is a 1986

shooter Shooter may refer to: People * Rod Beck (1968–2007), American baseball pitcher nicknamed "Shooter" * Shooter Jennings (born 1979), country music singer * Evan McPherson (born 1999), American football placekicker nicknamed "Shooter" * Adrian Sh ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed and published by

Irem is a Japanese video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher and manufacturer of pachinkos. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The full name of the company that uses the brand is Irem Software Enginee ...

for arcades. Originally released only in Japan, it consists of a mix of

top-down shooter Top-down may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Top Down", a 2007 song by Swizz Beatz * "Top Down", a song by Lil Yachty from ''Lil Boat 3'' * "Top Down", a song by Fifth Harmony from '' Reflection'' * "Topdown", a song by Channel Tres from th ...

and vertically

scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre 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 character m ...

gameplay. It was released outside Japan for the first time by

Hamster Corporation is a Japanese video game publisher, with office located in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The game division of Toshiba-EMI Limited spun off Hamster Corporation in November 1999. On the Japanese PlayStation Store, more than 360 titles are distribut ...

as part of their ''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...

'' series for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

in 2018, under the name ''Heroic Episode'', with support for vertical screen gameplay on the Nintendo Switch.

Gameplay

In Yōjūden, players control a winged

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

in the fantasy land of Mule, which is under invasion by the Gule Empire; he travels through land and sea to retrieve a statue of their

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

from the Gule Empire. In the land segments, the soldier travels on foot while shooting enemy soldiers in a manner similar to

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

's ''Commando'', while the air segments has the soldier fly and shoot monsters emerging from under the ocean. The soldier is armed with a

maser A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves ( microwaves), through amplification by stimulated emission. The term is an acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Nikolay Basov, Alexander Pr ...

that can shoot standard projectiles and a stronger version with slower rate of fire.{{Cite web , last=Moyse , first=Chris , date=2018-02-24 , title=Arcade Classics range continues with Heroic Episode on PS4 and Switch , url=https://www.destructoid.com/arcade-classics-range-continues-with-heroic-episode-on-ps4-and-switch/ , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102132254/https://www.destructoid.com/arcade-classics-range-continues-with-heroic-episode-on-ps4-and-switch/ , archive-date=2024-01-02 , access-date=2025-04-13 , website=Destructoid , language=en-US

Reception

Reviewing the ''Arcade Archives'' release, Dave Frear praised the mix of gameplay but criticized its harsh difficulty and lack of originality.

Notes

References

1986 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Hamster Corporation games Irem games Japan-exclusive video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Top-down shooters Vertically scrolling shooters Video games developed in Japan