The Biplane (バイプレーン in Japanese) is the main protagonist of the 1986 Taito arcade shoot 'em up Scramble Formation (also known as Tokio in Japan). It is an advanced attack aircraft developed as a joint top secret project by the United States and the Soviet Union in order to stop an invasion by a mysterious force in Tokyo.
History[]
In the year 19XX (implied to be sometime during the Cold War), a giant, mysterious aircraft suddenly appeared in the skies above Japan and proceeded to launch an invasion on the city of Tokyo; this happened roughly around the same time that an equally mysterious meteorite impacted Earth. As a result, Tokyo ceased functioning as Japan's capital, causing the nation's citizens to panic and its government to issue an SOS to the United Nations. In response, the UN messaged the world's two leading superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union, who decided to put aside their bitter geopolitical rivalry and form a truce to fight off this mysterious attacker. In secrecy, the two superpowers developed an advanced, state-of-the-art aircraft known only as the "Biplane". Once the aircraft was completed, it was launched from the National Diet Building in an attempt to stop the invaders and free Tokyo.
The Biplane flies across the cityscape of Tokyo, where it battles the invaders' forces in each of the city's main districts: Shinjuku, Akasaka, and Ginza. During which it takes advantage its main ability: to utilize smaller plane-like drones to change between three attack formations to attack both ground and air-based enemies. On occasion (usually when transitioning between districts), the aircraft will confront a large mothership which ambushes the smaller fighter, preventing it from advancing on its mission to save the city. In order to destroy the mothership, the Biplane must destroy its two engines using its bombs.
The game continues indefinitely until all lives are lost, after which the game ends. Whether the Biplanes mission is successful is up to player interpretation...
Weapons[]
The Biplane is armed with two different weapons, each of which functions against only one type of enemy. These weapons can be utilized to fire independently of each other or simultaneously (but with a narrower spread). The aircrafts main feature however is to deploy small plane-like drones (Mini-Planes) to provide support fire in-battle in the form of one of three attack formations; these drones can be obtained by collecting their respective power-up upon destroying red enemies. Formations can be switched at anytime, but knowing which one works best is dependent on the situation.
- Machine Gun - the Biplane's air-based weapon, it fires a dual machine gun shot forward that can destroy air-based enemies. It however is useless against ground-based enemies as well as the mothership bosses.
- Bomb - deploys a single bomb that arcs downward quite a distance in front of the aircraft. It is effective for taking out ground-based enemies as well as the mothership bosses, but has no effect against air-based enemies.
- Mini-Planes - the main ability of the Biplane, it deploys a smaller plane-like drones called Mini-Planes that provide fire support to the main aircraft. Their formation can be changed to allow them to fire the machine gun and the bomb either independently (each with an enhanced spread) or simultaneously (but with a narrower spread to both weapons). Mini-Planes however are not invincible as they can be destroyed if they are hit by enemy fire. They can however be released voluntarily in order to provide temporary protection to the Biplane as a means of a pseudo-shield at the cost of losing all drones.
The following are the three formations the drones can be positioned to attack in:
- Line Formation - Mini-Planes trail the Biplane from behind, allowing the aircraft to fire both the machine gun and the bomb simultaneously. This however renders both weapons with a narrower spread than the other two formations.
- Delta Formation - Mini-Planes fly beside the Biplane in a "V"-shaped formation, allowing it to fire the machine gun with an enhanced spread. It however only allows the Biplane to attack air-based enemies.
- Cross Formation - Mini-Planes surround the Biplane in a cross-shaped formation, allowing it to fire 5 bombs in an identical pattern. This formation can only attack ground-based enemies, but is also the most effective when attacking the motherships.
Item[]
- 1UP - a self-explanatory extra life that grants Biplane one stock.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Taito staffs intended Scramble Formation / Tokio to be 'Tokyo touring shoot'em up'.
- In DariusBurst: Chronicle Saviors, Silver-Hawk Murakumo's home planet is called Tokio, derived from the same game which Biplane is featured.
- Murakumo's support drones concept came straight out of Biplane's ability to control Mini-Planes.