Master of Weapon

From Sega Retro

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MasterOfWeapon MDTitleScreen.png

Master of Weapon
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Taito
Developer:
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Genre: Shooting[2]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥6,8006,800 T-11063
Non-Sega versions

Master of Weapon (マスターオブウエポン) is a Sega Mega Drive vertical shoot-'em-up developed by KID[1] and published by Taito. A port of the publisher's 1989 arcade game Master of Weapon, it was released exclusively in Japan in September 1991.

Sega later manufactured a conversion kit for the arcade release of Master of Weapon which converted the game into a Tetris machine.

Story

An entire week of nuclear war on Earth destroys its global environment. The survivors of the war gather their strength and resources in an attempt to bring Earth back to the way it was. Using a supercomputer called God System, the survivors start their first step in rebuilding Earth by having the God System create machines capable cleaning and reconstructing much of what has been lost from the war. However, without warning, a mysterious mutant entity known as "N" takes over the God System; creating three strange guardian statues based on Greek mythological figures, "N" manipulates the God System's machines and programs in order to attack mankind. The survivors create an artificial human called Yukiwo, built to harness perfect dexterity and strength, as well as a super-powered jet for him to pilot in order to reclaim Earth from "N."

Gameplay

The game is a vertical shoot-'em-up. The ship moves in any direction using the D-Pad. It starts with a basic photon cannon and bombs. The photon cannon is fired with A and shoots flying targets. It is initially a single stream of bullets, but it splits into an additional beam each time is upgraded by collecting power-ups. The bombs are dropped with B and hit ground targets. A targeting reticle appears in front of the ship to show where bombs land. Both weapons are unlimited and can be fired simultaneously. Rapid-fire is enabled by default (but can be disabled in the options). The exhaust of the ship also harms enemies.

Special weapons can be found as power-ups. The currently equipped special weapon can be used with C (which also drops a standard bomb). There is a green meter in the sidebar that determines the power of the special weapon. The meter empties when the special weapon is used but replenishes in a few seconds.

The spaceship is destroyed if it is hit by an enemy. It respawns if the player has extra lives. The ship loses its movement speed and weapon upgrades when it is destroyed but keeps its special weapon. The player receives an extra life at 30,000 and 80,000 points and then every 100,000 points after that. The game ends if the player runs out of lives but can be continued a limited number of times. Continuing loses the equipped special weapon and resets the score.

The player can choose the starting number of lives (3, 5, or 7) and continues (between 0 and 3) before starting a game. There are three difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, and Hard).

Items

Master of Weapon, Items.png
Item Carrier
Releases a random item when destroyed.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
F
Increases the number of beams fired by the ship's photon cannon, up to a maximum of 5.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
S
Increases the movement speed of the ship. It also increases the size of the ship's exhaust, which can be used to destroy enemies.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
P
Equips the P (Pier) special weapon, which is the same as the conventional air-to-ground bomb. This is the default special weapon.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
L
Equips the L (Laser) special weapon, which is powerful but has very short range. It can attack both air and ground targets.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
G
Equips the G (Guide) special weapon, which shoots several green projectiles that track all targets on screen.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
W
Equips the W (Wide) special weapon, which launches fireballs in a star pattern.
Master of Weapon, Items.png
H
Equips the H (H-Bom) special weapon, which fires 10 times and destroys all enemies on the screen. It can only be used one time (and then reverts to the previously equipped special weapon), but multiple bombs can be collected and stored.

Acts

The game is played as one uninterrupted stage, but it is nominally divided into nine acts. The length of each act varies, and not all acts end with a boss fight.

Master of Weapon, Stage 1.png

Act 1

Master of Weapon, Stage 2.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 2 Boss 1.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 2 Boss 2.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 2.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 2 Boss 1.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 2 Boss 2.png

Act 2

Master of Weapon, Stage 3.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 3 Boss.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 3.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 3 Boss.png

Act 3

Master of Weapon, Stage 4.png

Act 4

Master of Weapon, Stage 5.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 5 Boss 1.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 5 Boss 2.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 5.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 5 Boss 1.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 5 Boss 2.png

Act 5

Master of Weapon, Stage 6.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 6 Boss 1.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 6 Boss 2.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 6.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 6 Boss 1.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 6 Boss 2.png

Act 6

Master of Weapon, Stage 7.png

Act 7

Master of Weapon, Stage 8.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 8 Boss.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 8.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 8 Boss.png

Act 8

Master of Weapon, Stage 9 Boss 1.png

Master of Weapon, Stage 9 Boss 2.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 9 Boss 1.png

  • Master of Weapon, Stage 9 Boss 2.png

Act 9

Production credits

  • Executive Producer: Takao Ueno
  • Producer: Tomohiro Nishikado
  • Director: Syoji Takahashi
  • Main Programmer: Kuniharu Iwata
  • Programmers: Kakkun, Com, Sasa, Ichi, Haru
  • Character Designers: Thigen, Oza, Kawai, Yaga
  • Music Programmer: Naga
  • Music Editor: Kane
  • Special Thanks to: Helper Suit, Mr X, KZM, Ginya Sekido, Yuji Koga
  • Presented by: Taito
Source:
In-game credits
Master of Weapon MD credits.pdf
[3]

Magazine articles

Main article: Master of Weapon/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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Print advert in (JP) #1991-08: "August 1991" (1991-07-08)
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Print advert in (JP) #1991-09: "September 1991" (1991-08-08)
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Print advert in (JP) #1991-10: "October 1991" (1991-09-07)
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Print advert in (JP) #1992-01: "January 1992" (1991-12-07)
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Print advert in (JP) #1992-02: "February 1992" (1992-01-08)
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Print advert in (JP) #1992-03: "March 1992" (1992-02-08)
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Print advert in (JP) #1992-04: "April 1992" (1992-03-07)
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(RU)
40
[4]
(DE)
42
[5]
(JP) NTSC-J
55
[6]
(UK) NTSC-J
77
[7]
(JP) NTSC-J
55
[8]
(FR) NTSC-J
52
[9]
(FR) NTSC-J
50
[10]
(JP) NTSC-J
59
[11]
(UK) NTSC-J
77
[12]
(UK) NTSC-J
72
[13]
(JP) NTSC-J
52
[14]
(US)
53
[15]
(RU)
60
[16]
Sega Mega Drive
57
Based on
13 reviews

Master of Weapon

Mega Drive, JP
MoW MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
MasterofWeapon MD JP CartTop.jpg
MasterofWeapon MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Master of Weapon/Technical information.

References


Master of Weapon

MasterOfWeapon MDTitleScreen.png

Main page | Comparisons | Magazine articles | Reception | Region coding | Technical information


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