Burai Fighter (NES)

Burai Fighter

Platform:	NES
Year:	1990
Developer:	KID

This page is for the NES version. For the Game Boy versions, see Burai Fighter Deluxe (GB).

Burai Fighter is an arcade-style scrolling shooter that was developed by KID and published by Taxan, except in Japan where it was published by Taito Corporation.

The Burai race of aliens have created an unstoppable army in an attempt to conquer the galaxy. It is up to the unnamed protagonist (controlled by the player) to stop them, as well as the bosses that inhabit each level. The game does not give much more story than that. The Japanese version's box and manual have no storyline whatsoever.

There are seven levels in all. In most of the stages, the game auto-scrolls horizontally, but will sometimes make vertical movements as well. The goal is to defeat as many enemies as you can, whilst collecting powerups for your weapons. There are three types of weapons that you can collect; Laser, Ring, and Missile. Defeating certain enemies will yield orbs with constantly changing letters on them, with each letter giving you an upgrade to your weapon and switching to that particular weapon. There are up to ten levels for each weapon. There is also the Cobalt Bomb that can be collected to annihilate all enemies on screen. Stage 3 and 6 are levels in which the player controls the movement of their pod, in search of the enemy base. There are hidden rooms throughout the game that can also be located. However, the bases can be easily located by moving two 'squares' to the right and moving one 'square' down.

What makes the game so difficult is not only the insane amount of enemies on screen, but also the fact that the player can only take one hit before dying. There are three modes of difficulty, including a fourth one that can be unlocked after beating the game on the Ace difficulty (the hard setting). Fortunately, each stage yields a password for each difficulty, so the player can pick up from where they left off later on. If the player somehow manages to beat the game on the Ace difficulty, they'll be rewarded with the Ultimate difficulty; the hardest mode in the entire game. If you beat this mode, you deserve a medal!

Despite the game's brutal difficulty, the game received many positive reviews from critics. They cited the gameplay and graphics in particular as being good for their time, as well as the fluid control. The player can hold down the B button to rapid fire, as well as fire in multiple directions a la Contra.

The game was later ported to the Game Boy, Burai Fighter Deluxe. Later, a Game Boy Color port of the game titled Space Marauder was also released.

Screenshots

The title screen.

Stage 1.

The boss of stage 1.

Stage 3.

The bosses only get harder!

Stage 5.

Music

Burai Fighter contains a soundtrack by KID's first sound designer, Norio Nakagata, although he was working for the company as a freelancer at the time. Almost each stage has its own unique tune. Most of the songs are fast-paced rock anthems which fits to the action of the game. The only drawback about the music is that each song is less than a minute in length, and each stage will take a few minutes to complete. Pair that with the unforgiving difficulty of the game which causes one to lose lives quickly, and it may make some want to hit the mute button. However, with that said, many who played the game growing up remember the game's soundtrack with fondness, rather than annoyance. Stages 1 and 5, and Stages 3 and 6 share the same themes, respectively.

In an interview with Nakagata, the interviewer pointed out the music sounded like a brass band. Nakagata explained that it was possible he was inspired from his younger days playing trumpet and horn, but he drew inspiration for the game's soundtrack from Thunder Ceptor, which he had previously composed for Namco.

Though some Japanese websites list Nobuyuki Shioda as also working on the game, we contacted Shioda, and he said that he had no involvement with the NES version, that Nakagata wrote all the music and effects. He did, however, port Nakagata's music to the Game Boy for Burai Fighter Deluxe.

To create music for the NES, Norio wrote in a custom Music Macro Language on an NEC PC-9801. The music data was then assembled into machine code to play back on the NES.

Because the game was also released in the PAL regions, the recording for it is included down below. For the most part, it is identical to the NTSC versions, but is played a half-step lower, as well as some songs playing slightly slower.

Recording

- NTSC (USA/Japan)
- PAL (Australia/Spain)

#	Title	Composer	Length	Download
101	Title Screen	Norio Nakagata	0:05	Download
102	Stage 1, Stage 5	Norio Nakagata	1:05	Download
103	Stage 2	Norio Nakagata	0:55	Download
104	Stage 3, Stage 6	Norio Nakagata	1:13	Download
105	Stage 4	Norio Nakagata	1:18	Download
106	Stage 7	Norio Nakagata	0:56	Download
107	Boss	Norio Nakagata	0:32	Download
108	Ending	Norio Nakagata	1:07	Download

#	Title	Composer	Length	Download
201	Title Screen	Norio Nakagata	0:05	Download
202	Stage 1, Stage 5	Norio Nakagata	1:07	Download
203	Stage 2	Norio Nakagata	0:57	Download
204	Stage 3, Stage 6	Norio Nakagata	1:13	Download
205	Stage 4	Norio Nakagata	1:23	Download
206	Stage 7	Norio Nakagata	1:00	Download
207	Boss	Norio Nakagata	0:32	Download
208	Ending	Norio Nakagata	1:07	Download

Credits

Ripper: MrNorbert1994
Recorder: Doommaster1994
Game Credits:
- Not Credited Composer: Norio Nakagata
- Uncredited Programmer: Tadashi Fukuzawa

(Source: Verification from composer; Game lacks credits.)

For an unknown reason, the game lacks credits. However, beating the game on harder difficulties will reveal Ken Lobb's name, who produced the game. The name ICHI is also included as a password, which is most likely in reference to the CEO of KID, Hisayoshi Ichikawa. We have reached out to Norio Nakagata who has in turn verified composing the game's music and sound effects. He said he was working for the company freelance at the time. Though some sources list Nobuyuki Shioda, he has explained that he had no involvement with the NES version, and only arranged Nakagata's tunes for the Game Boy release. This is probably because EDEN is one of the game's many passwords, a nickname used by Shioda. However, Shioda and Nakagata would go on to write music together on the NES at KID.

According to Shioda, while he doesn't know who programmed the game, he said the game's programmer would have wrote its sound driver as well. However, it was discovered KID's sound engine is based off of Chunsoft's Dragon Warrior 3 sound engine, which was written by Tadashi Fukuzawa.