Space Manbow is a shmup that was created by Konami for the MSX2 in 1990 and is considered by some to be one of the best if not the best shmups on the system. The player is the pilot of a fighter that resembles a manbow fish, thus the name of the title.
Story[]
The Space Manbow is a benevolent Bio-mechanical organism with a near impregnable forcefield. Due to it's large size, it requires a lot of energy to survive. Due to this, it's main food supply is other planets, making this a being feared by many species. In the game, Scientists came up with a plan to activate a teleporter deep inside ancient ruins that housed the Space Manbow and a massive collection of robots still active after the fall of the planets civilisation. By using this teleporter, the player was able to teleport inside the Space Manbow's forcefield, and fight it from inside the field.
Gameplay[]
Space Manbow is more or less like a traditional shmup in that there are no special levels, weapons, etc. unlike the Nemesis Series. The player has access to two main weapons, a front firing shot that is relatively fast firing and more concentrated and a three-way shot which fires slow but has a wider coverage area. In addition to these weapons the player can pick up Missiles which as per Gradius style, drop and move across the terrain, and Options which hover above and below the fighter and can shoot front, backwards, or up/down. There is also a powerup which acts similar to the bomb from Zero Wing in that you pick it up then with your next shot release it, destroying all minor enemies like a Blue Capsule.
The major gimmick in Space Manbow is that the main shot has a power meter which drains over time. By collecting Red powerups, this meter is filled by one bar and after breaking the half-way point, the weapon increases in attack power.
Unofficial Sequel[]
There was an unofficial sequel to Space Manbow created for the MSX2 called Manbow 2 which follows a similar style but adds some changes which make it feel a bit like the Laydock Series. This was released in 2007 by Bart van Velzen.
Links[]
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