Thanks to Bitwave Games for the review code
Title: Tiger Heli
System: Steam (PC)
Price: $7.99
Release Date: 02/01/2024
Story
In the first ever shooter from Toaplan, you fly with a helicopter and blow up everything. That’s literally all you get here, as there’s no plot of any kind. Still, this was a notable scorechaser that got the company on the map! So, how does this Bitwave port handle Toaplan’s first game? Well…
Presentation
Per the usual Bitwave Toaplan routine, you got several screen sizes, filters, and display options to choose from, including a TATE mode. They still look just as fine as before, both docked on a TV and even portably on the Steam Deck I use for review. The core game itself looks and seems to run relatively close to how my Evercade handles the game, and is a delight to control, with very quick response times. All good on that front.
Sadly, the big elephant of these ports returns in the form of the audio, as like with Slap Fight, this is a PSG audio game, and both the music and sound effects suffered from inaccurate emulation, just like in that game.
However, I should note that a few days before the review was to go live, Bitwave pushed a patch up that fixed the biggest and most annoying of these errors, as now the sound effects no longer wildly vary in pitch, and the music sounds more normal, with far, far better PSG audio emulation here than in Slap Fight.
…Then the literal day before this review hit your feeds, they sent out another patch that fixed the remaining notable music issues, and now the music and most of the sounds are pretty darn close to what it sounds like on the Evercade to me. It still doesn’t quite match how M2 nailed it on their collections, but the audio is now a lot more tolerable and shows actual effort is being made to fix this. The shots/explosions are pretty much close to what they should be and the music, while simplistic, is still catchy and way, way better than what I originally heard weeks ago. Kudos to Bitwave for promptly fixing what might have been another Slap Fight esque ordeal.
Gameplay
Tiger Heli, being Toaplan’s first shmup, is rather simplistic in the same way that Slap Fight was, if not more so. You have your usual shot and bomb buttons here, but considering how this was one of the very first shooting games to even have a bomb, they act a little differently here; your copter starts with two and they’re visible right on your wings, so if you end up using the left one, the other bomb will drop from the right side, thus meaning you will have to aim a bit if you wanna use it in a pinch.
Alternatively, you could have an enemy shot strike one of your bombs, which will automatically trigger the explosion and save you. However, doing this on purpose as a defensive technique is more likely to get you killed, but it serves as pretty much the fastest way to use them against a swarm of enemies. Considering how your main shot is pretty strong already, I stuck to using the bombs only as a last resort.
So shooting and bombing are the bulk of the game, and while used to clear out enemies and buildings ala Twin Cobra, there is one more mechanic that can come in handy, those being the floating + icons that change between different colors and serve as a powerup. With this, you can get a variety of different upgrades, including mini helis that shoot from the sides and make dealing with swarms of enemies much easier.
Usually these upgrades wouldn’t last long though, as Tiger Heli is really, really punishing, with a very short loop of stages that require tricky movement to even see the end of, and even clearing a stage is a tough task, since you can outright miss the helipad you’re meant to land on by dying right before reaching it or by completely overshooting it. Still, considering how the main focus of this game is on score, it does a good job of being a fast pick up and play title with some fun scoring secrets to discover, such as a vehicle on the train tracks and hidden point bonuses under obstacles. With the usual leaderboard/practice features returning, this is a good way to better your scores.
Conclusion
By some close call, Tiger Heli manages to avoid the same pitfall that plagued Slap Fight, and comes out as a buttery smooth, satisfying scorechaser with better, yet still not perfect PSG audio emulation. The game is very fun for quick bursts of play and scorechasing, and the usual QOL features and leaderboards work well at training newcomers for this defining Toaplan shooter.
However, even if we get into the realm of a pretty great playing port, that still leaves the other rocky aspect of Tiger Heli on full display, which is how the simplicity is also its biggest weakness. Sure, the game is super fun and easy to control and bombing a group of enemies in a pinch is always satisfying, but if you’re not into score chasing then you aren’t gonna find anything appealing about this shooter. You move, shoot, bomb, and if you’re lucky, maybe land on a helipad every now and then.
With not even a boss to fight in the game, this is a wonderful start for Toaplan as a shooting company, but a simple relic of a bygone era for fans of their later shmups, which carried the same addictive scoring aspect but also added a bunch of cool gimmicks and stages to the mix. Still, companies have to start somewhere, and in a bundle, Tiger Heli is still worth a play and is great fun to score chase. Just don’t expect the game by itself to engage you for hours on end unless you’re really into learning all the scoring tricks and secrets to take on the world.
I give Tiger Heli a 6 out of 10.