Terra Force

Terra Force is a scrolling shoot-'em-up that combines two distinct gameplay perspectives into a single cohesive experience . You control a spaceship on a mission to destroy alien enemies on a planet. Each level is divided into two parts: the overworld, which is vertically scrolling and features surface enemies and buildings to destroy, and the underground, which is horizontally scrolling and filled with more widespread enemies and obstacles to avoid . The game is a spin-off of Nichibutsu's Cresta series, which includes titles like Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta, and it shares the innovative perspective-switching gameplay found in the company's earlier game Mag Max . Power-ups such as laser firepower, bomb upgrades, speed boosts, and force fields are available in limited supply to enhance your ship's capabilities .

Arcade

Developed and published by Nichibutsu, Terra Force was released in December 1987, initially only in Japan . The game runs on arcade hardware featuring a Motorola 68000 main CPU and a Z80 sound CPU, with audio handled by a YM3812 chip and two DACs. It displays horizontal raster graphics at 320x240 pixels with a palette of 2048 colors, and supports up to two players in alternating turns . The game's development was led by Shigeki Fujiwara, co-creator of the Bomberman series, as his final project before leaving Nichibutsu for Hudson Soft. He envisioned a mix of Mag Max's side-scrolling perspective and the vertically scrolling gameplay of Terra Cresta, resulting in an ambitious blend of both styles . A limited-edition soundtrack album was released by Pony Canyon/Scitron on September 21, 1988 .