Aerial Assault (Master System)

n/a

Aerial Assault

Publisher: Sega

Distributor: Kanal 10 (SE rental), Tec Toy (BR)

Genre: Shooting^[2]^[3]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
US	1990-07^[4]		7041
EU	1990-12^[5]		7041
FR	1990	299F299^[9]	7041
UK	1990-11^[6]	£29.9929.99^[7]^[8]	7041
SE (Rental)	199x
GR	199x
AU	199x
BR	199x

For the Game Gear version, see Aerial Assault (Game Gear).

Aerial Assault is a shoot-'em-up game developed by Sanritsu and published by Sega for the Sega Master System in 1990.

Story

A militaristic organization named N.A.C. (whose acronym is never explained) has developed a huge laser emitter called "EL," which is capable of gradually destroying the ozone layer. In the year 1999, the N.A.C. begins an all-out offensive against every country in the world. It is hinted that N.A.C. is actually an alien civilization.

The armies of the world are overwhelmed. The player controls the mysterious "Freedom Fighter," an aircraft with no official connection to any government, which flies off to stop the N.A.C.

Gameplay

Mission briefing

Aerial Assault is a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up game in which the player controls the "Freedom Fighter" jet fighter and must shoot down enemies as the screen scrolls to the right. Every level is preceded by a short briefing describing the mission objectives.

The Freedom Fighter moves in any direction using the D-Pad. It fires its primary weapon by pressing and its secondary weapon by pressing . Either button can be held to fire continuously. The primary weapon has unlimited ammunition and generally shoots in front of the ship. It is initially a thin stream of bullets but can be upgraded into other types of shots by collecting item pick-ups. The secondary weapon, which is usually a type of bomb, is not initially available but can be equipped by finding items. It has limited ammunition but can be replenished by finding another item. Each level has different enemies and bosses, which require different weapons and tactics to effectively counter.

The Freedom Fighter is destroyed if it is hit by enemies or projectiles or touches any stationary object, such as the ground. There are no hit points, but a Shield power-up appears in later levels that can absorb a few hits before it is gone. The Freedom Fighter respawns in place if the player has extra ships remaining. The game starts with four ships, and the game ends if the player loses them all but can be continued a limited number of times. There are three difficulty levels, which affects the number of continues provided (7 for Easy, 5 for Normal, and 3 for Hard).

Items

Items are released by destroyed enemies and collected by flying over them.

Primary weapons

	Normal Shot
	The basic starting weapon. A single stream of quick shots.
	3-Way Shot
	Fires three shots in a conical spread. Covers a large area but fires relatively slowly.
	Increase Shot
	Fires six shots in a conical spread. Covers a large area but fires relatively slowly.
	Chaser Missile
	Fires long missiles from below the Freedom Fighter. Fast-firing and stronger than the Normal Shot.
	Explosion Shot
	Fires a large round that fragments into smaller shots after traveling a certain distance without hitting an enemy.
	Direction Shot
	Fires shots in the direction that the player is moving. For example, it fires directly above the craft by holding or directly below it by holding .
	8-Way Shot
	Fires eight shots in a full circle out from the Freedom Fighter. Fires slowly.
	Laser
	Shoots fast-moving lasers that can pierce through enemies and hit multiple targets.
	Wide Laser
	Shoots tall energy beams very quickly.

Bombs

	Bomb
	A basic bomb. Each pick-up contains 30.
	Triple Bomb
	Same as the regular bomb but drops three bombs with each volley. Each pick-up contains 15.
	Missile
	A missile that drops down and then shoots forwards, for taking out ground targets. Each pick-up contains 25.
	Napalm
	An incendiary that bursts into multiple explosions. Each pick-up contains 20.
	Hyper Ball
	Shoots several large fireballs from the Freedom Fighter. Each pick-up contains 8.

Other

	Speed-Up
	Increases the movement speed of the Freedom Fighter.
	Bonus
	Awards the player with 5,000 bonus points.
	1-Up
	Awards the player with an extra life.
	1-Down
	Instantly kills the player.
	Guard
	A shield that surrounds the Freedom Fighter and absorbs five hits before dissipating.

