Hellfire

For the 2020 re-release by Retro-bit, see Hellfire Collector's Edition.

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NTSC-J/PAL NTSC-U
Hellfire
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Masaya (Japan), Seismic Software (US), Sega (Europe)
Developer: NCS
Distributor: Hent Gruppen (SE rental), Tec Toy (BR), Samsung (KR)
Licensor: Toaplan
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Developer(s) of original games: Toaplan
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-09-28 ¥6,800 (7,004)6,800e T-25073 US 1990-11 35036 EU 1992-05 1137 UK 1992-04 £34.9934.99 1137 SE (Rental) 199x AU 199x BR 199x KR 199x
Non-Sega versions Arcade CD-ROM²

Hellfire (ヘルファイアー) is a Sega Mega Drive horizontal shoot-'em-up developed by NCS. It is a port of the titular 1989 Toaplan arcade game Hellfire, originally published by Taito. The Mega Drive version was first published in Japan by Masaya in September 1990, was brought to the United States the following November by Seismic Software, and eventually published in Europe by Sega in May 1992. Sometime later, Hellfire made its way to Brazil, South Korea, and Australia.

One of the first Toaplan games to grace the Sega Mega Drive, Hellfire has been seen as typifying the style and design of the system's early library of shoot-'em-ups, and is one of the more fondly remembered examples of the genre on Sega's 16-bit hardware.

Story

In the year 2998, a space matter known as Black Nebula, created by the robot dictator Super Mech, spreads and threatens to engulf the human-controlled galaxies. Space Federation member Captain Lancer takes control of the CNCS1 space fighter craft in a surprise attack to overthrow the enemies with the fighter craft's "Hellfire" weapon.

Gameplay

Hellfire weapon

The game is a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up with a science fiction theme. Players assume the role of Captain Lancer taking control of the CNCS1 space fighter craft. The CNCS1 moves in any direction with the D-Pad and shoots with . Rapid-fire can be enabled in the options before starting the game. The ship can fire in multiple different directions, switching between each modes with , and the color of the ship and the bullets changes to indicate the firing direction. It can fire straight to the right (pink), straight to the left (yellow), straight up and down (green), or diagonally in four directions (blue). Enemies and bosses are designed to encourage switching between the directions frequently. The CNCS1 can shoot the Hellfire weapon with , which is a powerful beam that penetrates through multiple enemies and neutralizes all projectiles on the screen. The Hellfire is always fired to the right, and its uses are limited (but more uses can be collected as items). The CNCS1 can collect items to upgrade its weapon and its speed.

The CNCS1 is destroyed if it takes damage from enemy fire or contact. It respawns at predetermined checkpoints in the stages, reverting to its base weapon power and movement speed. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but it can be continued as long as there are continues remaining. The player earns an extra life for every 70,000 points gained.

The game has two difficulty levels (Easy and Hard). Upon completing the last stage, the game starts over at a higher difficulty: Easy progresses to Hard, and Hard progresses to the hidden "Yea Right" difficulty.

Items

	Power Up
	Powers up the CNCS1's main weapon, up to 5 times.
	Speed Up
	Increases the CNCS1's speed.
	Bonus Points
	Awards bonus points. The first Bonus Points collected is worth 40, then each subsequent pickup doubles the previous number, up to a maximum of 10,000 points. This amount resets to 40 points if the player loses a life.
	1 Up
	Awards an extra life.
	Shield
	Protects the CNCS1 against one hit.
	Seeker
	A search-and-destroy robot that destroys enemies on contact.
	HELLFIRE
	Increases the player's Hellfire stock by one.

Stages

	Hoggr, the Frozen Star
	Qat, the Desert
	Syrinx, the Tropics
	Lodur, the Forest
	Urd, the Factory
	Pholus, the Giant

History

Development

The music in the game runs too slow on Mega Drive 2 consoles with the VA4 motherboard. These models integrate the sound chip with other system components (including the CPUs and VDP) onto a custom ASIC. Earlier board revisions with a discrete Yamaha YM2612 sound chip are unaffected. This is caused by differences in timing between the discrete and the integrated versions of the chip. Earthworm Jim is similarly affected.

Legacy

The game was re-released worldwide as Hellfire Collector's Edition by Retro-Bit as part of Toaplan Shooters Collector's Edition in October 2020.

The game was included on the North American and European editions of the Mega Drive Mini 2 in October 2022.

Versions

The Japanese version has louder shot sound effects than the NTSC-U and PAL releases.

Production credits

• Director: C.Suzuki (NCS), T.Jingu (NCS), T.Ota (Toaplan)
• Programmer: T.Uemura, H.Matsumura
• Designer: S.Nakaoka, K.Iwabuchi, Y.Tataka
• Sound Creator: T.Uemura, M.Yuge
• Special Thanks: Zero One, Ponce 90k, Ram Chan, Jiorama Kun, S.Hiratsuka, M.Murai, Kichi Nanpei, Kansai Boy, Otsuka Hen

© NCS 1990.

© Toaplan 1989.

Source:

In-game credits

Digital manuals

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 US manual

• 

  Mega Drive Mini 2 EU manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Hellfire/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Hellfire/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 ACE (UK) PAL 60 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 93 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) 90 Cool Gamer (RU) 30 Computer & Video Games (UK) 94 Computer & Video Games (UK) 91 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 78 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 91 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 73 Game Mania (UK) 92 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 84 Games-X (UK) 86 Games-X (UK) 70 Famicom Hisshoubon (JP) NTSC-J 60 Hobby Consolas (ES) 94 Joypad (FR) PAL 95 Joystick (FR) 97 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 72 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 68 MegaTech (UK) 90 MegaTech (UK) NTSC 89 MegaTech (UK) 93 Micromanía (segunda época) (ES) 73 Mean Machines (UK) 93 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 93 Player One (FR) 84 Play Time (DE) 72 Power Up! (UK) 76 Power Play (DE) 84 Raze (UK) NTSC-J 82 Score (CZ) 60 Sega Power (UK) NTSC 100 Sega Power (UK) PAL 84 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 94 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC 69 Sega Force (SE) 91 Sega Force (UK) 92 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 69 Supergame (BR) 88 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 59

	80
Based on 41 reviews

Hellfire

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart PCB

Mega Drive, FR
Manual

Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; black)
Cover

Mega Drive, AU

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, KR
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Hellfire/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Hellfire S