Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting

Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting
Developer(s) Takumi Corporation
Publisher(s) Capcom
Designer(s) Kei Toume (character)
Composer(s) Yasushi Kaminishi
Platform(s) Arcade, Dreamcast
Release date(s)

April 2000 (arcade)

  • JP 9 November 2000(DC)
  • NA 30 April 2001(DC)
Genre(s) Vertical scrolling shooter,
Manic shooter
Mode(s) Single player, 2 player Co-op
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system CPS-2
Display Horizontally oriented, 384x224, 4096 palette colors

Mars Matrix: Hyper Solid Shooting, or simply Mars Matrix (マーズマトリックス), is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game developed by Takumi in 2000. The game was published by Capcom and run on their CPS-2 arcade system board. Mars Matrix was later ported to the Dreamcast video game console in 2001. The arcade version is notable for using a horizontally aligned monitor (much like Giga Wing), something that is considered rare for a vertical shooter.

Story

A prediction is that before human civilization, there was once an advanced civilization on Mars. A sorceress destroyed the civilization and everything that was remembered of it, except a chip called "INFINITY". In 2100, millions of people were starving due to massive food shortages and has caused civil wars around the world. Centuries later, however, the world government had sent colonists to Mars which began to solve these problems. At a nearby farm, the Infinity chip was discovered and it revealed all the technology of the advanced civilization. In 2309, a Declaration of Independence has been sent to Earth. Large armies have been amassed on Mars, and a gigantic armada was waiting for any attack from Earth. The Earth government sends out a fleet of battleships followed by a special air raid unit called ACID; ACID is equipped with a new fighter ship known as the Mosquito. Their mission is to enter Mars, stop the rebel violence, locate and destroy the rebel leader, whoever... or whatever it may be...

Game play

Controls

The game only uses one button, as the triggered actions differ according to the timing with which the button is pressed:

Fighter

Each fighter has a 10x12 pixel hit box at the front of the unit. Player gains 1 life at 100000 EXP. The fighter can only be destroyed by colliding with enemy bullet, not other objects.

Items

Experience system

When player's fighter captures a cube, player's EXP is increased and the combo meter is filled, causing successive captured cubes to have increased EXP and longer recharge time until combo meter is depleted.

Combo meter can be depleted if player's fighter fails to capture a cube for a prolonged time period, or if player's fighter is destroyed.

Cubes can be found by destroying (a portion of) an enemy, or hitting enemy with repelled bullet.

When EXP is sufficiently high, player's level is increased. Increased level causes fighter's normal shot to be more powerful, and increases the number of cubes needed to completely fill combo meter. In addition, higher EXP value causes more points to be rewarded for activities that increase player's score.

Stages

There are 6 levels in the game each with a boss that you need to destroy in an amount of time and a briefing of the next level.

1. Armed Satellite Phobos

Briefing: We, in order to gain control of the airspace of Manitily, planned to secure Phobos satellite.
Location: Phobos
Boss: Small satellite armed with guns, lasers, and electric mines. Its wings can be shot off.

2. Descending to Mars

Briefing: The Phobos satellite has been secured. We are preparing to execute mission code 008 and are ready to enter the Mars' atmosphere. The entrance point is at 3557. Each unit should move to the attack point at 1200 hours. The next target is Maneris Front Base.
Location: Maneris Front Base
Boss: A Large Tank with cannons and turrets on its treads.

3. Surprise Attack

Briefing: The "ACID" unit that belongs to the Number 201 independent armada is starting to make a front alone. The goal of this mission is to secure Maneris Starport that has been occupied by the rebellion. Since this mission has been classified as extreme, no support will be available.
Location: Maneris Starport
Boss: A giant crustacean mech that deploys seed-like aircraft with different patterns of firing bullets. The head turns into a cannon and the pincers turn into gatling guns when destroyed.

4. Red Sky Project

Briefing: With the success of the last mission, the spaceport has been secured. The decision has been made to alter the next assignment to mission code 075. The ACID unit should assemble with the fleet and destroy the remaining enemy forces. Keep in mind that there is a powerful gravity force high in the mid-Atlantic.
Location: A small rebel armada, Mars Mid-Atlantic.
Boss: A huge command ship known as the Exodus. It can launch from the front a fish-like escape pod.

5. True Darkness

Briefing: The remaining enemy armada and its command ship "EXODUS" has been destroyed. The remaining enemy forces are assumed to be down to 20% approximately. The mission is entering the final phase. Our fleet will remain in orbit backing up the ACID unit while you attack the headquarters of the enemy.
Location: Rebel train station.
Boss: An armored train of 5 cars. 3 cars have a gatling cannon and two doors that bring out turrets, mines, and fighters. The fourth car has several turrets. Inside is a legless mech with two chain guns. The last car is the engine car with arms with bazookas that shoot dozens of electric missiles.

6. Forbidden Fruit

Briefing: None
Location: Rebel Headquarters
Boss: There are three bosses with the same time limit. The first boss is a hovering saucer that can turn into a crustacean or a spiked wheel. The second boss is a control tower. It is between two control units that shoot sprays of missiles. The third boss has two stages. The first stage is a mutant flower that shoots out a seed-like ship and an almost impassable pattern of bullets. The second stage is the sorceress behind the death of the ancient Mars civilization, with a cocoon and skull form until she is destroyed.

At the end of each stage, player gains points based on following criteria:

Total Score earned for completing a stage is the sum of points in Time, Level, Shootdown fields.

Dreamcast version

The Dreamcast version includes following:

Reception

Miguel Lopez of GameSpot rated the Dreamcast game 6.9 (fair.)[3] Anthony Chau of IGN rated the Dreamcast game 8.5 (Great)[4]

In Japan,Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 31 out of 40.[5]

Soundtrack

Mars Matrix & Giga Wing 2 Original Soundtrack Box was released by Suleputer.[6]

Trivia

During the arcade version's demo sequence, The voice clip "I'm not programmed to give you that information" is originally taken from the episode "11001001", Season 1 episode 16 of Star Trek: The Next Generation

References

External links

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