The Strike Gunner, also known as S.T.G "Strike Gunner", S.T.G and Modified F-14 "Strike Gunner" is the main vehicle of the game Strike Gunner S.T.G.
Development[]
This multirole aircraft was designed to combat the enemy alien forces that betrayed their former ally Sovinia, which worked with the Earth forces on the S.T.G development. Only two units were developed and are currently operational during the events of Strike Gunner.
Design[]
Based on the Grumman (now Northrop-Grumman) F-14 "Tomcat", the Strike Gunner was designed as a multirole interceptor with long range weaponry and experimental energy weapons that provides it a heavy offensive capability in combat. Equipped with variable geometry wings which maintain sweep at the optimum lift-to-drag ratio as the speed of the S.T.G increases. While it lacks of a tailhook like the F-14 or any carrier-based aircraft, it does have a catapult on the front gear to be launched, while it has handles on the engines to attach to the aerial carrier at the end of each mission.
An exclusivity of the Strike Gunner is the capability of combine the jets into a larger one. The pilot who initiated the fusion becomes the leader who controls the merged ship and the partner becomes the gunner who controls a special weapon exclusive of this mode.
Armament[]
- GUNS: 1 x 20mm Vulcan cannon which can be upgraded via powerups into a 4 bullet frontal fire with variable firing rate.
Power Units[]
- SHIELD UNIT: This provides the S.T.G a temporary force field that makes it invincible to enemy fire and collisions, with a moderate consumption of the energy bar, players can use this weapon plenty of times to keep them away from tight spots and mostly keep them away from harm during boss fights.
- HOMING MISSILE: Fires two missiles that lock on targets. This is another weapon that consumes an average amount of energy.
- ATOMIC MISSILE: Drops a missile that generates a large blast that destroys everything on screen and inflicts tremendous damages on bosses. All of these benefits come with a cost: Large energy consumption at the point of being able to fire 6 bombs before depleting your energy bar.
- LASER CANNON: This weapon fires a quite long twin laser fire that inflicts considerable damages to the enemies and mostly on bosses without consuming too much energy. In the weapon select select screen is called "LAZER CANNON".
- COMRADE FIGHTER: These are side-ships that act as additional pods that provide extra firepower. However, this is only a temporary measure as the comrades can be destroyed before they retreat and summon them again.
- ANTI AIR MINE: This is an Defensive-Offensive weapon. Drops mines on screen that will float until an enemy or a bullet touches them. The small explosion will both damage the enemies that get in contact and destroy the bullets that get on its path.
- SONIC WAVE: Another screen-clearing weapon like the Atomic Missile. Emits an energy pulse that destroys small enemies and bullets alike. Since it is weaker than the Atomic Missile, it consumes less energy.
- PHOTON BLASTER: This is a laser type weapon that shoots a twin energy orb that swings based on the player's movement. It requires some mastery to take multiple enemies with one single attack. This weapon is wrongly named "PHOTON BLASTR".
- SPRAY MISSILE: Fires missiles on a "frontal-curved" trajectory in random flight angles, Its firing rate depends on how fast the play taps the button. In the weapon select screen it is wrongly called "SPLAY MISSILE".
- AUTO-AIMING VULCAN: A machine gun fire that aims to the nearest enemy. It is wrongly called "AUTOAIMIG VALCAN".
- MEGABEAM CANNON: SNES-only Weapon #1. The Megabeam Cannon fires a mega-laser that consumes all the energy bar in one shot, but dealing a massive amount of damage and even boss destruction in one shot.
- SONIC SHOOTER: SNES-only Weapon #2. Fires a crescent shaped shot that passes through multiple enemies.
- PHOTON TORPEDO: SNES-only Weapon #3 and Replacement of the Photon Blaster. Fires 4 energy orbs in a specific direction based on the opposite direction of the ship's movement (Moving up fires backwards, left fires right, etc.) acting as an offensive countermeasure to keep the Strike Gunner safe from harm and attacking the enemy at the same time.
- ADHESIVE BOMB: SNES-only Weapon #4. This is similar to the Anti Air Mine, but the mine explodes once it latches on an enemy. You can fire mines non-stop until the energy bar depletes, which basically is of very low consumption, granting you a good amount of pain-dealing attacks to your enemies. The weapon select screen writes its name as "ADHESIV BOMB".
- HEAVY VULCAN: SNES-only Weapon #5. Fires a rapid machine gun artillery of moderate strength, making this weapon very useful when the player loses firepower after losing a life. Like the Auto-Aiming Vulcan, it suffers the engrish "VALCAN" naming.
- HEAT ARROW: SNES-only Weapon #6. At first, this weapon fires bullets in a circular pattern similar to Axelay's Round Vulcan, then it fires bullets on any direction becoming a very helpful weapon against the enemies on the sides and behind you.
Combination Exclusive Weapon[]
- 360° VULCAN: When the S.T.G's are combined, the player who takes the role as the "Gunner" can fire a powerful vulcan which can be aimed on any direction.
Curiosities[]
- Being based on the F-14, the Strike Gunners are double seated aircraft, but there's no mention of the RIO or WSO that follow the pilots.