Terra Cresta
Terra Cresta is a 1985 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Nichibutsu. The player assumes control of a starship named the 'Wing Galibur' that must destroy the Mandler army before they destroy all of humanity. Gameplay involves shooting enemies and collecting different ship parts that each provide their own unique weapon, such as a wave gun or a double shot. It is the sequel to Moon Cresta (1980), Nichibutsu's first big hit in arcades.
The player takes control of the 'Wing Galibur' fighter craft, and must shoot down the incoming enemy craft in the air and on the ground. Small capsules can appear on the ground, and once the player has shot all of them down, will award the player with a piece to attach onto the Wing Galibur. These pieces can give the Wing Galibur extra firepower and wider shots, with four individual pieces to acquire; should the player have all pieces to the ship and press the 'transform' button, the Wing Galibur will transform into an enormous, flaming phoenix that is invulnerable to anything for a brief period of time. Additionally, the player can press the transform button without all pieces, and cause the pieces to split from the Wing Galibur and move into a triangular shape around the player. During this, the pieces are invulnerable to all enemy fire, while the player is not; should he or she be hit with the pieces, the Wing Galibur will revert to a singular craft, and if the Wing Galibur is hit, the player will lose a life, and the game will be immediately over should the player lose all of their lives.
Terra Cresta was ported to several home systems. European publisher Ocean Software published conversions for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 on their Imagine Software label, while Nichibutsu themselves published a version for the Family Computer in Japan. The Famicom release was later published in North America for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Vic Tokai; it features a few alterations from the Japanese version, such as a remade soundtrack and the ability to customize the position of the player's ships when they separate from formation. In 1992, Japanese developer Dempa ported both Terra Cresta and its predecessor Moon Cresta to the Sharp X68000 as the debut title in their Video Game Anthology line of arcade game re-releases, titled Video Game Anthology Vol. 1 - Moon Cresta / Terra Cresta.
How to play:
Click on the joystick icon in the Terra Cresta online emulator to see how to control the Terra Cresta game
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