U.N. Squadron, also known as Area 88 (エリア88|Eria Hachi-Jū-Hachi), is an arcade game released by Capcom in 1989 that was ported to the Super Famicom two years later. It is based on Kaoru Shintani's manga of the same name that was later turned into a three part OVA in 1985 by Studio Pierrot, and into a television series in 2004 by Group TAC. The game is a horizontal scrolling shooter in the vein of R-Type and Gradius. It was followed by Carrier Air Wing in 1990.
Story
Shin Kazama is engaged to his girlfriend, Ryoko, and is on the verge of graduating flight school. He has dreams of becoming an airline pilot for his fiancée's father's airline corporation, but one night in Paris, his backstabbing friend Kanzaki takes him to a bar and has him get drunk enough to trick him into joining the Asran military, where he must serve for 3 years. And now there's only three ways he can get out: 1. He can serve his three year term, 2. He can buy his way out by earning $1,000,000 from destroying enemies, or 3. He can desert, which is considered a federal crime in Asran. In the fight against Project 4, Shin is joined by two pilots, Mickey Simon and Greg Gates.
Characters
Flyer (Japanese version).
- Shin Kazama - The main character of the story. He had dreams of being an airline pilot and being married to his girlfriend Ryoko, but his dreams were crushed when his friend Kanzaki tricked him into joining Area 88. Shin is the fastest character in the game, but also the weakest.
- Mickey Schymon - An American, Mickey is a man Shin befriends at Area 88. Mickey is a Vietnam veteran who abandoned his family after the war, because he was too used to killing people, and he joined Area 88. In the game, Mickey is the in-between character in that he has an even amount of speed and strength.
- Greg Gates - Not much is known about Greg. He has a big part in the game being that he's a playable character, but in the anime, while his role is prominent, he wasn't really a big or important character. He is the most powerful in the game however, but also the slowest.
- Commander Saki - The commanding officer at Area 88. He briefs the pilots on their missions and tells them what the payout will be for whoever destroys the main target.
- McCoy - He runs the weapons shop at Area 88 and sells weapons and other items to the pilots.
Trivia
- Lieutenant Henry, the player one character from Side Arms Hyper Dyne, appears as a bonus item.
- The TV-series adaptation of Area 88 was released in 2004. Both this version and the 1985 OVA were dubbed into English by ADV Films. In both versions, Shin is played by Chris Patton, who's best known as Sousuke Sagara in the anime Full Metal Panic.
- The manga, OVA, game and the TV-series each end differently.
- The bonus stage, where the player(s) has to get the bombs off of a plane carrying innocent civilians, is based on a scene from the 1985 OVA.
- The other characters from the manga and the two adaptations, including Ryoko and Kanzaki, do not appear anywhere in the game (technically those two in particular do appear, during the bonus stage).
Credits
Arcade Version
Planning: Mako P, Parazoll Shono, Poo
Direction: Kihaji Okamoto
Character Design: Manbou Shintan, Gokkun Kuratani, Rekite, Unicorn Mayumi, Traveler Kuramoyan, Holiday Kakkun, Haru San, Powerful Konomi, Fukumoyan, Femme Hana
Special Thanks: Satochin, Performer Masako, Ozborn, Konitan, Pets Komatsu, Kinta Matsumoto
Music Composer: Chan Chakorin
Hard Design: Kucchan
Programming: Blbon, Takɐko
Presented by: Capcom
SNES Version [SFX U.N. Squadron Staff]
Planner: Hisashi "mx5" Yamamoto
Programmer: Yoshito "Leo" Itoh, Masayuki "Imo" Akahori, Noriko "Cozy" Kojima, Koji "Yoshilim" Yoshida, Harunobu "Img" Imagawa
Object Design: Ikki
Title Design: Masao "Saksan" Sakurai, Mayumi "Tube" Tanabe
Scroll: Miki "Kix" Kijima, Yukari "Kakkun" Kakuta, Machako, Shizuyo "Ucchan" Ukai, Chiharu "Silkroad" Akagi
Sound Programmer: Sakaguchi
Sound Design: Bull, Mari, Ike-Bomb
English Story: Scott "Madman" Maxwell
Very Special Thanks: Kiyomi "Kanekon" Kaneko, "Bamboo", U.N. Squadron Arcade Staff
Special Thanks: Super Tom-Pon, Iriko-Chan, Minoru, Hide, Naked, Capcom Staff, and You!!
Presented by: Capcom
- note: Japanese SNES version credits list Masao "Saksan" Sakurai and Mayumi "Tube" Tanabe under Object Design rather than Title Design (the latter heading does not exist in that version). The Object Design credit for Ikki and the English Story credit for Scott "Madman" Maxwell are exclusive to overseas versions.
Gallery
Box Art/Merchandise/Ads
Screenshots
