Ajax
In this arcade shoot'em up your mission is to infiltrate the alien fortress during 6 levels, and to destroy the fortress and the alien. Sitting in Ajax H.Q., you must pilot the remote controlled drone ship to do this. The drone represents jet fighter (behind view) and helicopter gunship (top-down view). It may be moved on the screen, fire air-to-air and air-to-ground guns and pow bomb. Limitless hordes of mechanoid invaders, whose sole intent is the total domination of the Earth, will try to stop you. Exit from each level is guarded by the powerful boss, who you should eliminate.
SCREENSHOTS
PHYSICAL
HISTORY
A-Jax is a 1987 vertically scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for arcades. Initially only released in Japan, Imagine Software ported the game to the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Commodore 64, releasing the game in Europe as Typhoon.
The players control a "Tom Tiger" helicopter (in the 2D stage) and later a "Jerry Mouse" fighter jet (in the 3D stage), and shoot enemies in the air and bomb them on the ground, collecting power-ups and defeating bosses to advance levels.
The game was later released by Hamster Corporation as part of their Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2015 and Nintendo Switch in 2021; this version was included in Konami's Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection.
Gameplay
The game takes place in a fictional 2007, where an unnamed nuclear superpower had been working with aliens to construct an artificial planetoid. However, the aliens betrayed and invaded the superpower, cutting off all communication with the rest of the world, then beginning a conquest of the planet. Determined to prevent the aliens from using the planetoid to deploy nuclear weapons with impunity, the United Nations deploy the elite strike force A-Jax to cripple the alien campaign and destroy the planetoid.
The player combats the occupation forces using vehicles under operation code named 'A-Jax' created to liberate the Earth. Game play is divided into two scrolling sections with two different vehicles: the first being a vertical scrolling section with the helicopter and a rail scrolling stage with the jet/space fighter. The game spans eight stages and extends to 30,000 points, a second at 150,000 points.
During the helicopter segments, the player has access to four different weapons air-to-air weapons (Vulcan, 3-Way, Triple, Laser) and air-to-ground bombs. Each air-to-air weapon is available through their own specific pick-up icon, while picking up a B upgrades the bombs' speed and power. However, the helicopter can only equip one air-to-air weapon at a time, with the Bomb being constant. The player also has access to Options which add additional firepower. The jet segments contrast highly from the helicopter segments--they have a complete lack of available power-ups and additional weapons beyond a machine gun and bomb.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed A-Jax on their January 15, 1988 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the year.
1CC RUNS
One-credit clears we point to as the benchmark for this game.
GAMEPLAY VIDEO
STORES
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