Koutetsu Yousai Strahl

Koutetsu Yousai Strahl is a very competent shmup, developed by UPL and it's also their final arcade game before their bankruptcy.

Interestingly, this game took some pieces of dialogue from Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, like this one and this other one.

Was UPL a fan of Star Wars? This will remain a mystery...

This game uses the NMK004 soundchip, so guess what? Yes, a bootleg version with Raiden music and sound effects exists.

Regional Differences#

Copyright#

The Japanese version displays a standard export copyright notice after the RAM/ROM check. The World version doesn't have an equivalent notice, and instead goes straight to the dip switch setup after the RAM/ROM check, followed by the game's plot.

Plot#

'...But what does it mean?' This game has text or audio that needs to be translated. If you are fluent with this language, please read our translation guidelines and then submit a translation!

Japan	World

• The Japanese version has the plot written in Japanese and with the text scrolling upwards.
• The World version has the plot written in English and with the text already on place. Because of this, the English plot takes two screens.

Tutorial#

The instructions are written in Japanese in the Japanese version, and in English in the World version.

In the Japanese version, the instructions text appears scrolling from right to left. In the World version, the instructions texts appears already on place.

Weapon Select#

Japan	World

In the Japanese version, the instruction text appears scrolling from right to left. In the World version, the instruction text appears already on place.

Name Entry and High Scores List#

Of course, per tradition of arcade games' localization, the name entry's character limit was dropped from 10 to 3 in the World version.

Revisional Differences#

There're two Japanese versions of the game: the original/old version (set 2 in MAME) and the new version (set 1 in MAME). The World version is based on the new Japanese version.

In Arcade Archives nomenclature, the old version is called "Previous Version", while the new version is called "New Version".

Japan (Old)	Japan (New)/World

The old Japanese version has a year date of 1991, suggesting that was originally planned to be released in 1991. The other versions, have a year date of 1992.

The new Japanese and World versions have a nice palette cycling effect on the game's logo that is not present in the old Japanese version. On the other hand, the latter has a smooth shine animation.

Difficulty#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Figure out all the difficulty differences.

The old Japanese version is reported to be more difficult than the other versions.

Other Differences#

• In the new Japanese and World versions, the continue countdown plays this squeaky sound every time it goes down. In the old Japanese version, the continue countdown is silent.

• In the old Japanese version, this screen appears after the staff roll sequence. In the new Japanese and World versions, it appears after you defeated the final boss and before the staff roll sequence.

• The old Japanese version gives you a whopping amount of 40 seconds to insert your name. In the other versions, it was halved to 20.
• The new Japanese and World versions have a nice (but rapid) palette cycling effect on the high scores list that is not present in the old Japanese version.