Developer(s) Victor Entertainment Designer(s) Teruhito Yamaki Composer(s) Tsukasa Tawada | Publisher(s) JVC Musical Industries Writer(s) Satoru Honda | |
Artist(s) Hiroshi Ogawa
Hitoshi Kakumu | ||
Keio Flying Squadron (慶応遊撃隊, Keiōyūgekitai) is a scrolling shooter video game for the Sega/Mega CD. It was developed by Victor Entertainment and first published in Japan in 1993, and later in Europe and North America in 1994. It is the first game of the Keio Flying Squadron series with a simple shoot-'em-up style of play.
Contents
Gameplay
The game consists of the protagonist Rami riding on top of Spot, who can shoot fireballs at enemies. When Spot is not firing, two smaller dragons (Companion fighters) appear one after another to assist Rami and Spot. The lesser dragons shoot smaller fireballs and can be sacrificed to do larger damage, only to reappear when Spot ceases to shoot. The game also features animated cut scenes, provided by Studio Pierrot.
Release
Keio Flying Squadron was released on August 6, 1993, in Japan by Victor Entertainment. In the United Kingdom, a playable demo disc for Keio Flying Squadron containing the first stage was provided by the Sega Pro CD magazine in its December 1994 issue. While the demo ends after the first stage, it is identical to the full version, and the whole game is accessible in the demo disc by using a level select cheat code.
Reception
Retro Gamer included among top ten Mega CD games, calling it "a perfectly acceptable substitute" OF Konami's Parodius that features "similar style of horizontally scrolling wackiness and puts the Mega-CD hardware to good use to produce some excellent cut-scenes and a brilliant CD-quality soundtrack."