 |
Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Spider-Man has declared that this article is still under construction. |
Hunting Dog is the main protagonist of the 1992 PC Engine shoot 'em up Gate of Thunder. It is a police spacecraft sent alongside its partner Wild Cat in order to repel General Don Jingi and his Obellon army from obtaining the powerful energy source known as "Starlight" from planet Aries.
History[]
In the distant future, a mysterious armada known as the Obellons arrives within planet Aries' orbit, where they proceed to launch an invasion against the planet, at the same time, a space station called GSAP receives a disturbing message from a villain named General Don Jingi and his right-hand man Eagle, revealing that they are the one who organized the invasion, and that their intention is to harness the power source known as "Starlight" in order to conquer the galaxy. Realizing the threat Don Jingi's forces posed, the space police appointed a space cop named Hawk to pilot a newly-constructed starfighter dubbed Hunting Dog to repel the impending invasion of the planet and protect Starlight from falling into the hands of the Obellon armada. After making final preparations, the starfighter, alongside its support craft Wild Cat (flown by Hawk's partner Esty) are subsequently launched to defeat the Obellon armada's invasion.
Hunting Dog and Wild Cat travel to various environments where they proceed to engage in battle against the Obellons and their commanders. After crippling the bulk of Don Jingi's army, Hunting Dog confronts the core of Crown and engages in a brutal duel against the mighty foe (who is implied to be controlled by General Don Jingi himself). Despite the core's strong defenses, the Hunting Dog manages to destroy the core, unleashing a chain reaction that causes Crown to self-destruct. In the midst of the explosion, Don Jingi is killed as a result, but both Hunting Dog and Wild Cat manage to escape imminent destruction in time.
In the epilogue, both Hawk and Esty return to GSAP in their two crafts to celebrate their victory against the Obellon Armada. Meanwhile however, Eagle is revealed to have survived the destruction of Crown. In his escape pod, he looks upon a locket containing a portrait of his family: his parents, himself and his younger brother - a same locket Hawk also happens to possess and cherish. Seeing this, he steers the spacecraft into the vacuum of space, possibly starting on a path of redemption.
Weapons[]
HD in its default arsenal
Hunting Dog is armed with three primary weapons and one universal secondary weapon. The weapons can be obtained and upgrade by colored power-ups that are periodically dropped by Wild Cat throughout each level. Upon obtaining the first power-up, two options will be deployed above and below Hunting Dog. Each of the primary weapons can be upgraded once to increase their strength in combat, and any further power-ups obtained once the corresponding weapon(s) are maxed out will instead produce a powerful firewall.
Laser - the default weapon of hunting dog, it fires a stream of rapid firing energy shots are unleashed directly in front of the fighter, which can easily destroy most smaller Obellons easily. It is the only weapon that is not lost upon losing a life (although it will downgrade a level if maxed out). When upgraded, the energy shots become longer, thus dealing more damage and gaining penetrating properties against weaker enemies, similar in function to the "Sever" in Thunder Force III.
Wave Shot - fires a stream of green, rapid-fire wave-shaped projectiles, one from Hunting Dog, and two from each of the options. Although they deal less damage than the Laser, they make up for it by covering a wider area, as well as penetrating through terrain. When upgraded, the wave shots become larger. They function similarly to the "Wave" in Thunder Force III.
Earthquake - fires two sets of bombs that travel in a 45 degree arc upwards and downwards from each of the Options, which upon making contact with any enemy or surface, will proceed to explode, creating a small explosion that deals splash damage to any enemy within its radius; the Hunting Dog meanwhile will fire a similar bomb straightforward. When upgraded, the bombs' explosion radius increases. They function similarly to the Spread Bomb and 2-Way missile from Gradius II combined together.
Homing Missile - deploys two missiles that will track down the nearest enemies, which upon impact will explode, dealing moderate damage.
Shield - creates a force-field type shield that surrounds Hunting Dog that can sustain three hits before dissipating, it can be recharged by picking up the respective power-up. The shield will change color from green to blue and then finally red to indicate how many hits it can absorb.
Options - upon obtaining the first power-up of any primary weapon, Hunting Dog will deploy two options above and below the craft. The Options enhance Hunting Dog's firepower by providing additional firepower as well as blocking weaker enemy fire. They can be switched to fire forwards or backwards by double tapping the fire button.
Firewall - When Hunting Dog obtains a power-up from any of its maxed-out primary weapons, it will unleash a powerful firewall that moves across the field of vision in both directions, destroying all small enemies and projectiles whilst damaging larger ones simultaneously.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Hunting Dog's overall design is based on the Fire LEO-03 "Styx" from Thunder Force III, sharing many of the latter's dimensions as well as possessing two of its weapons (Sever and Wave respectively).