Heavy Unit

Heroic Vehicle
Full Name	MCR-X09
Alias	Heavy Unit
Origin	Heavy Unit
Transportation	Transformer
Creation	Unknown
Location	Le Tau Outer edge of temple Vegetation Zone Underground Development Plant Anomaly Zone Enemy Base Center Space
Users	Unnamed Pilot (Player)
Usage / Powers	Flight Transformation Space travel Upgradable Speed Armaments Ship Form Laser Missiles Mech Form Laser Gun Homing Missiles Shield
Purposes	Destroy the "Enemy"
Status	Determinant
Type of Heroic Vehicle	Mysterious Mecha

MCR-X09 Heavy Unit is the name given for the titular protagonist of the 1988 shoot 'em up Heavy Unit. It is a transformable spacecraft that can switch into a mech when a certain power-up is collected. It serves as a beacon of hope for the colony on the planet Le Tau, which is under attack by a strange, seemingly unstoppable foe known as the "Enemy".

History

In the year 2013 A.D. humanity has successfully established its first space colony on an artificial planet called Le Tau, complete with its own corresponding artificially made star for solar energy. However that all changed when something disturbing was discovered in the plant community within the planet's soil. Scientists had unanimously discovered that the planet's modification program was unsuitable for plant life, causing them to develop strange anomalies that gave them a mind of their own; before anything could be done to correct this mistake, things took a turn for the worse. Suddenly, these ecological anomalies began to spread on the planet's biodiversity, infecting numerous animals which resulted in horrifying mutations that were a byproduct of human genetic manipulation gone awry. The resulting mutated creatures, dubbed the "Enemy" were essentially Ecological Mobile Weapons, which immediately turned hostile on the colonists, who were defenseless since the planet didn't have an established military. To make matters worse, the Federation Space Force Command had abandoned the colony planet without sending the much-need relief to hold the "Enemy" off.

As all hope seemed lost, word began to spread about a mysterious entity that had risen to battle the "Enemy". One witness claimed to have spotted the hero in the form of a mech of unknown affiliation with the insignia "HEAVY UNIT" written on the side of the cockpit. As sightings increased, it became clear what this mech's mission was: to destroy the "Enemy" and save Le Tau. The planet's people place their hope in the mysterious hero(ine), believing it would be the bane to the "Enemy"'s unchecked power. Heavy Unit travels through six different environments, where it battles the "Enemy"'s forces in both of its forms, it battles numerous entities in the form of mid and end level bosses, one of which is an evil doppelgänger of itself (codenamed MVR-000). Once the bulk go the "Enemy" has been eliminated, the hero confronts the "Enemy"'s leader in the form of a giant crab-like alien, where it proceeds to battle and subsequently destroy it. With the "Enemy" fully eradicated, Heavy Unit completes its mission.

Weapons

Heavy Unit has two weapons for each of its forms, a primary and an auxiliary weapon. The weapons can be fired simultaneously and can be upgraded twice to boost their firepower, this is done by collecting power-ups that are occasionally delivered by particular enemies. But the item-carrying enemy must be shot down by Heavy Unit to have items revealed.

Power Boosters are generic power-up items with "P" logo. They upgrade Heavy Unit's weapons and firepower, enabling it to deal with enemies faster.

In order to switch between its ship and mech forms, Heavy unit must collect a Transformer "T" power-up, doing so will cause the ship to transform into the mech and vice versa, allowing for different weapon layouts for various situations.

Ship Form

This form has smaller hit detection but possesses weaker firepower.

• Laser - the primary weapon of Heavy Unit's ship form, it fires a single laser straight forward. When upgraded the first time, the laser will transform into a spread shot, allowing it to hit multiple enemies over a three shot spread. On the second upgrade, the lasers will transform into wave shots which in addition to having a bigger hit box, will deal increased damage over a five shot spread.

• Missiles - the auxiliary weapon of Heavy Unit's ship form, it fires two bomb-like missiles that travel upwards and downwards respectively, allowing for clearing enemies that flank the craft. Each upgrade increases the damage dealt by the missiles.

Mech Form

This form possesses stronger and more concentrated firepower but is bigger and thus is supposedly more exposed to enemy attacks. Contrary to common belief, Mech's lower body has very laxed object crash detection, and thus mech's legs touching platforms won't cause the mech to crash-land. Due to stronger firepower and the lax crash detection on the lower body part, Mech mode would be the more common form to be used in the game.

• Gun - the primary weapon of Heavy Unit's mech form, it fires a single beam straight forward. Each upgrade will increase the width and damage of the beam, whilst also changing its appearance.

• Homing Missiles - the auxiliary weapon of Heavy Unit's mech form, it fires a homing missile-like orb that tracks down the nearest enemies with high accuracy and speed. When upgraded the first time, a second orb will be fired, effectively doubling the weapon's firepower. On the second upgrade, the orb's size and damage increases.

Both

Shield - obtained by collecting a Shield Unit "B" power-up, it deploys a shield that surrounds Heavy Unit, allowing it to absorb up three enemy hits before dissipating - or so the manual says. But there is secret which is not covered even in port manuals: the more B item Heavy Unit collects, the more shield's durability accumulates so it is definitely recommended to obtain B icons whenever they are available and even when shield being active. When damaged it can be replenished to full power by collecting the power-up again.

Speed Up - though not technically a weapon, up collecting an "S" power-up, it increases the overall movement speed of Heavy Unit. Unlike other typical shooter games, there is no limit to how fast Heavy Unit can move, but while moving faster certainly helps caution must still be advised as faster speeds make the craft unstable and hard to control. Two "S" power-ups should be deemed sufficient.

Extend - again, thought not technically a weapon it is nevertheless a vital item. By collecting "E" icon, it adds an extra stock to Heavy Unit. There would be total of 7 "E" items appearing throughout the first loop of the game. When Heavy Unit is destroyed, a stock will allow Heavy Unit to be resurrected from certain section of the stage at the expense of one stock. If Heavy Unit is destroyed without additional stocks to itself, the game will be over with Heavy Unit's mission failed so it is imperative that the transformer should collect as much "E" items as it can. But obtaining "E" may prove to be deadly task: they are situated in places laid with enemy traps, forcing players to take risks to get them.

Gallery

In-Game sprites of the Ship Form (Left), and Mech Form (Right)

Arcade flyer

Pilot (arcade)

Megadrive flyer

PC Engine cover

Pilot (PC Engine)

Unused sprite

MCR-X09 vs. MVR-000

Trivia

• In the Arcade and PC Engine versions, Heavy Unit has a grey paint job with a red trim. However in the Sega Genesis version, its primary color is blue. It is notable that in the latter version, the craft is also more highly detailed.
• In the arcade flyer and PC Engine's ending, the pilot of Heavy Unit is revealed to be a woman.