Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special

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HeavyUnit MDTitleScreen.png

Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Toho
Developer:
Developer(s) of original games: Kaneko
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥6,5006,500 T-27013

Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special (ヘビーユニット メガドライブスペシャル) is a 1990 Sega Mega Drive shoot-'em-up developed by Kaneko and published by Toho exclusively in Japan. It is a modified port of Kaneko's 1988 arcade shoot-'em-up Heavy Unit. Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special features the same amount of stages as its arcade counterpart but with partially modified enemies placements and behaviors. Stage 2 has now an underwater theme and an added raster scroll effect. Unlike the arcade release, the game also doesn't loop after finishing it.

Story

Humans have developed an artificial planet, "Le Tau," which is being attacked by aliens, and only the Heavy Unit transforming ship can stop them.

Gameplay

A and C shoot; rapidfire is an option. B drops a bomb, which you have an unlimited supply of but must collect as a powerup. Among the various powerups is one, labeled T, that transforms your ship into a mecha and back, which plays identically, except its bombs will home in on enemies. The ship has a spreadshot, while the mecha is power oriented.

There is a strange option called "control", it effects whether the ship/mecha has inertia or not ("organize" means inertia is activated).

Trivia

  • The big head monster in stage 1 can be exploited for infinite score. This is exclusive to the Sega Mega Drive port, as the arcade version auto scrolls past the boss. The game lacks a score table
  • The Password option is used to enable cheats

Magazine articles

Main article: Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

  • JP print advert

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
75 №112, p72[1]
81 №30, p99[2]
88 №1, p59
75 №14, p110
27 №5, p92
85 №1, p78[3]
60 №23, p53
79 №3, p47[4]
78 №18, p66
Sega Mega Drive
 72
Based on
9 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
30
[5]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
68
[6]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
55
[7]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) NTSC-J
82
[8]
Console XS (UK) NTSC-J
78
[9]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
75
[10]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
75
[11]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
63
[12]
Génération 4 (FR)
81
[2]
Game Zone (UK) NTSC-J
88
[13]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
30
[14]
Joystick (FR) NTSC-J
75
[15]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J
27
[16]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
60
[17]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J
85
[3]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
85
[18]
Power Play (DE)
46
[19]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
50
[20]
Sega Pro (UK)
79
[4]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
78
[21]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
44
[22]
Tilt (FR)
75
[23]
Sega Mega Drive
 65
Based on
22 reviews

Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special

Mega Drive, JP
HeavyUnit MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
HeavyUnit MD JP CartTop.jpg
HeavyUnit MD JP Cart Back.jpgHeavyUnit MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
HeavyUnit MD JP Manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
✔
CRC32 1acbe608
MD5 6b60e70252280b1cc22d80cb4c70d54a
SHA-1 198e243cc21e4aea97e2c6aca376cb2ae70bc1c9
512kB 1990-09 Cartridge (JP)

References

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NEC Retro has more information related to Heavy Unit
  1. ↑ File:CVG UK 112.pdf, page 72
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:Generation4 FR 030.pdf, page 99 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Generation4 FR 030.pdf_p99" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 78 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p78" defined multiple times with different content
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 File:SegaPro UK 03.pdf, page 47 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 03.pdf_p47" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 136
  6. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "März 1991" (DE; 1991-02-22), page 126
  7. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 30
  8. ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 88
  9. ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 130
  10. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "March 1991" (UK; 1991-02-16), page 88
  11. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 57
  12. ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 199x-xx-xx), page 1
  13. ↑ Game Zone, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-08), page 59
  14. ↑ Hippon Super, "January 1991" (JP; 1990-12-04), page 42
  15. ↑ Joystick, "Mars 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 110
  16. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 92
  17. ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 99
  18. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 139
  19. ↑ Power Play, "4/91" (DE; 1991-03-15), page 134
  20. ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
  21. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  22. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  23. ↑ Tilt, "Mai 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 83
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