Gulkave

n/a

Gulkave
System(s): SG-1000, Sega Master System, MSX
Publisher: Sega Pony Samsung
Developer: Compile
Distributor: Samsung (KR)
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2 (alternating)
Release Date RRP Code JP 1986-08 ¥4,3004,300 C-63 JP 1986-10 ¥4,9004,900 R49X5810 KR (Card) 19xx SG2C

Gulkave (ガルケーブ) is an SG-1000 shoot-'em-up game developed by Compile and published by Sega in 1986.

Story

Earth sends its best pilot in the prototype starfighter the Zaiigar (ザイガー) to destroy the invading Gulbas (ガルバス) forces.

Gameplay

The game is a horizontal shoot-'em-up in which the player controls a spaceship called the Zaiigar that must destroy the eight fortresses of the Gulbas Empire and innumerable waves of enemy forces. The game has a two-player alternating mode.

The Zaiigar moves in any direction using the joystick and shoots with or (which can be held down for rapid-fire). Its weapon can be changed by collecting power-ups, which advance the Fire meter at the bottom of the screen. The Fire meter has sixteen different positions, each corresponding to different weapons. If the player collects an item that exceeds the length of the Fire meter, it loops back around and rewards 2,000 points.

The Zaiigar is protected by a barrier, which loses a portion of its strength whenever the ship collides with an enemy or absorbs enemy fire. At the end of each level, bonus points are given according to amount of barrier remaining. The barrier replenishes a small amount at the start of the next level. The ship is lost if it is damaged after the barrier is depleted, restarting the level from the beginning or from a predetermined checkpoint if there is a spare ship remaining. The player starts the game with three spare ships and gains another every 80,000 points earned. The game ends if the player runs out of ships but can be restarted from the beginning of the current level from the title screen.

Weapons

	Single Missile (2 Shots)
	Fires a small projectile. Two shots can be on screen at a time. This is the standard weapon at the beginning of the game or after respawning. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 1, 7, or 15.
	Single Missile (3 Shots)
	Fires a small projectile. Three shots can be on screen at a time. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 2 or 13.
	Big Ball Buster
	Shoots large, fast-firing energy balls. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 3.
	Twin Beam (2 Shots)
	Fires two parallel beams. Two shots can be on screen at a time. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 4, 10, or 14.
	Twin Beam (3 Shots)
	Fires two parallel beams. Three shots can be on screen at a time. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 5 or 11.
	Wide Blaster
	Shoots a tall projectile. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 6 or 8.
	Screen Eraser Blaster
	Shoots a very tall projectile. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 9.
	Laser
	Shoots a fast-firing laser, which can penetrate through multiple targets. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 12.
	Fire Ball Blaster
	Shoots very large energy balls. This weapon is equipped when the Fire meter is at 16.

Items

The Zaiigar restores part of its barrier whenever it collects an item.

	Moves the Fire meter by 1, 3, or 5 units, changing the Zaiigar's weapon.
	Destroys all enemies on screen. The player receives 1,000 bonus points for each enemy destroyed.
	Destroy to release an item. One appears every 20 enemies destroyed.
	Destroy for 50,000 bonus points.

Acts

Act 1

Act 2

Act 2 Boss

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

Act 6

Act 6 Boss

Act 7

Act 8

Act 9

Act 10

Act 10 Boss

Act 11

Act 12

Act 13

Act 14

Act 14 Boss

Act 15

Act 16

Act 17

Act 18

Act 18 Boss

Act 19

Act 20

Act 21

Act 22

Act 23

Act 24

Act 25

Act 26

Act 26 Boss

Act 27

Act 28

Act 29

Act 30

Act 30 Boss

Versions

Pony Canyon released a version for the MSX computer presumably also in 1986, on ROM cartridge. This version still sports a Sega logo and Sega copyright; the primary difference between the SG-1000 and MSX is the sound hardware, so the ports are relatively identical. This version was included in Compile's disk magazine DiscStation #09, released in February 1990 as that issue's "Retro Game".

Production credits

Staff

• Game Design: PAC
• Program: PAC
• Character Design: Janus, PAC
• Sound Compose: PAC
• Sound Program: Jemini
• Enemy Characters: PAC, Jemini, Janus, NUI, MOO, ANG, HEL, GUY
• Director: MOO

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Gulkave/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

SG-1000 version

SG-1000, JP
Cover
Card Manual

Master System version

Master System, KR
Cover

MSX version

MSX, JP
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 15a754a3 MD5 43c23a134aec3ab424405780ff729d54 SHA-1 3fb197d16b25bc128a2866c4b78b0535ab8dc412	32kB		Cartridge (JP)