When I asked Bianca which games she played in her youth, she described me a game she played with her cousin on a SEGA Master System which, featured an helicopter saving people.

As a long time C64 player, I immediately recognized Broderbund Choplifter (1982) but when I displayed her some screenshots, she surprisingly said that the game she played wasn't that at all. That left me mildy troubled for the days following: I took the opportunity and decided to add the game to the Wright! TODO list in order to further investigate the case.

Time passed and, just before coding my own version as usual, I discovered this game interesting story: it falls in the early movie-like videogames experiments, with fluid animations, smooth camera and a story inspired by war movies. It was originally thought to be so realistic by its original author, Dan Gorlin, that Broderbund helped him to make it simplier and more playable.

But, together with its past, the truth behind its conversions unfolded and surprised me: Choplifter was born as home computer videogame on Apple II, then ported on other home systems as it used to be - including the C64 conversion I used to play. Then, 3 years later, it has been ported to the arcades (?) and improved by SEGA... which ported it back to its home console, the SEGA Master System - the version Bianca and her cousin played. Well... a quite unusual porting chain and facelift!

The Rare beat'em up Battletoads (1991) is another example of a home videogame being ported to arcades and, in some way, in a more weird fashion.

One of the most famous and appreciated sidescroller beat'em up of the past was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989) arcade game for sure. It featured pretty large and nicely animated sprites, a slick gameplay and everything, from graphics to musics and effects, managed to catch the original animation series funny mood.

The resemblance of Battletoads characters with the Ninja Turtles wasn't by chance: the game was born in order to ride the wave of interest around the TMNT. The final result was so stunning that it deserved a place in history: as a home-exclusive beat'em up, it was a fantastic one, with charming characters, funny animations and a fine and various gameplay. Its success lead the game to more sequels and crossovers, culminating with its arcade version made in 1994 - the home of his long-time competitor - which sales were so mediocre that settled the last installment of the game.

As time passes, we change so much we can't recognize ourselves and our goals anymore, as it happened to Choplifter and Battletoads. Well, c'est la vie.

Plot!

You are the only hope of our prisoners of war! Find them with your trusty helicopter, shoot down their jails and get them safely to the base! But be careful! Your enemies are going to stop you... at any cost!

Use LEFT/RIGHT for moving your helicopter. Use the A BUTTON for firing and the B BUTTON for changing your helicopter side. Break the POW jails with your gun and then land nearby to get them on board - just don't squish them when landing! When your helicopter is full - or things are getting too hot - take off and bring them back to the base, landing on the helipad. Good luck!

PS: Looking for suitable audio samples for a game is time consumimg, so some late Wright! games are still missing sound effects. While I think that they are still enjoyable and suits their purpose, I'll improve some of them little by little, without evolving in a Plus! versions. Copter is the first of the bunch.

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Install / Add to home View game sources ...or play it online below!