History VideoGame / Hellfire1989

* ''Hellfire'' for UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis (1990 in Japan and North America, 1992 in Europe), developed by Toaplan[[labelnote:Publishers]]Creator/{{NCS}} in Japan, Seismic Software in the U.S., Sega in Europe[[/labelnote]]: This version of the game is based on the 1P variant and exclusively features a "Hyper Cannon" SmartBomb and an AttackDrone item that can ram into enemies by itself. The U.S. version exclusively features a hidden [[HarderThanHard "Yea Right" difficulty]].
* ''Hellfire S: The Another Story'' for UsefulNotes/PCEngine CD-ROM[[superscript:2]] (1991 in Japan), developed by Toaplan[[labelnote:Publisher]]NEC Avenue[[/labelnote]]: Based on the 2P version, this version features a remixed soundtrack by T's Music and a different, expanded story told in between-stage cutscenes. Furthermore, Captain Lancer isn't in this version as the main protagonists for this game are two female space pilots named Kaoru (Player 1) and Yuu (Player 2).

* ''Toaplan Arcade 2'' for UsefulNotes/{{Evercade}} (2023 in Europe and North America), developed and published by Blaze Evercade: A CompilationRerelease of emulated arcade Toaplan games that includes ''Hellfire'' (alongside ''VideoGame/DemonsWorld'', ''VideoGame/FireShark'', ''VideoGame/RallyBike'', ''VideoGame/TwinCobra'', ''VideoGame/TwinHawk'', and ''VideoGame/{{Wardner}}'').
* ''Zero Fire'' for UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 (2023 in Japan), developed and published by M2: The third volume in the ''Toaplan Arcade Garage'' series, itself a subsidiary of the ''M2 [=ShotTriggers=]'' lineup, this is a CompilationRerelease with ''VideoGame/ZeroWing'', with ''Demon's World'' as the bonus non-shmup title. The base digital game features the arcade versions of this game, as well as [[EasierThanEasy Super Easy]] and customizable builds of the 2P version, while purchasing the add-on DLC with the digital version or purchasing the physical edition also provides both the Japanese and North American Genesis versions and the PC Engine CD-ROM[[superscript:2]] version. Each purchase of this compilation comes with a complimentary download code for ''VideoGame/TekiPaki'', like with the other ''Toaplan Arcade Garage'' releases.
* ''Hellfire'' for Windows PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom (2023 worldwide), developed and published by Bitwave Games: A PC port based on the arcade versions.

** Type F, "'''Galvanic''' '''Ga'''mma '''Array''' '''3'''rd": ''GG VideoGame/{{Aleste}} 3: Last Messiah''.[[note]]"GG" [[SuperTitle64Advance refers to]] the UsefulNotes/GameGear, but in-universe it stands for "Galvanic Gunner"[[/note]] Similar to type E but the shot type corresponds to the opposite direction of the player's movement, similar to the All-Way subweapon in ''[=GGA3=]''.

-> '''STAGE 1 CLEARED''' \\

GOOD LUCK !!

** There's a more obscure method that spawns 1-up tokens in the arcade version. Each time you uncover any item, a hidden counter decreases by one. When this counter is at 1, the next item uncovered will be a 1-up if and only if your ship is at the extreme left or right side of the screen and is set to either the front or back shot. This can only be performed twice per game.

* ''Hellfire'' for UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis (1990 in Japan and North America, 1992 in Europe), developed by Toaplan[[labelnote:Publishers]]Creator/{{NCS}} in Japan, Seismic Software in the U.S., Sega in Europe[[/labelnote]]: This version of the game is based on the 1P variant and exclusively features a "Hyper Cannon" SmartBomb and an AttackDrone item that can ram into enemies by itself.

** Type D, "Gladiator's Victory": ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} V''. This control scheme allows the player to change shot type by holding down Change and pressing a direction, similar to the Directional Options in ''Gradius V''.
** Type E, "Supreme Ares": ''VideoGame/SuperAleste''. In this control scheme, moving your ship will change your shot type to match the direction of your movement, and the forward shot when your direction input is neutral, similar to the All-Way / Multi-Direction Shot in ''Super Aleste''.
** Type F, "Galvanic Gamma Array 3rd": ''GG VideoGame/{{Aleste}} 3: Last Messiah''. Similar to type E but the shot type corresponds to the opposite direction of the player's movement, similar to the All-Way subweapon in ''[=GGA3=]''.
** Type G, "Imagined Future": ''VideoGame/ImageFight''. As in Type F, but returning to neutral movement will retain the last weapon you switched to. This is similar to the directional-fire pods in ''Image Fight''.
** Type H, "Tidal Force Vector": ''VideoGame/ThunderForce V''. As in Type G, but holding down the 30 Hz synchronized Shot button will lock your current shot type while still shooting, similar to the Free Range weapon in ''Thunder Force V'' where holding down shot will fire the weapon and freeze its aim.

