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The Moon Diver (ムーンダイバー in Japanese) is the overreaching protagonist of the Namco's 1989 shoot 'em up Dangerous Seed. It is a unique spacecraft that is formed when three smaller sub-ships known as Alpha, Beta, and Gamma combine together, inheriting all of their weapons and abilities. It is sent to destroy an alien race known as the Danger Seed before it is able to wipe out mankind.
History[]
In the 25th Century, when an alien race known as the Danger Seed invades the Solar System in an attempt to eliminate humanity a trio of three spaceships stationed in the lunar military outpost known as Alpha, Beta, and Gamma are sent to destroy the threat before it's too late. 2 male soldiers and 1 female soldier are entrusted to fulfill this vital mission and off they scrambled with the fate Solar System hanging on their shoulders.
Alpha encounters the alien race on Earth, where it battles the enemy is areas known as "tubes" in-game. About halfway through the tubes, it is joined by Beta, as the two ships combine to together to form a more powerful intermediate ship. Once the final tube on Earth is cleared, the two ships are joined by the third member Gamma, as they further merge to form the Moon Diver, this final form then blasts off to Mars in order to fight off more of the Danger Seeds' forces. In the arcade the first four battles in tubes are much more difficult and brutal, for the said four stages must be cleared with Alpha Ship (the weakest spacecraft out of the three) alone. And unlike Megadrive port, there is no way to resurrect a ship that had been lost in the battle which means whatever ships survived and made through the four stages in the tube are ships players will have to go with - not to mention any lost ship(s) will cause Moon Diver to possess less durability and firepower which will make the rest of the battle that much harder.
The Moon Diver eliminates the enemy on each of the Solar System's planets. In the original arcade version of the game, after clearing planet Uranus which is the seventh stage, Moon Diver heads to Danger-Seed's Target Planet for the final battle. In the Megadrive version of the game, the war extends to Saturn, Neptune and Pluto, practically battling in an entirety of Solar System before taking the fight to the Target Planet where Danger Seed forces reside. Either way, ultimately making its way to the Target Planet, where the craft locates and battles against the Danger Seeds' leader, a giant heart-shaped creature with a skull for a face. Using all of its weapons, the Moon Diver destroys the leader, before fleeing the planet as it begins to explode in a chain-reaction.
In the aftermath, the craft returns back to Earth, with the mission having been completed successfully. In the arcade ending however, the ending is a cliffhanger as the game ends with an ominous quote
| “ | But, peace is not always kept long. To be continued... | „ |
revealing what appears to be the supreme commander of Danger Seed race.
Specifications[]
| Weight | 8.2 t |
| Length | 10.2 m |
| Height | 7.3 m |
| Crew | 3 (α + β + γ) 2 (β + γ) 1 (α, β, γ separately) |
| Width | 9 m |
Weapons[]
Being made of three smaller sub-ships, the Moon Diver possess a wide ranges of weapons, some of which are unique to each sub-ship respectively. Nearly every weapon can be upgraded a determinant number of times to boost its effectiveness in battle, which is achieved by destroying flashing enemies and obtaining the power-ups that they leave behind. Once Moon Diver is achieved, each primary weapon will behave differently depending on which sub-ship is active, with alpha firing forwards, Beta firing in a V-shape, and Gamma firing in two directions (front and back).
- Normal Shot - the default weapon of all sub-ships, it fires a rapid-fire spread forwards at an incredibly fast rate, capable of destroying small enemies with ease. When upgraded, the number of shots and the width of the spread increases, which widens even further upon combining with each respective sub-ship. In the arcade, normal shot's width and velocity increases over time without having to obtain particular item.
- Secondary Shot - a universal weapon obtained once two sub-ships are combined together. It fires a sub-weapon in the form of two wave shots in the intermediate form and ring shots in the final form. Their movement pattern varies depending on which sub-ship is active. They will fire forwards at an angle when Alpha is active, to the sides when Beta is active, and backwards when Gamma is active.
- Bomb - a weapon that differs between each sub-ship, when more than one ship is combined together, all active bomb types are deployed when this weapon is used. There are a limited amount of bombs available, which are carried over by each craft, so they must be replenished by means of collecting power-ups.
- Ring-Laser - bomb version unique to Alpha, it fires three homing ring shots that track down nearby enemies, they have penetrating properties and thus will move to a new target once the old one is destroyed.
- Melt-Missiles - bomb version unique to Beta, it fires up to three homing missiles that will track down nearby enemies before exploding into a ripple effect, causing secondary splash damage to any enemy unfortunate enough to move within the radius.
- Hyper-Bombs - bomb version unique to Gamma, it deploys a smart bomb that explodes after a short delay, dealing heavy damage to any enemy they hit.
- Energy Capsule - a unique power-up that fully restores the health of the active sub-ship. Each ship is capable of taking three hits before being destroyed. With each craft destroyed, the weapons become weaker respectively.
Hyper Booster - when obtained, the game screen suddenly goes very bright as this item allows Moon Diver to fast-forward significant portion of a stage where Hyper Booster is present. This saves Moon Diver tons of trouble having to shortcut armies of hostile Danger Seed forces instead of facing them inch by bloody inch. Hyper Booster is only available in arcade version of the game.
Weapons listed below are exclusive to Megadrive version of the game.
Laser - fires a thin laser that deals more damage than the other primary weapons and can penetrate through most enemies, it however has the slowest fire rate and narrowest spread. When upgraded, the width of the laser thickens, a second and third laser are added when combining with each sub-ship respectively.
Wide Shot - fires a wave shot forwards, it behaves similarly to the Normal Shot except that its edges can penetrate through enemies. When upgraded, the width of the wave shot increases. A second wave shot is added when combining with sub-ship, greatly increasing its overall coverage at the cost of reduced forward firepower, followed by a third smaller wave shot that fires straightforwards.
Option - deploys two orb-shaped options that protect the active craft by flying in a double figure eight pattern, blocking enemy fire and dealing contact damage. When upgraded, the range of movement for the Options increases.
Speed-Up - a unique power-up that increases the movement speed of the craft that's active, up to six can be obtained. One must be careful though, as collecting too many will render the craft very difficult to control.
Restore Destroyed Craft - a rare and very important power-up that restores one of the crafts that was previously destroyed. Subsequent battles against Danger Seed will prove to be very brutal, and Moon Diver needs every pieces, firepower and durability it can collect and muster. Missing components of Moon Diver will make later battles that much tougher.