The Manbow-J (マンボウJ in Japanese) is the main protagonist of the 1989 shoot 'em up Space Manbow. It is an unusually-shaped spacecraft discovered from the ancient civilization found in the Alphard 4 ruins. Having roughly the same power as its evil counterpart Space Manbow, it was sent by humanity to destroy the giant spaceship before it destroys the Solar System.
History[]
In the Stellar Calendar year 189, the Interstellar Union discovered the ruins of an ancient civilization located on Alphard 4 that was believed to have gone extinct of tens of thousands of years previously. Wanting to learn more about the civilization's culture, they sent a group of space archeologists to the desolate planet to explore the ruins and learn about the secrets its kept hidden for so long. Upon exploration, they discovered that the planet's civilization was far more advanced than humans ever were. Eventually however, as the expedition got deeper within the ruins, they accidentally triggered the ancient civilization's defensive system, which despite its age was still fully functional. The system deemed the intruders' as hostile, and began attacking them, leading to mass casualties. The system also detected the intruders' point of origin: the Solar System, and proceeded to launch a large spaceship resembling a sunfish to destroy the Interstellar Union fleet using a super weapon capable of firing anti-postitron energy, which was strong enough to destroy stars. To make matters worse, the spaceship (which the humans dubbed Sun-Fish), was surrounded in an ultradense material called Neutronium, whose force-field stretched 100 kilometers wide, preventing anyone or anything from coming near it.
Of the few survivors of the expedition's crew, one star archeologist named Kliever Myu took up the task to stop this impeding threat by means of piloting a successor craft called the Manbow-J that was dug out of the ruins prior to the security incident. Despite its small size and unusual shape, was just as powerful as the Sun-Fish. Kliever also found that the force-field could be penetrated by means of a warp gate found deep within the Alphard 4 ruins, which would teleport the Manbow-J within the force-field once entered, but to get there, he knew he would have to go through the civilization's defense system once more. With the mission planned out, the survivors of the Interstellar Union launched the ancient spacecraft, hoping to destroy the Sun-Fish before it reached the Solar System and destroyed it.
The Manbow-J travels through the ruins of Alphard 4, fighting through the defense system of the ancient civilization along the way to the Warp Gate, along the way destroying numerous forms of ancient super weapons. Eventually upon reaching the Warp Gate, the Manbow-J overcame its defensive weaponry and traveled through the gate, where it was warped within the vicinity of the Sun-Fish inside its force field. As the Sun-Fish neared the Solar System, Manbow-J rushed to confront the giant spaceship, leading to a decisive battle taking place. Despite the fact that the Sun-Fish was well-armed, the Manbow-J managed to destroy the spaceship, ending the threat it posed on the Solar System.
Crossover Appearances[]
Airforce Delta Storm[]
The Manbow-J makes a guest appearance in Airforce Delta Storm. Like its mainstream counterpart, its most distinguishing feature is its unusual shape. As with most guest aircraft, it has all-around stats, however its mobility is only average. Its strange, awkward size and shape makes it a poor choice for completing certain missions, and its high price tag makes the craft a further disappoint. In the end, the Manbow-J is a mediocre choice overall.
Airforce Delta Strike[]
The Manbow-J returns in the sequel, under the name MANBOU-J, unfortunately its stats are much worse than in Airforce Delta Storm, being awful compared to other in-game aircraft. Its weapons are also very bad, as it uses rockets instead of missiles, and its special weapon is a bomb version of the Wide Area Mass Destruction Rocket in-game, when such a limited range, that using will almost certainly destroy the craft. It is generally considered the worst of the Konami Legacy planes.
Weapons[]
The Manbow-J is armed with several useful weapons to clear the ruins' defenses and destroy any enemy that gets in its way. Its two primary weapons can be upgraded using a power meter by means of red power-up capsules that are dropped by certain enemies. The meter however slowly depletes overtime, so collecting red capsules is essential for survival.
- Needle Shot - the default weapon of the Manbow-J, it fires a single bolt forward, that has a semi-automatic fire rate and can destroy most small enemies easily. When upgraded, the bolt will become bigger and take the shape of an infinity symbol (∞).
- Spread Wave - fires a spread shot consisting of three waves. The shots have a bigger hitbox, cover a wider range, and deal more damage than the Needle Shot, however they have a slower fire rate. When upgraded, the waves change color and become slightly bigger in size, on top of dealing more damage overall.
- Mass Destruction Bomb - an uncommon weapon that can be obtained when the Manbow-J collects a blue capsule. When deployed, it will create a powerful explosion, destroying all enemies within the field of vision. The bomb can be deployed at anytime, however it only has a single use per capsule.
Options - When the Manbow-J obtains an "O" power-up, it will create a small option that will position itself above and below the craft, which will provide additional firepower by means of a simple bolt shot. Though providing additional fire is certainly of big help, the true esseence of having options lie in firing direction of options can be changed to three: front (full frontal attack), back and XY-axis which allow options to shoot top and bottom while Manbow-J shoots at the front thus provide 3-way offense. Up to two options can be equipped to the craft.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Manbow in Japanese means a sunfish.