Baldanders

The Baldanders (バルトアンデルス in Japanese) is the main protagonist of the 1989 Sega Genesis shoot 'em up Curse. It is an ancient spacecraft developed by the Barcelona race hundreds of years before the setting of the game. It was discovered by the people of Seneca during an invasion by the Barcelia Military and reprogrammed to fight against its creators.

History[]

In an extraterrestrial solar system, two planets named Barcelia and Seneca have co-existed in harmony for many years, with the more advanced Barcelians regularly visiting and communicating with the people of Seneca. One day however, all communication with Barcelia suddenly stopped, and visits from its race stopped traveling to Seneca. Eventually the planet's environment became barren and its race seemingly died out. Hundreds of years passed, and by then the Senecans believed that the planet was now a shell of its former self, and that its race had become nothing more than folk legends. That all changed on one fateful day, when a mysterious race invaded Seneca. The invaders were revealed to be the Barcelian Military, and they subsequently crippled Seneca's defense forces using a combined force made up of its advanced military and its ability to manipulate Seneca's wildlife by unknown means. As Seneca began to fall, its people suddenly discovered the Baldanders, an ancient Bacelian spacecraft that the hostile planet had left behind many centuries earlier. By reprogramming the fighter, the Senecans launched a counterattack against the Bacelians, with the ultimate goal being to avert the invasion and destroy their main battleship dubbed Mother.

The Baldanders flies through Seneca, where it battles the combined forces of Bacelia's military and Seneca's brainwashed wildlife in a forest and above a skyline. After subduing the enemy on Seneca, the starfighter then flies towards Bacelia, where it proceeds to cripple the planet's defense forces head on, before continuing its counterattack on its guerrilla forces in the planet's exosphere. Finally, the craft infiltrates the Bacelian's main battleship, where after navigating through its line of defenses it finally confronts Mother, the cybernetic leader of the Barcelian Military. Mother proves to be a fierce adversary, as it fights back using a combined arsenal of lasers and bioorganic projectiles. Nonetheless, Baldanders is able to destroy Mother, bringing an end to the Barcelian invasion and saving Seneca.

Weapons[]

The Baldanders is armed with a modest arsenal of weapons. It can obtain these weapons by means of destroying capsules that frequently appear in-game, which in turn will dropped a power-up that is usually marked with a letter. Collecting a power-up will switch the active weapon of the starfighter, whilst subsequent power-ups of the currently equipped weapon three times in a row will upgrade it into a more powerful state.

Normal Shot - the default weapon of the Baldanders, it fires a standard rapid-fire shot forwards. It is the only main weapon that cannot be upgraded.

Clash - fires a crystal-shaped shot forwards, which upon hitting an enemy or environmental hazard, will explode, releasing smaller shrapnel shots that travel in all directions, it however has a slow fire rate and movement speed. When upgraded, the size of the main shot and number of shrapnel released will increase.

Wide Beam - fires small crescent-shaped shots that travel in a helix pattern. The weapon deals high damage and can penetrate through most enemies and terrain. When upgraded, an additional straightforward stream of shots is added at its center, further increasing its firepower.

V-Laser - fires a wave shot forward which has a large hitbox. When upgraded, the number of wave shots fired increases to three, which fire in spread pattern and greatly increases defensive coverage.

Homing Missiles - deploys a missile from the bay of the Baldanders, which will proceed to track down nearby enemies. The weapon can be fired simultaneously with the main weapon as a form of secondary fire. Though highly accurate, the missiles however have a delayed deployment time. When upgraded, the number of missiles deployed doubles, partially negating the deployment delay.

Option - A spherical device that once attaches to Baldanders rotates itself full clockwise and provide the fighter additional firepower. When placed horizontally option shoots either top or below in X-axis pattern. When placed vertically options shoots either up or down in Y-axis pattern. Up to 2 can be collected at a time.

Shield - a vital tool to the Baldanders' survival, it is represented by a power meter at the top of the hud, which gradually depletes as the craft takes damage of all forms. When the meter is depleted, the fighter will be destroyed. It can be recharged by obtaining "E" power-ups.

Speed Up - another vital tool, it increases the movement speed of the Baldanders. One must be careful though, as collecting too many will cause the craft to become harder to control.

Bomb - deploys a bomb, which clears the area surrounding the Baldanders of both enemies and enemy projectiles. The craft only has a limited supply of this weapon, and the only way to replenish its stockpile is by collecting the current weapon's respective power-up three times in a row, each time adding one bomb.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

The Baldanders gets its name from the Baldanders, also known as the Soon-Different or Soonchanged, a creature from Germanic literary myth which is capable of changing its shape and form.