* RealTimeWeaponChange: You can change your current weapon at any time by pressing the "Change" button. The ''Zero Fire'' release offers alternate control schemes with different ways of changing weapons, such as moving in a specific direction to change weapons.

* RegionalBonus: The American release of the Genesis version has a [[HarderThanHard "Yea Right" difficulty]] not available in other versions of the game.

* ScreenCrunch: The Sega Genesis version of the game doesn't fit the entire height of each stage on the screen; you have to move up or down to scroll the edges of the screen into view. This can make it harder to keep track of hazardous enemies and more likely that they'll snipe you from offscreen.

* ''Hellfire'' for Windows PC via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom (2023 worldwide), developed and published by Bitwave Games: A PC port based on the arcade versions, [[https://www.bitwavegames.com/games/hellfire set to be released on August 24, 2023]].

* CreatorCameo: The brief cutscene in the ending features a close-up of the Hellfire ship; the hull has a sticker that reads "Uemura Racing"; this is in reference to Tatsuya Uemura, who composed the soundtrack for the game.

* EasierThanEasy: Like past ''[=M2 ShotTriggers=]'' releases, the ''Zero Fire'' version of this game has Super Easy mode. In addition to setting the difficulty dipswitches to the lowest, enemy rank is further reduced, dying does not take away powerups (although it will still reset your speed, in case you got [[TooFastToStop too many speed power-ups]]), and you get extra lives every 20,000 points[[note]]As an alternative to auto-bomb like what Super Easy modes in past ''[=M2STG=]'' releases have provided, since the version of ''Hellfire'' it's based on does not have bombs.[[/note]] Subverted should you amass 9 or more spare lives, as the game's DynamicDifficulty will start to spike and result in absurdly fast enemy bullets; once the game's rank reaches a certain amount, you will start earning points per frame. Fall to 8 or fewer lives and the game becomes genuinely easy again. The game ends after one loop instead of [[EndlessGame looping endlessly]] and defeating the final boss results in a bonus proportional to your remaining lives.

** There's the traditional [[EveryTenThousandPoints "extend at X points and every Y points thereafter"]] way of getting extra lives. By default, X = 70,000 and Y = 200,000. In [[EasierThanEasy Super Easy]] mode in the ''Zero Fire'' release, you get an extra life every 20,000 points.

** There's the traditional [[EveryTenThousandPoints "extend every X points and every Y points thereafter"]] way of getting extra lives. By default, X = 70,000 and Y = 200,000. In [[EasierThanEasy Super Easy]] mode in the ''Zero Fire'' release, you get an extra life every 20,000 points.

* HarderThanHard: The Genesis version has Easy and Hard difficulties, and then the US variant exclusively has "Yea Right" difficulty. Yea Right is unlocked by [[spoiler:going to the options menu, setting the difficulty to Hard, and then [[WaitingPuzzle waiting about a minute]]. The difficulty will [[JumpScare abruptly change to Yea Right with a chime]], the screen will SmashToBlack, and the game will immediately begin]]. The main differences are that enemies have faster bullets and bosses have more HP.]]

* HarderThanHard: The Genesis version has Easy and Hard difficulties, and then the US variant exclusively has "Yea Right" difficulty. Yea Right is unlocked by [[spoiler:going to the options menu, setting the difficulty to Hard, and then [[WaitingPuzzle waiting about a minute]]. The difficulty will [[JumpScare abruptly change to Yea Right with a chime]], the screen will SmashToBlack, and the game will immediately begin. The main difference is that enemies have faster bullets and bosses have more HP.]]

* HarderThanHard: The Genesis version's difficulties include Easy, Hard, and the hidden ''Yea Right'' difficulties. Yea Right is unlocked by [[spoiler:going to the options menu, setting the difficulty to Hard, and then [[WaitingPuzzle waiting about a minute]]. The difficulty will [[JumpScare abruptly change to Yea Right with a chime]], the screen will SmashToBlack, and the game will immediately begin.]]

* AttackDrone: The Genesis version exclusively features an item that, when collected, spawns an AI-controlled drown that meanders about the screen, ramming into enemies and blocking their bullets.