Surprise Attack

Overview

Surprise Attack is a sci-fi side-scrolling platformer-shooter developed and released by Konami for arcades in 1990.

Set in futuristic 2031, the game puts players in control of lone task force agent John Ryan (codenamed: "Red Thunderbolt") as he infiltrates a space station around Earth's orbit (Space Station 2CVG), which has been hijacked in large numbers by the terrorist group "Black Dawn", and then take the fight to them at their moon base.

Playing similar to other platformer-shooters of the time (namely Rolling Thunder and Shinobi), Surprise Attack is known for its sci-fi setting, its use of gravity control (with several sections allowing players to inverse the hero's gravity at-will), and its gratuitous use of both sprite scaling and English (with some of the most notable examples being "U DID IT" after collecting each time bomb and "Clearance point of this mission" for the area's exit). It is also known for its quiz segments that occur between most chapters, most of which deal with topics related to science and sci-fi.

While the game received no home conversions at the time, and did not receive any inclusion in any of Konami's arcade compilations, the game later received a digital release for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on March 21, 2024, both as part of HAMSTER's Arcade Archives series.

Gameplay

Surprise Attack is a single-joystick, dual-button game, with one button as Shoot and the second as Jump. Along with shooting enemies and collecting items, the game's objective is to either move to the exit "Clearance Point" after defusing (collecting) all time bombs, or to defeat the level's boss, within the time limit.

Similar to games like Rolling Thunder, players can use the joystick in combination with the Jump button to make larger leaps over railings between multiple floors. Some areas are unique in that instead of multiple floors, players invert the hero's gravity at-will.

Items

These items are scattered throughout each non-Boss area.

• Time Bomb - Required to complete the area.

• Grenade Disc - Upgrades the hero's firepower from a "normal disc" to a more powerful "grenade disc" for the remainder of the area.

• Mover Fuel - Supercharges the hero's suit, allowing them to fly freely for a short amount of time while emitting electric discharges to the ground (granting temporary invincibility and damaging all enemies in contact with him). However, this negates a score bonus at the end of the area.

Chapters

With certain exceptions, each of the seven chapters include three areas, the third of which is the boss battle. There are 18 areas in total.

1. The Revolving Dot - A single-area chapter set outside of the space station itself.
2. Man Called Red Thunderbolt - Set inside the main areas of the space station. Boss: Spread Laser System.
3. The Beckoning Moon Shuttle - Set inside the space station, towards the moon shuttle. Boss: Security Pod.
4. Fly Me To The Moon - Set inside the moon shuttle. Boss: Bowler.
5. Hornets Nest - A two-area chapter set outside the moon shuttle, the second of which is entirely inverted.
6. Man In The Moon Forgot How to Laugh.. - Set on the outskirts of the moon base. Boss: Moon Cruiser.
7. Day The Moon Came Home - Set deep inside the moon base. The second area has a surprise mid-boss: PIG 10000. Final Boss: Brutus 03.