolling planet effect is really cool, and base stages are interesting.
- I like how the very powerful laser weapon can reflect back at you on certain enemies, forcing you to reconsider its use on certain stages.
- I like how the game lets you skip the stages you've already beaten on subsequent play-throughs.
Bad
- The game is too hard. I'm a decent action game player, but I still can't get much further than half-way through the game.
- The weapon upgrades aren't as big of a deal as they could be. The phalanx beam is too weak in later levels, the V beam's lack of forward power is difficult to get used to, the laser can't safely be used on certain stages, and the lack of control with auto-aiming makes it a burden when there are a lot of enemies or fast enemies.
- You will see your last weapon upgrade around stage 10. After that, you're stuck with the same weapon options for the rest of the game.
- Despite a fair amount of variety, the game is still pretty monotonous. You will exhaust the bulk of the game's media about a third of the way in. After that, you're just playing more difficult versions of the previous levels.
Ugly
- Nothing.
Media
Box Art
The original Japanese box shows the Silpheed docked and being fitted with new weapons. It's gorgeously painted, and I like the Silpheed logo. This is my favorite box.
The American box shows a less well-armed Silpheed fighter in space escaping from laser-shooting enemy ships outside a base. The art better depicts the action of the game.
Documentation
Recreated US Manual.
Videos
- youtube.com/watch?v=6D9s_5EUGYk - Longplay, DOS, part 1.
- youtube.com/watch?v=bHCAgQg-VfA - Longplay, DOS, part 2.
- youtube.com/watch?v=QrCjt1vZ3p4 - Longplay, DOS, part 3.
- youtube.com/watch?v=KqjYuZNzArw - Longplay, DOS, part 4.
- youtube.com/watch?v=mioGeLWmCnA - Longplay, DOS, part 5.
Titles
| Language | Native | Transliteration | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Silpheed: Super Dogfighter | ||
| Japanese | シルフィード Super Dogfighter | Shirufido: Super Dogfighter | Silpheed: Super Dogfighter |
Links
