Grind Stormer

From Sega Retro

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GrindStormer MDTitleScreen.png

Grind Stormer
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Tengen
Developer:
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥7,8007,800 T-48173
Sega Mega Drive
US
$39.9539.95[1] T-48256

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Grind Stormer, called V-Five or V-V (ヴイ・ファイヴ) in Japan, is a 1992 arcade shoot-'em-up developed by Toaplan. It was ported to the Sega Mega Drive in 1994 and released by Tengen exclusively in the US and Japan.

Gameplay

Though the two games have the same art, weapons, music, and enemy layout, their gameplay is slightly different:

  • V-Five: Gradius-style weapon upgrades, with A/C shooting and B choosing a weapon
  • Grind Stormer: more conventional weapon upgrades, with A/C shooting and B dropping a bomb

You can select which mode to play in the Options Menu by pressing A at the title screen. Also during gameplay, you always have two auxiliary guns at your sides — Up and Down move them toward your front/rear. When at the front, the shots combine with yours to form a more powerful shot; when at the rear, you have a spread shot. Regardless of configuration, you can hold A/C to rapidfire.

Some (many?) American copies of the game are plagued with a manufacturing defect (supposedly poor quality PCBs?) that reduce the cartridge's lifespan.

Production credits

  • Project Leader: Jun Amanai
  • Main Programmer: Jun Amanai
  • Programmer: Takayuki Muraoka
  • Assistant Programmer: Osamu Yamamoto
  • Graphics: Ken-ichi Nemoto
  • Audio: Kenji Yokoyama
  • Test Players: Ken-ichi Nemoto, John Arvay, Mike Kruse, Rob Boone, Kenji Yokoyama, Jim Hernandez
  • Special Thanks: Bill Hindorff, Mitzi McGilvray, Tatsuya Uemura
  • Presented by Tengen
Source:
In-game credits


Magazine articles

Main article: Grind Stormer/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in Game Players (US) #0705: "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (1994-0x-xx)
also published in:
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
68 №34, p31
82 №20, p46-48[3]
39 №21, p44/45
54 №29, p60/61
27 №55, p36/37
57 №33, p60
Sega Mega Drive
55
Based on
6 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
40
[4]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
70
[5]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
68
[6]
Game Players (US) NTSC-U
58
[7]
Game Informer (US) NTSC-U
56
[8]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
65
[9]
Joypad (FR) NTSC-J
68
[10]
MAN!AC (DE) PAL
67
[11]
Mega (UK) NTSC-U
39
[12]
Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-U
61
[13]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-U
54
[14]
Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U
82
[3]
Power Unlimited (NL)
80
[15]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-U
27
[16]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U
57
[17]
Sega Zone (UK) NTSC-U
78
[18]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
83
[19]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
57
[20]
Video Games (DE) NTSC-U
65
[21]
Sega Mega Drive
62
Based on
19 reviews

Grind Stormer

Mega Drive, US
GrindStormer MD US Box.jpg
Cover
GrindStormer MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Grindstormer md us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, JP
V5 MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
VV MD JP CartTop.jpg
V5 MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
V5 md jp manual.pdf
Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 7e6bef15
MD5 0b11fadd7c858144c5b9f890b711b77d
SHA-1 8f93445e2d0b1798f680dda26a3d31f8aee88f01
1MB 1994-01 Cartridge (US)
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 ad9d0ec0
MD5 af4bdc10f0eda16eda979d1353faa04b
SHA-1 ca344521cb5015d142bdbce0eb44cea050b8e86b
1MB 1994-03 Cartridge (JP)

References