Aerial Assault (Game Gear)

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Aerial Assault
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Shimada Kikaku
Peripherals supported: Gear-to-Gear Cable
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1992-06-05 ¥3,5003,500 G-3219 US 1992-06 2320 EU 1992-07 2320 PT 1992 UK 1992-07 £24.9924.99 2320 BR 199x 015820

For the Master System version, see Aerial Assault (Master System).

Aerial Assault (エアリアル アサルト) is a shoot-'em-up game developed by Shimada Kikaku and published by Sega for the Sega Game Gear in 1992.

Story

The evil organization N.A.C. (whose acronym is never explained) has been stealing war machinery and probing defenses for weaknesses for years. In the year 2015, the N.A.C. initiates an all-out assault against every country in the world.

The nations of the world are helpless against this aggression. A renegade branch of the N.A.C., code-named "Freedom," has broken away in the hope of restoring peace. The player is tasked with leading the Freedom forces to vanquish the N.A.C.

Gameplay

The Game Gear version is, like its Master System counterpart, a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up. However, it differs substantially from its predecessor with different graphics, music and sound, levels, and items. Additionally, it features a 2-player mode for cooperative play over a Gear-to-Gear link cable (with player one's plane identified with blue afterburners and player two's plane having orange afterburners). It is also significantly less difficult and has simplified mechanics.

The D-pad can move the player's plane in all directions. Both and fire the player's weapon, which has unlimited ammunition and can be held down for rapid-fire. Unlike the Master System version, the player only has one weapon and does not have access to bombs. The player's weapon is upgraded along a linear progression by collecting Power items rather than there being multiple distinct weapons as in the original game.

Players lose a life if their plane collides with an enemy or object. In 2-player games, each player has separate lives. There is a Shield item that provides the player's plane with a barrier that protects it from frontal damage and lasts until the player loses a life.

Weapons

The player's weapon is upgraded to the next level each time a Power item is collected. It is downgraded back to the starting weapon when the player loses a life.

	Initial Weapon
	The basic starting weapon.
	Homing Bullets
	Similar to the starting weapon but automatically seeks and targets enemies.
	Shock Waves
	A larger projectile with a taller area of effect.
	Missiles
	A longer projectile that does more damage.
	Phasers
	Similar to the missiles but does more damage.
	3-Way
	A conical spread shot that fires three projectiles.
	5-Way
	Similar to the 3-way but fires five projectiles to cover a larger area. Not available in 2-player mode.

Items

	Speed
	Increases the movement speed of the player's plane.
	Shield
	Equips the player's plane with a barrier that protects indefinitely against attacks to the front of the plane.
	Power
	Upgrades the weapon to the next level.
	Star
	Awards the player with an extra life.

Levels

	Skyship Adelaide
	Liberate a major Pacific port city from the N.A.C. and destroy the experimental flying battleship Adelaide.
	Lightning Attack
	A battle above storm clouds at dusk to take out the N.A.C.'s JEU Master Bomber.
	Underground Peril
	Fight your way through the N.A.C.'s secret underground base to face the RZ-31 JAGGS battle fortress.
	Deadly Dybbuk
	Venture deep into space and through mines and asteroids and defeat the N.A.C.'s ultimate weapon, the bio-technoid Dybbuk.

Magazine articles

Main article: Aerial Assault (Game Gear)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-07: "July 1992" (1992-06-08)

Print advert in Mega Force (ES) #11: "Marzo 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Hobby Consolas (ES) #18: "Marzo 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
• Todo Sega (ES) #1: "Abril 1993" (1993-03-15)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 45 Consoles + (FR) 78 Computer & Video Games (UK) 73 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 48 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 35 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 43 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 30 Hobby Consolas (ES) 85 Joypad (FR) 45 Joystick (FR) 45 Mega Byte (Teletext) (UK) 35 Mega Play (US) NTSC-U 48 Player One (FR) 39 Play Time (DE) 43 Score (CZ) 32 Sega Power (UK) PAL 24 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-U 42 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 42 Sega Force (UK) PAL 48 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 65 Supergame (BR) 79 Supersonic (FR) 44 Video Games (DE) 39

	48
Based on 23 reviews

Aerial Assault (Game Gear)

Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, FR (Blister pack)
Cover

Game Gear, PT

Game Gear, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 04fe6dde MD5 f1dee7875668c536f0434217a67ba2f4 SHA-1 2a91ab5817938dddf2724df2dfd95a3bc6f5156d	128kB		Cartridge (JP)
?	CRC32 3e549b7a MD5 b6fb54e60f8992daaa35e98a712ff2cb SHA-1 cbdbaaeb62a8483d9d5a8757b0f19233dfb9b416	128kB		Cartridge