Choujikuu Yousai Macross II
Title screen
| Developer: | NMK |
|---|---|
| Planning: | Morio Kishimoto "Mug" |
| Music: | Hideya Kazunori Akira Hirokami Manabu Namiki Ryu Takami |
| Program: | Youichi Koyama Tamio Nakasato |
| Art: | Gaku Arita Akemi Tsunoda Hiromi Seki Eisaku Origami Kenji Yokoyama "Midori" |
| Release date: | JP: 1993 |
| Previous game: | Gunnail |
| Next game: | Thunder Dragon 2 |
Choujikuu Yousai Macross II (超時空要塞マクロスII, Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II) is an arcade game developed by NMK and published by Banpresto in 1993. It is based on the OVA and movie compilation of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again. It is notable for having Japanese gaming magazine Gamest involved in its creation, as well as for being one of the last caravan-style shmups released in Japanese arcades and for being one of the few horizontally-scrolling caravan shmups.
Contents
Story
Gameplay Overview
Macross II is a 2-button game. There are 3 different courses to choose from, and a full playthrough spans 4 stages. Each stage has a time limit of 2 minutes.
As a caravan shmup, the player has unlimited lives, with the focus being placed on scoring instead of survival. Each stage has a par score the player must achieve, or else they will game over. As the player progresses through a course, the par score becomes increasingly difficult to meet.
Controls
- A: Shot
- B: Bomb
Interface
Characters
- Player 1: Silvie Gena (translated as Serbee in-game)
- Player 2: Nexx Gilbert (translated as Necks in-game)
The only difference between them is the movement speed; Necks is a little faster than Serbee.
Weapons
Main Shot
The player's ship has 2 modes. Power ups allow the player to change between these modes.
| Mode | Description |
Fighter |
Higher movement speed, shoots straight ahead. Power ups increase the number of shots fired at once. The player starts the game in Fighter mode and respawns as Fighter if they get hit with minimum power.
|
Gerwalk |
Slower movement speed, shoots straight ahead and diagonally down. Power ups increase the size and damage of the bullets. At pointblank range, deals more damage than Fighter. |
When the player is hit, two different outcomes can happen based on their power level.
- At minimum power, the player is shot down. They will respawn on the left as Fighter, regardless of which mode they were in before they were hit. This takes about 80 frames before the player can act again.
- Above minimum power, the player staggers in place and remains on-screen. They will remain in the mode they were originally in (e.g. getting hit as Gerwalk still leaves you in Gerwalk). It takes about 70 frames before the player can act again.
Missiles
The player does not start with any missiles, but they can be acquired by picking up a missile item. Similarly, missile items also allow the player to switch between missile types. Both missile types follow the progression below:
- Missile level 0: no missiles
- Missile level 1: 1 missile, below the ship
- Missile level 2: 2 missiles, one above and the other below the ship
When the player is hit, they return to missile level 0.
| Missile Type | Description |
Missile |
Missiles are deployed slightly above and below the ship, then quickly move forward, spreading out a little as they go. |
Homing |
Missiles are fired diagonally forward, going towards the nearest enemy. |
Bomb
The player also starts with 3 UN-bombs. These bombs do damage to the entire screen and makes the player invulnerable for the duration of the bomb. Bomb items spawn whenever 3 Minmays are collected.
Items
| Item | Description |
 
Power up |
Increases the power level by 1, up to 3 times. Changes between F and G at regular intervals. If it is collected as F, switches the player's ship to Fighter. If it is collected as G, switches the player's ship to Gerwalk.
Worth 500 points before fully powering up, and 3,000 points at full power (even when switching modes). |
 
Missile item |
Increases the missile level by 1, up to 2 times. Changes between M and H at regular intervals. If it is collected as M, switches the player's missile type to Missile. If it is collected as H, switches the player's missile type to Homing.
Worth 500 points before missile level 2, and 3,000 points at missile level 2 (even when switching modes). |
Minmay |
Hidden items, revealed by shooting at her a few times or bombed. For every 3 Minmays collected, a UN-bomb item is spawned.
Worth 5,000 points. |
UN-bomb |
Gives the player 1 bomb.
Worth 500 points. |
Wings medal |
Usually hidden and revealed when shot or bombed. Increases in value as more wings medals are collected, up to 10000 from the 12th medal in the chain. If the player gets hit, the value of the medals will be fully reset.
Progression: 100 > 500 > 1,000 > 2,000 > 3,000 > 4,000 > 5,000 > 6,000 > 7,000 > 8,000 > 9,000 > 10,000 |
 
Medal |
Usually hidden and revealed when shot or bombed. Worth a fixed amount of points depending on its size.
|
  
Coloured coin |
Spawned by defeating certain enemies. Worth a fixed amount of points depending on its size.
|
Courses
There are 3 courses: Beginner, Medium and Expert. Each course is 4 stages long, but they only differ in the first 3 stages. Stage 4 is the same, no matter which course is chosen. Despite the names of the courses, there is no significant difference in difficulty between the courses.
Being a caravan shmup, each stage has a par score. Failing to reach the par score results in a game over. The par scores are listed below:
| Course | Par Scores |
Beginner |
Stage 1: 150,000
Stage 2: 250,000 Stage 3: 500,000 |
Medium |
Stage 1: 250,000
Stage 2: 300,000 Stage 3: 700,000 |
Expert |
Stage 1: 300,000
Stage 2: 600,000 Stage 3: 750,000 |
All courses |
Stage 4: 999,990 |
Scoring
Scoring in Macross II is relatively simple. Besides killing enemies and collecting items, the main source of score is a number of secret bonuses that are awarded for meeting certain conditions.
Bonus
The list of hidden bonuses can be found at Choujikuu Yousai Macross II/Strategy#Bonus.
Medals
As stated in the items section, there are several types of items that are worth a considerable amount of points. The most notable one is the wings medals, which can be worth up to 10,000 points each. While the player has unlimited lives, it is still ideal to avoid taking hits in order to preserve the value of the wings medals.
Bomb Bonus
At the end of every stage, 10,000 points are awarded for every remaining bomb in stock.
Strategy
See Choujikuu Yousai Macross II/Strategy for a list of bonuses, Minmay locations, and other scoring strategies.
Gallery
See Choujikuu Yousai Macross II/Gallery for our collection of images and scans for the game.
Video References
See Choujikuu Yousai Macross II/Video Index for a list of replays.
References & Contributors
- Information of bonuses and Minmay locations acquired from various replays.
