Choplifter II scores 7/10 in the verdict of The Games Market editorial team.
Once Upon a Time
Choplifter II, Save Them All!
by Simon Larocca·December 3, 2023
Non I can’t tell you exactly when and where my passion for helicopters was born, and the related video games that feature them, but I do know for sure which title won me over.
Parlo di Choplifter, seminal in its genre and which I got to know thanks to an arcade cabinet, one of the many scattered around the bars and clubs of Italy, a game with immediate and simple gameplay, at least on paper: yes, because rescuing war hostages while you are being targeted by tanks, enemy bases and rockets fired by jets streaking through the skies all around your helicopter will not be an easy feat to accomplish, I can assure you.
The title I’m talking about today, however, is its official sequel, a much sought-after Game Boy exclusive among collectors both and especially for its uniqueness, since it was not ported to any other platform.
Choplifter II was released in 1991, the year in which war was entering television screens all over the world, unfortunately, so the game developed by Beam Software (a company that stood out for a multitude of video games produced for Nintendo) initially arrived quietly, however promising gameplay very different from the crowd, with an approach that was not based on offense: in fact, it is not about destroying everything we find on the screen, but rather finding, getting on board, and then rescuing people, soldiers who have done their duty and who only want to return home to their families.
Un strong, powerful concept, hidden behind a handheld console game, and which in the end decreed its success, with critics and audiences.
La handheld console from good old Nintendo does its duty admirably on screen: the helicopter is reproduced faithfully, even though the Game Boy does not have the graphical capabilities of the most famous home entertainment systems of the time, the levels enhance the game’s increasing difficulty with a triumph of armored vehicles and missiles that will force us into spectacular, lightning-fast maneuvers to avoid the Game Over!
Every time we identify the hostages to be brought to safety, the boarding operations will be put to the test by the arrival of enemies, obviously "set" on the hitbox activated by the landing skids of our vehicle upon contact with the ground.
I fondly remember (with plenty of nostalgia) a match in which I had to take off who knows how many times, effectively interrupting the rescue of the soldiers (and imagining them hurling at me a whole series of insults in binary language that can’t be repeated!) so as to avoid the crossfire from the tanks that had targeted me.
Spoiler: in the end I managed to load the hostages and bring them back to base, but at the cost of a couple of lives.
Choplifter II belongs to that category of video games that cannot be missing from your collection, either because of its rarity, or because truly impressive titles that made arcade history featuring helicopters are not all that many, after all.
An atypical shooter, able to offer hours of wholesome fun, taking control of a fascinating vehicle and flying over war scenarios with a noble purpose.
And the job is done.
7
Pro
Immediate concept, which guarantees depth thanks to gameplay that is not trivial
Increasing difficulty that will test reflexes and coordination
“Save and run away” approach not so widespread, yesterday as today
Contro
Levels with a basic and not very varied design
Piloting the helicopter with GameBoy controls requires effort
The game's difficulty might keep away those who don't have much patience.
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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