was released for the Japanese

Family Computer The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

console in 1985 by video game company

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

and is based on the popular

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series of the same name.Nintendo Family Computer System Compatible Cartridge Video Game. ''The Super Dimension Fortress Macross''. Instruction Booklet. NMR-4500. Namco/Bandai. Japan. Y4800. 1985, December 10
/ref> The game is a side-scrolling

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of chara ...

in which the player controls a transformable

VF-1 Valkyrie In the fictional ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross'' Japanese anime series and its English adaptation ''Robotech'', the first mass production, mass-produced transforming aerospace fighter aircraft, fighter mecha is called the VF-1 Valk ...

variable fighter A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be swept back and then returned to its original straight position during flight. It allows the aircraft's shape to be modified in fli ...

in an unending battle against an invading race of

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

known as the

Zentradi The are a fictional, militaristic race of alien, humanoid giants and often the main antagonist in ''Macross'' media mix and its ''Robotech'' (1985) cartoon adaptation. It is transliterated as Zentradi, Zjentohlauedy, Zentrady, and Zentraedi fo ...

. It is one of the earliest known collaborations between Namco and

Bandai is a Japanese multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and Richmond ...

, both of which would eventually merge into

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...

in 2005.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a very basic and fairly standard form of the recognizable style that has become part of the shoot-em-up genre over the years. The player's task is to blast their way through wave after wave of enemy battlepods,

power armor A powered exoskeleton, also known as power armor, powered armor, powered suit, cybernetic suit, cybernetic armor, exosuit, hardsuit, exoframe or augmented mobility, is a mobile machine that is wearable over all or part of the human body, pro ...

s and ships until they reach the Zentradi mothership. Inside it, there is only thirty seconds to reach the central reactor, destroy the outer wall and shoot the core. The mission ends and then begins all over again on an

infinite loop In computer programming, an infinite loop (or endless loop) is a sequence of instructions that, as written, will continue endlessly, unless an external intervention occurs ("pull the plug"). It may be intentional. Overview This differs from: * ...

. The player's

can be transformed into three modes:

Gerwalk In the fictional ''Macross'' Japanese anime series and its English adaptation ''Robotech'', the first mass-produced transforming aerospace fighter mecha is called the VF-1 Valkyrie. The VF-1 Valkyrie is referred to as a "variable fighter" in '' ...

, Battroid and fighter. This adds to the gameplay as the Gerwalk and Battroid modes serve to progressively slow down the horizontal scrolling and make the game less difficult. However they also move slower. The controller's B button fires the Gun Pod while the A button - in conjunction with the movement of the D-pad - engages the transformation mode. A limited number of micro-missiles can be fired by pressing the Select button.

Music

The game's main background music is an 8-bit version of the

Lynn Minmay Lynn Minmay (Japanese: リン・ミンメイ ''Rin Minmei'', Chinese: 鈴明美 / 林明美 ''Líng Míngměi / Lín Míngměi'') is a fictional anime character from the ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' television series and '' Macross: Do Y ...

song "''Shao Pai Long''" ("Little White Dragon"), which was featured in both the original 1982 TV series and its 1984 movie adaptation.

References

External links

''Choujikuu Yousai Macross'' wiki guide at StrategyWiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Super Dimension Fortress Macross (Family Computer) 1985 video games Japan-exclusive video games

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

Nintendo Entertainment System games Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan