''Mr. Heli'', fully titled in Japan as is a multidirectional scrolling shooter developed and published in arcades in 1984 by

Irem is a Japanese video game console developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The full name of the company that uses the brand is Irem Softwar ...

. It was released in North America as ''Battle Chopper''.

Gameplay

Players control a wacky fighter chopper named ''Mr. Heli'', while shooting enemies, collecting

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chosen ...

s, and defeating bosses to advance levels.

Ports

''Mr. Heli'' was ported for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures * Bennu, Egyptian firebird * Huma bird, Persian firebird * Firebird (Slavic folklore) Bird species ''Various spe ...

, as well as for the PC Engine in Japan by Irem. This version was re-released for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

Virtual Console on March 18, 2008, only in Japan. It came back for the Wii U Virtual Console on April 15, 2015 in Japan, and was then released for the first time in the United States and Europe on February 1, 2018.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Mr. Heli'' on their January 15, 1988 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Ciarán Brennan of '' Your Sinclair'' magazine reviewed the arcade game, calling it "a lovely little game" that is "very imaginative and beautifully" paced. '' ACE'' magazine reviewed the PC Engine version in 1989, rating it 890 out of 1000 and listing it as one of the top five best games available for the console.

Legacy

''Mr. Heli'' later appeared in the Japan-only Game Boy title ''

Shuyaku Sentai Irem Fighter is a 1993 strategy video game developed and published by Irem exclusively in Japan for the Nintendo Game Boy on July 30, 1993. It features characters from four of Irem's franchises: '' R-Type'', ''Mr. Heli'', ''Ninja Spirit'', and ''Hammerin' ...

'', along with other characters from the game, as well as characters from three other Irem franchises: '' R-Type'', ''

Ninja Spirit ''Ninja Spirit'', known in Japan as , is a 1988 platform game developed and released in arcades by Irem. Although praised by gamers for detailed graphics, serious themes, solid controls and game plays the game also gained notoriety for harsh dif ...

'' and ''

Hammerin' Harry ''Hammerin' Harry'', known in Japan as , is a series of platforming video games developed and published by Irem in 1990 in video gaming, 1990. The titles were developed and published for the Arcade game, arcades, Nintendo Entertainment System, ...

''. ''Mr. Heli'' was mentioned in one of the

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s seen in the final stage of Irem's '' Vigilante'' and also appeared in ''

R-Type Final is a horizontal shooter video game by Irem for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was planned to be the last mainline game in the ''R-Type'' series. However, ''R-Type Tactics'' was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2007, and the di ...

'' as a playable ship. Battle Chopper is also available on the

Evercade The Evercade is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by UK company Blaze Entertainment. It focuses on retrogaming with ROM cartridges that each contain a number of emulated games. Development began in 2018, and the console was relea ...

retro games console as part of the Irem Arcade collection cartridge.

References

External links

; Arcade version * * * *
Mr. Heli no Daibouken
' at Arcade History *
Battle Chopper
' at Arcade History ; Home versions

at Atari Mania * *

at CPC Game Reviews 1987 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games Helicopter video games Irem games TurboGrafx-16 games Scrolling shooters ZX Spectrum games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Virtual Console games for Wii U {{scroll-shooter-videogame-stub