Sky Kid

Sky Kid is an arcade shooter developed by Namco in 1985. The game is actually represented by a trio of titles, including the original, and two subsequent revisions of the same game. The original game was developed on the Pac-Land hardware. Less than one year later, Namco redesigned the game using the graphically enhanced System 86 hardware and published it as Sky Kid Deluxe. Deluxe contained all the elements of the original, and added a few new characters, as well as four new missions inserted among the original 21. That same year, Namco developed a version of Sky Kid for the Famicom that was very similar to, but slightly different from, the original. This version of the game was brought back into the arcades as Vs. Super Sky Kid (sometimes referred to as Vs. Sky Kid, or Super Sky Kid) utilizing Nintendo's Vs. arcade hardware.

All three games are fundamentally the same. You pilot a biplane in a World War I era battle. You have two abilities at your disposal. You can fire a gun with an unlimited amount of ammo (but a limited range), and you can perform a loop that makes you temporarily invulnerable. Your goal is to travel across the terrain, dodging attacks that come from the air as well as from the ground, collect a bomb that is deposited somewhere along the ground, and drop it on a mission target to destroy it. Some missions contain multiple bombs and targets. Many missions also contain hidden items and bonus point opportunities.

The Famicom conversion of Sky Kid was converted for play outside of Japan by SunSoft. This conversion was also converted for play on the Game Boy and contained in the compilation Namco Gallery Vol. 3. Among the three versions of the Sky Kid, only the original arcade version has been commonly included in compilation titles. Sky Kid Deluxe has only been released in one compilation that was released in Japan, Namco Collection Vol. 1 for Windows.

Difference in Deluxe

 * 1) Deluxe uses the enhanced System 86 hardware which allows for greater variety in simultaneous colors.
 * 2) The color of the sky is no longer only light blue, but a range of colors including blues, grays, and reds.
 * 3) Four new missions (X1 through X4) are inserted between the existing 21 missions.
 * 4) Snow falls from the sky (only in missions X1 and X3).
 * 5) New characters and mission targets have been included.
 * 6) Instead of only one back ground music track produced by a PSG source, Deluxe has two tracks produced by an FM sound source.