Ultima Fighters

Heroic Vehicle
Full Name	Ultima-X (1P) Ultima-Z (2P)
Alias	Ultima Fighters
Origin	Sengeki Striker
Transportation	Fighter Jets
Creation	Unknown
Location	Land Base Sea Base Sky Space Station The Moon
Users	Unnamed Pilots (Players)
Usage / Powers	Flight Space Travel Armaments Wide Vulcan Bomb Gambits control Vulcan Laser
Purposes	Destroy the Banished War Machines
Status	Determinant
Type of Heroic Vehicle	Versatile Aircrafts

The Ultima Fighters are the main protagonists of the 1997 shoot 'em up Sengeki Striker. They are pair of fighter jets that embark on a mission to rid Earth of an army of rogue artificially-intelligent war machines which were banished prior to the game's events.

History

By the 21st century, humanity has finally achieved what was thought to be impossible: world peace. In response, they discarded numerous war machines into outer space in an attempt to end warfare permanently, but before they were able to embrace the utopian concept, an unimaginable nightmare fell upon them. An evil force that loathed peace and promoted war reactivated the banned machines whilst upgrading them to have their own artificial intelligence. With this mechanical army, the evil force attacked Earth, ravaging the planet in its wake. The force was nearly unstoppable, but fortunately for humanity there was hope, for they too had machines: ones made for peace: the Ultima Fighters. Two pilots, one male and one female were chosen to pilot these two fighters in an attempt to destroy the machines before it was too late.

The Ultima Fighters travel across Earth's surfaces, battling the rogue war machines by land, sea, and air. They then proceed to take the fight to space in an attempt to locate the source of the war machines' power. After annihilating their forces at a space station, they then travel to the Moon's orbit, where after battling a massive hostile space cruiser they locate the leader of the machines: a purple space plane armed with two independent cannons resembling the fighters' Gambits. The fighters endure a prolonged battle against the formidable enemy, dodging a near-bull hell of energy shots before managing to destroy the spacecraft in a massive explosion.

In order to complete the game, the fighters must repeat their mission progress a second time, and after destroying the aforementioned space plane again, they finally bring an end to the war machines for good.

Weapons

The Ultima Fighters are armed with a unique set of weapons. In order to obtain or upgraded said weapons, the fighters must collect power-ups that are dropped by destroying certain enemies.

• Wide Shot - the fighters' primary weapon, it fires a standard spread shot can eliminate small enemies fairly quickly, but requires additional firepower against larger enemies and bosses. When upgraded, the number of shots fired and their spread increases. Collecting an orange "P" power-up will upgrade the fighters' primary weapon.

• Bomb - deploys a bomb which instantly detonates into a large explosion, destroying all small enemies and projectiles instantly, whilst causing very high damage against larger ones and bosses. The fighters only have a limited stock of bombs, so they must use them strategically. Additional bombs can be added when collecting orange "B" power-ups.

• Gambits - the fighters' signature support device in the form of an option-like pod, when either a "V" or "L" power-up is obtained, a Gambit will be deployed and fire the respective weapon represented on the power-up. Up to 4 Gambits can be obtained at once. It should be noted that although Gambits are very durable, they are not invincible like R-9 Crafts' Force Pods: when taken enough hits, Gambits will be destroyed. When this happens, players must make it a priority to replace lost Gambits asap. Fortunately, this only occurs in the 1st loop of the game. In the 2nd loop, Gambits will become invincible. Gambits will also be lost if the fighter is destroyed.
  • Vulcan - when obtaining a blue "V" power-up, the Gambits will fire a blue, triangular shot, which when in its charged state will home into nearby enemies and aim the shot in any direction, granting the weapon full coverage.
  • Laser - when obtaining a purple "L" power-up, the Gambits will fire a purple laser shot, which when in its charged state will fire a large beam straightforwards. The weapon deals more damage than the Vulcan, but lacks its directional coverage.

Gallery

in-game sprite

1p pilot

2p pilot

Trivia

• Sengeki (閃激) in Japanese means 'flash assault'.