Top Gun (NES)

Top Gun is a flight-combat simulator based on the popular movie of the same name. It made children everywhere suffer at the sight of their plane crashing every time they tried to land the thing after a mission. Despite that, the game was still successful enough to spawn a sequel, Top Gun: The Second Mission.

Regional/Revisional Differences#

Copyright#

Japan	US Revision 0	US Revision 1/Europe	VS. System

The Japanese version has one copyright screen, whereas the US, European and VS. System versions have two. US Revision 1 (as well the VS. System version) revised the second copyright screen. In particular, it removed the claim that Konami had copyright and trademark ownership rights of the game. The European version uses the same screen as US Revision 1. US Revision 1 and European versions shares with the VS. System version a similar message that the game was desinged to play on their respective platforms.

Title Screen#

NES/FC	VS. System

The VS. System version shifts the game logo a bit downward and the Konami logo a bit upward to add the "VS.". It also recolors the Konami and Top Gun logos, making them more accurate to the originals, replaces PUSH START KEY! with INSERT COIN (if credits are not inserted), and shows the credit counter.

Lives#

While Top Gun gives you only three lives, VS. Top Gun allows you to increase the number of starting lives by inserting more coins in the machine.

This screen above appears once you start the game and when you get a game over and decide to continue.

Map Screen#

Japan	US/Europe/VS. System

The Japanese version's map screen is completely different compared to the US, European and VS. System versions.

Finishing a Mission#

Japan/VS. System	US/Europe

In the Japanese and VS. System versions, on the score tally screen when you finish a mission, you are shown an image of your plane with a star for each enemy destroyed on the side. In the US and European versions, the score tally screen is just a black screen.

Music#

In the US and European versions, there is no in-game music during normal gameplay. The in-game music appears at special times, such as while refueling, as well as during attract mode.

In the Japanese and VS. System versions, this is the complete opposite. The in-game music plays only during normal gameplay, and does not play at all during refueling or attract mode.

Notably, the US and European versions have two variants of the in-game music. The first is a loop of the first ten seconds and is used during refueling. The second is a complete version that is used during attract mode and is the same as the music used during normal gameplay in the Japanese and VS. System versions.

Take Off#

Japan/VS. System	US/Europe

The takeoff ramp is different between versions.

Gameplay#

As per tradition in VS. System games, VS. Top Gun cranks up the difficulty turning an already very difficult and demanding game into an insane fiendish nightmare:

• In general, VS. Top Gun is faster paced than Top Gun.
• Text typing during the map screen is faster in VS. Top Gun.
• During the missile selection, VS. Top Gun gives you ten seconds to decide which missile type you want to pick, while Top Gun gives you an unlimited amount of time.
• In VS. Top Gun, you have 25 seconds to refuel the plane; failing to do so in the allotted time will result in your plane remaining on low fuel, leading to a loss of a life once it runs out. In Top Gun, you have an unlimited amount of time.
• Enemies density and presence is much higher in VS. Top Gun.
• Also, enemies will fire bullets and missiles more often in VS. Top Gun.
• The landing sequence is much faster and shorter in VS. Top Gun.
• One positive note is that VS. Top Gun gives you the chance to continue the game after you get a game over, whereas in Top Gun, getting a game over means restarting the game from scratch.

Credits#

To do: Are the credits in the ROM of the US/European versions? If so, can they be accessed?

In the Japanese version, you get to see the credits after finishing the game.