Grind Stormer

n/a

NTSC-U
NTSC-J

Grind Stormer

System(s): Sega Mega Drive

Publisher: Tengen

Developer: Toaplan, Tengen

Licensor: Toaplan

Original system(s): Arcade boards

Genre: Shooting^[1]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1994-03-25^[1]	¥7,800 (8,034)7,800e^[2]	T-48173
US	1994	$39.9539.95^[3]	T-48256

Non-Sega versions
Arcade

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

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 / shooting and choosing a weapon
Grind Stormer: more conventional weapon upgrades, with / shooting and dropping a bomb

You can select which mode to play in the Options Menu by pressing at the title screen. Also during gameplay, you always have two auxiliary guns at your sides — and 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 / 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.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as
Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English (US)	Grind Stormer	Grind Stormer
Japanese	ヴイ・ファイヴ	V-Five / V-V

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

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

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #58: "May 1994" (1994-xx-xx)^[4]

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-02: "February 1994" (1994-01-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-03: "March 1994" (1994-02-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-04: "April 1994" (1994-03-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

40

^[10]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

70

^[11]

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US)

NTSC-U

68

^[12]

Game Players (US)

NTSC-U

58

^[3]

Game Informer (US)

NTSC-U

56

^[13]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

65

^[14]

Joypad (FR)

NTSC-J

68

^[7]

MAN!AC (DE)

PAL

67

^[15]

Mega (UK)

NTSC-U

39

^[16]

Mega Fun (DE)

NTSC-U

61

^[17]

MegaTech (UK)

NTSC-U

54

^[18]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

NTSC-U

82

^[19]

Power Unlimited (NL)

80

^[20]

Sega Power (UK)

NTSC-U

27

^[21]

Sega Pro (UK)

NTSC-U

57

^[22]

Sega Zone (UK)

NTSC-U

78

^[23]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

83

^[24]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

57

^[25]

Video Games (DE)

NTSC-U

65

^[26]

	62
Based on 19 reviews

Grind Stormer

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System

Hash

Size

Build Date

Source

Comments

✔

CRC32	7e6bef15
MD5	0b11fadd7c858144c5b9f890b711b77d
SHA-1	8f93445e2d0b1798f680dda26a3d31f8aee88f01

1MB

1994-01

Cartridge (US)

✔

CRC32	ad9d0ec0
MD5	af4bdc10f0eda16eda979d1353faa04b
SHA-1	ca344521cb5015d142bdbce0eb44cea050b8e86b

1MB

1994-03

Cartridge (JP)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1994" (JP; 1994-02-08), page 139
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 56
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 73
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 18 (20)
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 83 (85)
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Joypad, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 31
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 46-48 (46)
↑ Mega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-19), page 44/45 (44)
↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 93
↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 20
↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 34
↑ Game Informer, "May/June 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 20
↑ Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 62
↑ MAN!AC, "07/94" (DE; 1994-06-08), page 67
↑ Mega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-19), page 44
↑ Mega Fun, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-18), page 103
↑ MegaTech, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 24
↑ Mean Machines Sega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 46
↑ Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 6, Juni 1994" (NL; 1994-05-25), page 50
↑ Sega Power, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-28), page 36
↑ Sega Pro, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-24), page 60
↑ Sega Zone, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-xx), page 20
↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 83
↑ Video Games, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-29), page 90

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20200702232146.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Fhistory.2Fhard.2Fmegadrive.2Fsoftware_l.html-1] 1.0 ^1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1994-03.pdf_p139-2] Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1994" (JP; 1994-02-08), page 139

[:File:GamePlayers_US_0705.pdf_p56-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Game Players, "Vol. 7 No. 5 May 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 56

[:File:EGM_US_058.pdf_p73-4] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 73

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1994-04.pdf_p20_.2818.29-5] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 18 (20)

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85_.2883.29-6] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 83 (85)

[:File:Joypad_FR_034.pdf_p31-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Joypad, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 31

[:File:MeanMachinesSega20UK.pdf_p46_.2846-48.29-8] Mean Machines Sega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 46-48 (46)

[:File:Mega_UK_21.pdf_p44_.2844.2F45.29-9] Mega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-19), page 44/45 (44)

[10] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 93

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1994-04.pdf_p20-11] Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 20

[:File:EGM_US_058.pdf_p34-12] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 34

[:File:GameInformer_US_016.pdf_p20-13] Game Informer, "May/June 1994" (US; 1994-0x-xx), page 20

[14] Hippon Super, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-03), page 62

[:File:MAN.21AC_DE_1994-07.pdf_p67-15] MAN!AC, "07/94" (DE; 1994-06-08), page 67

[:File:Mega_UK_21.pdf_p44-16] Mega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-19), page 44

[:File:MegaFun_DE_1994-06.pdf_p103-17] Mega Fun, "06/94" (DE; 1994-05-18), page 103

[:File:MegaTech_UK_29.pdf_p24-18] MegaTech, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 24

[:File:MeanMachinesSega20UK.pdf_p46-19] Mean Machines Sega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-30), page 46

[:File:PowerUnlimited_NL_011_199406.pdf_p50-20] Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 2, Nummer 6, Juni 1994" (NL; 1994-05-25), page 50

[:File:SegaPower_UK_55.pdf_p36-21] Sega Power, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-04-28), page 36

[:File:SegaPro_UK_33.pdf_p60-22] Sega Pro, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-24), page 60

[:File:SegaZone_UK_19.pdf_p20-23] Sega Zone, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-xx), page 20

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85-24] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85

[25] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 83

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1994-07.pdf_p90-26] Video Games, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-29), page 90

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

Grind Stormer

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Versions

Localised names

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

ROM dump status

References