Levels

	Mission 1
	Attack the enemy's open seas fleet and sink the enemy battleship Vinsk.
	Mission 2
	Ascend into the stratosphere and intercept the enemy bomber fleet. The target is the massive bomber CB-53.
	Mission 3
	Location of N.A.C.'s headquarters detected. Destroy the cliff fortress to gain entrance.
	Mission 4
	Raid the N.A.C.'s headquarters and destroy "EL."
	Mission 5
	The war is not over. Fly into Earth orbit and destroy N.A.C.'s space cruiser and end the threat once and for all.

History

During development, the game was known under the working title of Freedom Fighter.^[10]

Production credits

Planner: All Members
Designer: Tommy, Yukino
Programmer: Nonchan, T.Hagiwara
Sound: Ippo
Test Player: Kou
Special Thanks: O.B
Presented by: Sega

Source:

In-game credits^[11]

Magazine articles

Main article: Aerial Assault (Master System)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (US) #2: "October/November 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
also published in:

(US) #18: "January 1991" (199x-xx-xx)^[12]

Print advert in (UK) #107: "October 1990" (1990-09-16)
also published in:

(UK) #108: "November 1990" (1990-10-16)^[13]
(UK) #38: "November 1990" (1990-10-xx)^[14]

Print advert in (IT) #15: "Ottobre 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Print advert in (UK) #13: "December 1990" (1990-11-01)
also published in:

(UK) #109: "December 1990" (1990-11-16)^[15]
(UK) #39: "December 1990" (1990-11-xx)^[16]
(UK) #14: "January 1991" (1990-12-06)^[17]
(UK) #110: "January 1991" (1990-12-15)^[18]

Print advert in (US) #4: "April/May 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

(US) #5: "Summer 1991" (1991-xx-xx)^[19]
(US) #27: "October 1991" (1991-xx-xx)^[20]

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

(UK)

63

^[21]

(BR)

92

^[22]

(UK)

82

^[23]

(UK)

PAL

76

^[24]

(UK)

PAL

69

^[25]

(UK)

83

^[26]

(ES)

74

^[27]

(FR)

75

^[28]

(US)

NTSC-U

45

^[4]

(ES)

50

^[29]

(UK)

82

^[30]

(FR)

85

^[31]

(UK)

PAL

82

^[32]

(UK)

PAL

78

^[33]

(UK)

PAL

75

^[34]

(UK)

PAL

76

^[35]

(UK)

PAL

69

^[36]

(FR)

40

^[37]

(FR)

80

^[38]

(UK)

79

^[39]

	73
Based on 20 reviews

Aerial Assault (Master System)

Master System, US
Cover
Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, GR (Zegetron)

Cart Manual

Master System, SE (rental; Kanal 10)
Cover

Master System, AU

Cart Manual

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart File:AerialAssault-SMS-BR-Manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

?

CRC32	ecf491cf
MD5	0713f2e55a1eea0d9e2fb7044740261b
SHA-1	2a9090ed365e7425ca7a59f87b942c16b376f0a3

256kB

Cartridge (EU)

?

CRC32	15576613
MD5	8b603c931418a3680b8723861f55a7b5
SHA-1	e57b1d4476ca33d18d9071e022ddc9cc702d6497

256kB

Cartridge (US)

References

Aerial Assault (Master System)
	Main page \| Comparisons \| Maps \| Hidden content \| Magazine articles \| Reception \| Bootlegs No results

[http:.2F.2Fgdri.smspower.org.2Fwiki.2Findex.php.2FSanritsu-1] ttp://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Sanritsu

[:File:AerialAssault_SMS_EU_Box.jpg_p-2] File:AerialAssault SMS EU Box.jpg

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20181207045745.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Fhistory.2Fhard.2Fgamegear.2Fsoftware.html-3] ttps://sega.jp/history/hard/gamegear/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-12-07 04:57)

