Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit

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Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Kaneko

Developer: Kaneko, Inter State

Developer(s) of original games: Kaneko

Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

Number of players: 1-2

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1991-01-31	¥6,0006,000	T-33013
US	1991-02^[1]		33026

Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit is a 1990 arcade shoot-'em-up by Kaneko which was subsequently ported to the PC Engine in 1990 and to the Sega Mega Drive in 1991. The PC Engine and Mega Drive ports were renamed Aero Blasters: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit (エアロブラスターズ) in Japan.

Gameplay

Pressing shoots and can be held down for rapidfire; some powerups depend on rapidfire. Button also shoots but holding will charge a flash attack which damages everything on screen. Once it is fully charged, release to perform the attack; the player must then wait for the charge bar to empty (it will display a black bar telling how much time is remaining) before it is possible to charge another. Powerups can be found by destroying barrels scattered throughout each level.

Versions

Both home ports are pretty faithful, with the Mega Drive one being closer to the original game than the PC Engine version. The Mega Drive port runs fullscreen, features more detailed graphics, keeps most of the arcade version's parallax and has better sound effects. The PC Engine port features a slightly expanded ending.

Production credits

Crew of "Air Buster" ("Crue" in the Japanese version)

Software: K.Matsumoto, M.Yoshida
Graphics: H.Yokoyama, M.Taguchi
Music Compose: T.Watanabe
Sound Operate: K.Komatsu, T.Ohkuma
Test Game: Inter State Staff
Special Thanks: Kaneko Arcade Staff
Total Coordinate: Y.Hojo
General Producer: A.Uto

"Air Buster" ("Aero Blasters" in the Japanese version)
©1991 Kaneko Co., Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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

Game Players Sega Guide! (US) #0203: "Vol. 2, No. 3: June/July 1991" (1991-0x-xx)^[2]

Print advert in Mega Play (US) #4: "May/June 1991" (1991-0x-xx)

Print advert in Mega Drive Fan (JP) #12: "January 1991" (1990-12-08)
also published in:

Mega Drive Fan (JP) #13: "February 1991" (1991-01-08)^[3]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) #14: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)^[4]

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

80

^[16]

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

50

^[17]

ACE (UK)

79

^[5]

Aktueller Software Markt (DE)

70

^[18]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

73

^[19]

The Complete Guide to Sega (UK)

NTSC-J

90

^[20]

Console XS (UK)

NTSC-J

62

^[21]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

80

^[8]

Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)

74

^[9]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

20

^[22]

Joystick (FR)

NTSC-J

80

^[10]

Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)

NTSC-J

60

^[23]

Mega Drive Fan (JP)

NTSC-J

74

^[24]

Mega (UK)

PAL

85

^[25]

MegaTech (UK)

NTSC-J

78

^[11]

Mean Machines (UK)

NTSC-J

80

^[12]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

78

^[26]

Power Play (DE)

79

^[27]

Power Play (DE)

80

^[28]

Raze (UK)

NTSC-J

74

^[13]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-J

100

^[29]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-J

62

^[15]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-J

62

^[30]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

69

^[31]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

75

^[32]

	73
Based on 25 reviews

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	f3d65baa
MD5	972f4f683356e33b1a4a832f41a34b87
SHA-1	239636cc38a865359b2deeb5f8dc3fd68da41209

512kB

1991-01

Cartridge (US)

✔

CRC32	a00da987
MD5	401a31b3db4f14820e639c7a3efbb3e6
SHA-1	64d1964c3b6293f521427d3d83e4defe363cc129

512kB

1989-01

Cartridge (JP)

