Caliber.50

From Sega Retro

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Caliber50 title.png

Caliber.50
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Mentrix Software
Developer:
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Seta
Sound driver: Visco/Kazuo Okabayashi
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US
T-58026
Non-Sega versions

Caliber.50 is a top-down run-and-gun video game originally released in arcades as Cal.50 before being brought to the Sega Mega Drive in 1991. The Mega Drive version was only released in North America, although Visco had plans at one stage to release a Japanese version.

Story

Caliber.50, Introduction.png

Introduction

Captain Addis of the United States Army must rescue his fellow soldiers twenty years after he failed to retrieve his men during the Vietnam War. He must now re-navigate through the Ho Chi Minh trail in order to liberate his captured comrades-in-arms.

Gameplay

The game is an overhead run-and-gun. Players control a United States Army pilot, Captain Addis, who was taken as a prisoner of war in Vietnam in 1972. Addis must escape the prison compound by battling enemy soldiers with guns and grenades. Addis moves in any direction with the D-Pad. He shoots his gun by holding B and throws a grenade when B is released. The gun has unlimited ammunition but grenades are limited.

There are two control schemes for aiming the weapon. Using Type A, Addis rotates left with A and rotates right with C. Using Type B, Addis always fires in the direction that he is facing.

Addis' health is indicated by a health bar in the top-left corner of the screen. The health bar has multiple levels that correspond to the strength of his weapon. A blue health bar is the lowest level and the weakest weapon (the machine gun), a red health bar is the second level and a stronger weapon (the rocket launcher), and a yellow health bar is the highest level and the strongest weapon (the flamethrower). He loses a life if he depletes his blue health bar but revives in place if he has extra lives remaining; the game ends if he runs out of lives.

The game has three difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard), and the player can set the amount of lives initially available.

Items

Items are found in crates or dropped by enemies.

Caliber.50, Items.png
Crate
Destroy to release items.
Caliber.50, Items.png
Power Up
Collecting shells restores a small amount of health, which also increases the weapon firepower at certain thresholds.
Caliber.50, Items.png
Hand Grenades
Gives Addis 10 hand grenades.
Caliber.50, Items.png
Ultra Hand Grenades
Upgrades Addis' grenades to more powerful Ultra Hand Grenades.
Caliber.50, Items.png
S
Grants Addis temporary invulnerability.
Caliber.50, Items.png
A
Upgrades bullets to penetrate through objects.
Caliber.50, Items.png
L
Increases the range of Addis' weapon.
Caliber.50, Items.png
K
Destroys all on-screen enemies.
Caliber.50, Items.png
Gives Addis the maximum strength weapon and 99 hand grenades.

Missions

Caliber.50, Stage 1.png

Stage 1

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Caliber.50, Stage 2-2.png

Caliber.50, Stage 2 Boss.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 2-1.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 2-2.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 2 Boss.png

Stage 2

Caliber.50, Stage 3.png

Caliber.50, Stage 3 Boss.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 3.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 3 Boss.png

Stage 3

Caliber.50, Stage 4.png

Caliber.50, Stage 4 Boss.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 4.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 4 Boss.png

Stage 4

Caliber.50, Stage 5-1.png

Caliber.50, Stage 5-2.png

Caliber.50, Stage 5-3.png

Caliber.50, Stage 5-4.png

Caliber.50, Stage 5 Boss.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 5-1.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 5-2.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 5-3.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 5-4.png

  • Caliber.50, Stage 5 Boss.png

Stage 5

Versions

The Mega Drive version is severely watered down from the arcade original, not just in terms of graphics and sound, but also gameplay, as the controls need to be mapped to three buttons. The arcade cabinet used special joysticks which could be spun around to rotate the player. To compensate, there are fewer enemies on screen, and the player is given a life bar.

Production credits

Source:
In-game credits
Caliber.50 MD credits.pdf
[3]

Magazine articles

Main article: Caliber.50/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #27: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:
  • GamePro (US) #16bit: "16-bit Video Gaming: February 1992" (1992-xx-xx)[4]
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
30
[5]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
58
[6]
Cool Gamer (RU)
40
[7]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
58
[1]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-U
68
[8]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
41
[9]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
63
[10]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
33
[11]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
26
[12]
Sega Mega Drive
46
Based on
9 reviews

Caliber.50

Mega Drive, US
Caliber50 MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Caliber50 MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Caliber50 MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Caliber50 MD US pcb.jpg
PCB

Technical information

Main article: Caliber.50/Technical information.

References


Caliber.50

Caliber50 title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Magazine articles | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs


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