| Mr. Heli | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Irem, Probe Software |
| Publisher(s) | Irem, Firebird Software |
| Year released | 1987 |
| System(s) | Arcade, Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128, TurboGrafx-16 |
| Genre(s) | Shooter |
|---|---|
| Modes | Single player, Multiplayer |
Mr. Heli, fully titled in Japan as Mr. HELI no Daibōken (Ｍｒ．ＨＥＬＩの大冒険? lit. Mr. Heli's Great Adventure) is a multidirectional scrolling shooter developed and published in arcades in 1987 by Irem. It was released in North America as Battle Chopper.
Mr. Heli was ported for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Atari ST by Probe Entertainment and Firebird Software, as well as for the PC Engine in Japan by Irem. This version was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console on March 18, 2008, only in Japan. It came back for the Wii U Virtual Console on April 15, 2015, in Japan and premiered in the United States and Europe on February 1, 2018. The Arcade original became part of Irem Arcade Hits for Mac and PC.
Mr. Heli would make cameo playable appearances in the Game Boy game Shuyaku Sentai Irem Fighter as well as R-Type Final.
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PC Engine cover
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ZX Spectrum/Amstrad CPC box
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Commodore 64/Amiga box
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US Commodore 64 box
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North American arcade title screen
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Japanese arcade title screen
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PC Engine title screen
Gameplay[edit]
Players control a wacky fighter chopper named Mr. Heli, while shooting enemies, collecting power-ups, and defeating bosses to advance levels. In each stage, Mr. Heli makes his way through a horizontal level fighting enemies coming in from either direction. Mr. Heli can turn around, but cannot progress backwards through the level. At the end of each level is a boss encounter.
As well as the standard forward-firing gun, Mr. Heli also has a missile which fires directly upwards and bombs which roll across the ground before exploding. With these two weapons, the player can destroy bricks above and below Mr. Heli to reveal gemstones, which add to the player's money total and power-up icons, which require the notified amount of money before they can be used. Power-ups will increase the strength of any of Mr. Heli's weapons, and can provide other benefits.