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Aero Blasters

↑ File:EGM US 020.pdf, page 58
↑ Game Players Sega Guide!, "Vol. 2, No. 3: June/July 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 77
↑ Mega Drive Fan, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 90
↑ Mega Drive Fan, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 102
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 File:ACE UK 45.pdf, page 72 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 45.pdf_p72" defined multiple times with different content
↑ File:BeepMD_JP_1991-02.pdf, page 33
↑ File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 86
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 File:CVG UK 113.pdf, page 79 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 113.pdf_p79" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, Virgin Books, page 16 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide Book UK.pdf_p16" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 File:Joystick FR 015.pdf, page 106 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 015.pdf_p106" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 76 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p76" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 File:MeanMachines UK 06.pdf, page 40 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 06.pdf_p40" defined multiple times with different content
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 File:Raze UK 07.pdf, page 66 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 07.pdf_p66" defined multiple times with different content
↑ File:SegaPower UK 46.pdf, page 96
↑ ^15.0 ^15.1 File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf, page 18 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf_p18" defined multiple times with different content
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 28
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 14
↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Mai 1991" (DE; 1991-04-26), page 128
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 31
↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 100
↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 126
↑ Hippon Super, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-07), page 41
↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 90
↑ Mega Drive Fan, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-08), page 83
↑ Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 85
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 137
↑ Power Play, "2/91" (DE; 1991-01-18), page 150
↑ Power Play, "6/91" (DE; 1991-05-10), page 136
↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 52
↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 86
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 6

[:File:EGM_US_020.pdf_p58-1] File:EGM US 020.pdf, page 58

[:File:GPSG_US_0203.pdf_p77-2] Game Players Sega Guide!, "Vol. 2, No. 3: June/July 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 77

[:File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-02.pdf_p90-3] Mega Drive Fan, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 90

[:File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-03.pdf_p102-4] Mega Drive Fan, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 102

[:File:ACE_UK_45.pdf_p72-5] 5.0 ^5.1 File:ACE UK 45.pdf, page 72 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 45.pdf_p72" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-02.pdf_p33-6] File:BeepMD_JP_1991-02.pdf, page 33

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p86-7] File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 86

[:File:CVG_UK_113.pdf_p79-8] 8.0 ^8.1 File:CVG UK 113.pdf, page 79 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CVG UK 113.pdf_p79" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide_Book_UK.pdf_p16-9] 9.0 ^9.1 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, Virgin Books, page 16 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide Book UK.pdf_p16" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:Joystick_FR_015.pdf_p106-10] 10.0 ^10.1 File:Joystick FR 015.pdf, page 106 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Joystick FR 015.pdf_p106" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p76-11] 11.0 ^11.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 76 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p76" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:MeanMachines_UK_06.pdf_p40-12] 12.0 ^12.1 File:MeanMachines UK 06.pdf, page 40 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MeanMachines UK 06.pdf_p40" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:Raze_UK_07.pdf_p66-13] 13.0 ^13.1 File:Raze UK 07.pdf, page 66 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 07.pdf_p66" defined multiple times with different content

[:File:SegaPower_UK_46.pdf_p96-14] File:SegaPower UK 46.pdf, page 96

[:File:SegaPro_UK_01.pdf_p18-15] 15.0 ^15.1 File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf, page 18 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:SegaPro UK 01.pdf_p18" defined multiple times with different content

[16] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 28

[17] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 14

[:File:ASM_DE_1991-05.pdf_p128-18] Aktueller Software Markt, "Mai 1991" (DE; 1991-04-26), page 128

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1991-02.pdf_p31-19] Beep! MegaDrive, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-08), page 31

[:File:TheCompleteGuideToSega_UK.pdf_p100-20] The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 100

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p126-21] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 126

[22] Hippon Super, "February 1991" (JP; 1991-01-07), page 41

[:File:MDAG_UK_05.pdf_p90-23] Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 90

[:File:Megadrive_Fan_1991-04.pdf_p83-24] Mega Drive Fan, "April 1991" (JP; 1991-03-08), page 83

[:File:Mega_UK_09.pdf_p85-25] Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 85

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p137-26] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 137

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1991-02.pdf_p150-27] Power Play, "2/91" (DE; 1991-01-18), page 150

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1991-06.pdf_p136-28] Power Play, "6/91" (DE; 1991-05-10), page 136

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p52-29] Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 52

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p64-30] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p86-31] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 86

[32] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 6

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Air Buster: Trouble Specialty Raid Unit

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Versions

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References