Twin Hawk

From Sega Retro

"Flying Shark" and "1943" redirect here; some magazine reviews mislabel this game as such, though Twin Hawk does bear a resemblance to the former. Aside from that, though Flying Shark was never ported to a Sega system, that game's sequel, Fire Shark, was.

n/a

TwinHawk MDTitleScreen.png

Twin Hawk
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥6,0006,000 G-4034
Sega Mega Drive
EU

Twin Hawk, originally released in Japan as Daisenpu (大旋風), is a 1989 arcade shoot-'em-up by Toaplan. It was ported to the Mega Drive by Sega in 1990, and released exclusively in Japan and Europe.

Like many of the Mega Drive Toaplan ports, a single cart with multiple regional versions was made for all releases of the game, and these can be switched between simply by playing the cart on a particular regional model or by using Game Genie and the like. Attempting to play the cart on an American Genesis triggers the slightly easier "Twin Hawk" version.

Gameplay

Twin Hawk is one of Toaplan's most straightforward games, unusual to see so late especially after the likes of Truxton. Despite this, Twin Hawk has a number of interesting traits that not many games do: there are absolutely no breaks and the entire game is essentially one giant level, and there are only land and sea enemies to be fought, among other things. The most major of these is the ability to call in a formation of six white "Helper" planes similar to your own, that shoot with you and even divebomb the nearest enemy when each is shot. Unfortunately, when used correctly, these can completely trivialize the game...

A and C shoot, and basic rapidfire is available in the options. B summons the "Helper" planes; pressing pressing B again before the formation completes (when they'll start shooting) will trade the Helpers for a typical "bomb" attack like other Toaplan titles, while pressing B at any point after the formation is completed will force all remaining Helpers to divebomb.

There are three different types of powerups, released by destroying specific non-hostile trucks (land) and boats (sea), painted in various colors to show with powerup they release:

  • Green trucks and boats do not drop anything, though they give you points for destroying them. All trucks/boats start off as green and change color depending on certain conditions. For example, if you have no powerups (such as after dying), certain trucks/boats will be orange.
  • Orange trucks and boats release orange S icons, which upgrade your regular shot. This can be upgraded three times (four sets of two bullets), after which all scheduled orange trucks/boats will be green.
  • White trucks and boats release white H icons, which add another Helper to the Helper stock. They seemingly never appear when you have two Helpers stocked, and appear frequently when you have none.
  • Blue trucks and boats release blue plane icons, which add an extra life to the life stock. These are extremely rare, likely triggered with lower life stocks.

While Twin Hawk is more or less one giant stage with numerous boss-like enemies, the game is functionally divided into four large areas, punctuated by a change in music (and specifically marked in ports). There is a particularly large tank as the final boss, after which the game begins again at a higher difficulty, etc.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
71 №36, p56/57[2]
73 №3, p36
71 №4, p29[3]
75
60 №34, p60[4]
78 №6, p142
56 №5, p90
41 №5, p95
71 №1, p78[5]
60 №1, p81[6]
87 №6, p44[7]
70 №17, p44
60 №23, p52
60 №23, p55
64 №18, p64
Sega Mega Drive
66
Based on
15 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
ACE (UK)
79
[2]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
75
[8]
Buzz! Computers (UK)
80
[9]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
73
[10]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
71
[3]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK)
71
[11]
Console XS (UK) PAL
79
[12]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
75
[13]
The Games Machine (UK)
60
[4]
Famicom Hisshoubon (JP) NTSC-J
60
[14]
Joypad (FR)
78
[15]
Joystick (FR)
79
[16]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J
56
[17]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
41
[18]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
67
[19]
MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J
71
[5]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
60
[6]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
70
[20]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
66
[21]
Raze (UK) PAL
87
[7]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
70
[22]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
50
[23]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
50
[24]
Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J
64
[25]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
59
[26]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
57
[27]
Super Gaming (US)
67
[28]
Tilt (FR)
70
[29]
Sega Mega Drive
67
Based on
28 reviews

Twin Hawk

Mega Drive, EU
TwinHawk MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
TwinHawk MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, JP
TwinHawk MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
TwinHawk MD JP CartTop.jpg
TwinHawk MD JP Cart Back.jpgTwinHawk MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart

References

Necretro-round.svg
NEC Retro has more information related to Daisenpuu
  1. File:ACE UK 36.pdf, page 57
  2. 2.0 2.1 File:ACE UK 36.pdf, page 56 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:ACE UK 36.pdf_p56" defined multiple times with different content
  3. 3.0 3.1 File:CGtC UK 04.pdf, page 29 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:CGtC UK 04.pdf_p29" defined multiple times with different content
  4. 4.0 4.1 File:TGM UK 34.pdf, page 60 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:TGM UK 34.pdf_p60" defined multiple times with different content
  5. 5.0 5.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 78 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p78" defined multiple times with different content
  6. 6.0 6.1 File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf, page 81 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:MegaTech UK 01.pdf_p81" defined multiple times with different content
  7. 7.0 7.1 File:Raze UK 06.pdf, page 44 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name ":File:Raze UK 06.pdf_p44" defined multiple times with different content
  8. Beep! MegaDrive, "July 1990" (JP; 1990-06-08), page 17
  9. Buzz! Computers (UK) (+0:00)
  10. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume III" (UK; 1990-08-xx), page 36
  11. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 46
  12. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 135
  13. Famitsu, "" (JP; 1990-0x-xx), page 1
  14. Famicom Hisshoubon, "1990-13 (1990-07-06)" (JP; 1990-06-15), page 13
  15. Joypad, "Mars 1992" (FR; 1992-02-1x), page 142
  16. Joystick, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 89
  17. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 90
  18. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
  19. Mega Drive Fan, "October 1990" (JP; 1990-09-08), page 79
  20. Micromanía (segunda época), "Abril 1991" (ES; 1991-0x-xx), page 44
  21. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
  22. Sega Power, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-03-07), page 44
  23. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 52
  24. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 55
  25. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
  26. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
  27. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  28. Super Gaming, "Fall 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 11
  29. Tilt, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 87