[:File:MegaPlay_US_01.pdf_p31-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Mega Play, "November/December 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 31

[:File:ACE_UK_40.pdf_p165-5] ACE, "January 1991" (UK; 1990-12-xx), page 165

[:File:BristolEveningPost_UK_1990-11-29_Page_67.jpg_p-6] File:BristolEveningPost UK 1990-11-29 Page 67.jpg

[:File:ACE_UK_36.pdf_p58-7] ACE, "September 1990" (UK; 1990-08-03), page 58

[:File:CVG_UK_107.pdf_p117-8] Computer & Video Games, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-09-16), page 117

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_002.pdf_p39-9] Player One, "Octobre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 39

[1https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20210506102707.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.smspower.org.2Fforums.2F9485-UnreleasedRumouredSMSGames-10] [1https://web.archive.org/web/20210506102707/https://www.smspower.org/forums/9485-UnreleasedRumouredSMSGames https://www.smspower.org/forums/9485-UnreleasedRumouredSMSGames] (Wayback Machine: 2021-05-06 10:27)

[:File:Aerial_Assault_SMS_credits.pdf_p-11] File:Aerial Assault SMS credits.pdf

[:File:GamePro_US_018.pdf_p44-12] GamePro, "January 1991" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 44

[:File:CVG_UK_108.pdf_p58-13] Computer & Video Games, "November 1990" (UK; 1990-10-16), page 58

[:File:ACE_UK_38.pdf_p92-14] ACE, "November 1990" (UK; 1990-10-xx), page 92

[:File:CVG_UK_109.pdf_p168-15] Computer & Video Games, "December 1990" (UK; 1990-11-16), page 168

[:File:ACE_UK_39.pdf_p102-16] ACE, "December 1990" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 102

[:File:SegaPower_UK_14.pdf_p2-17] Sega Power, "January 1991" (UK; 1990-12-06), page 2

[:File:CVG_UK_110.pdf_p98-18] Computer & Video Games, "January 1991" (UK; 1990-12-15), page 98

[:File:SegaVisions_US_05.pdf_p10-19] Sega Visions, "Summer 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 10

[:File:EGM_US_027.pdf_p142-20] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 142

[:File:ACE_UK_36.pdf_p56-21] ACE, "September 1990" (UK; 1990-08-03), page 56

[:File:AcaoGames_BR_005.pdf_p28-22] Ação Games, "Setembro 1991" (BR; 1991-09-xx), page 28

[:File:CGtC_UK_04.pdf_p89-23] Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 89

[:File:TheCompleteGuideToSega_UK.pdf_p90-24] The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 90

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p137-25] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 137

[:File:CVG_UK_105.pdf_p86-26] Computer & Video Games, "August 1990" (UK; 1990-07-16), page 86

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_004.pdf_p92-27] Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1992" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 92

[:File:Joystick_FR_010.pdf_p124-28] Joystick, "Novembre 1990" (FR; 1990-1x-xx), page 124

[:File:Micromania2_ES_032.pdf_p34-29] Micromanía (segunda época), "Enero 1991" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 34

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p132-30] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 132

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_002.pdf_p38-31] Player One, "Octobre 1990" (FR; 1990-xx-xx), page 38

[:File:StheSegaMagazine_UK_09.pdf_p4-32] S: The Sega Magazine, "August 1990" (UK; 1990-07-05), page 4

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p41-33] Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 41

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p55-34] Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 55

[:File:SegaPro_UK_01.pdf_p18-35] Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 18

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p70-36] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 70

[:File:Tilt_FR_081.pdf_p100-37] Tilt, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 100

[:File:Tilt_FR_084.pdf_p116-38] Tilt, "Décembre 1990" (FR; 1990-1x-xx), page 116

[:File:Zero_UK_12.pdf_p89-39] Zero, "October 1990" (UK; 1990-xx-xx), page 89

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[9]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

Aerial Assault (Master System)

From Sega Retro

Contents

Story

Gameplay

Items

Primary weapons

Bombs

Other

Levels

History

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References