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Mr. Heli
Japanese arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Irem
Publisher(s)	Irem
Composer(s)	Masahiko Ishida
Platform(s)	Arcade, Amiga, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, PC-Engine, Virtual Console, Evercade VS.
Release	Arcade: JP: November 6, 1987 NA: December 1987 EU: Early 1988 Ports: 1989
Genre(s)	Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	1-2 players alternating turns
Arcade system	Irem M-72 system hardware

Mr. Heli, fully titled in Japan as Mr. HELI no Daibōken (Ｍｒ．ＨＥＬＩの大冒険, "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.

Gameplay

Players control a wacky fighter chopper named Mr. Heli, while shooting enemies, collecting power-ups, and defeating bosses to advance levels.

Ports

Mr. Heli was ported to the Commodore 64, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Atari ST by Firebird, as well as to 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 was then released for the first time in the United States and Europe on February 1, 2018.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Mr. Heli on their January 15, 1988 issue as being the fifth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

Ciarán Brennan of Your Sinclair magazine reviewed the arcade game, calling it "a lovely little game" that is "very imaginative and beautifully" paced. ACE magazine reviewed the PC Engine version in 1989, rating it 890 out of 1000 and listing it as one of the top five best games available for the console.

Legacy

Mr. Heli later appeared in the Japan-only Game Boy title Shuyaku Sentai Irem Fighter, along with other characters from the game, as well as characters from three other Irem franchises: R-Type, Ninja Spirit and Hammerin' Harry. Mr. Heli was mentioned in one of the billboards seen in the final stage of Irem's Vigilante and also appeared in R-Type Final as a playable ship. Battle Chopper is also available on the Evercade retro games console as part of the Irem Arcade collection cartridge.

Mr. Heli has also been noted for inspiring Barunba.

References

1. Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 120–1. ISBN 978-4990251215.
2. "Mr. Heli (Registration Number PA0000412487)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
3. ^ Brennan, Ciarán (10 March 1988). "Slots of Fun". Your Sinclair. No. 28 (April 1988). pp. 78–9.
4. Tanaka, Haruhisa; x68303 (25 March 2014). "R-Type Creator Interview (クリエイターインタビュー): Masahiko Ishida (石田雅彦)". Shooting Gameside (in Japanese). Vol. 9. Micro Magazine. pp. 58–65. ISBN 978-4896374551.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2018-01-17 at the Wayback Machine).
5. Mr.HELIの大冒険 | Wii U | 任天堂
6. Battle Chopper for Wii U – Nintendo Game Details
7. Battle Chopper | TurboGrafx | Games | Nintendo
8. Game review, Computer & Video Games issue 93, August 1989, page 72
9. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 – テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 324. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1988. p. 21.
10. "Console Wars" (PDF). ACE. No. 26 (November 1989). October 1989. p. 144.
11. Joystick (71 ed.). July 1991. p. 72. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
12. Aktueller Software Markt (1990/08-09 ed.). p. 73. Retrieved 27 July 2024.

External links

Arcade version

• Mr. Heli no Daibōken at the Killer List of Videogames
• Battle Chopper at the Killer List of Videogames
• Mr. Heli at the Killer List of Videogames
• Mr. Heli no Daibouken at Arcade History
• Battle Chopper at Arcade History

Home versions

• Mr. Heli at Atari Mania
• Mr. Heli at Lemon 64
• Mr. Heli at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
• Mr.Heli at CPC Game Reviews

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• 1987 video games
• Amiga games
• Amstrad CPC games
• Arcade video games
• Atari ST games
• Commodore 64 games
• Helicopter video games
• Irem games
• Multiplayer and single-player video games
• Multiplayer hotseat games
• Scrolling shooters
• TurboGrafx-16 games
• Video games developed in Japan
• Virtual Console games for Wii U
• Virtual Console games
• ZX Spectrum games
• Scrolling shooter video game stubs