Gain Ground

Gain Ground
Screenshot from the Sega Master System version
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Composer(s)	Yuzo Koshiro
Platform(s)	Sega System 24, Sega Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 CD, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	1988
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Up to 3 players

Gain Ground is an arcade game that was ported to the Sega Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis and PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16). In 2004, it was re-released in Radica Games' TVPlay Legends Vol. II TV Games compilation. It was remade in the PlayStation 2 title Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 9: Gain Ground, which was released only in Japan. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was made available on the European and Australian Virtual Console on February 2, 2007, and was made available in North America on February 5, 2007. The game has also appeared on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Gameplay

In Gain Ground, players control one of a set of characters at a time. There are twenty characters, each with different weapons. To beat a level, players must reach the exit point with at least one character or destroy all enemies on the level before time runs out.

Littered across the level are captive characters, which can be rescued by walking over, then escorting the controlled character to the exit point. If a player controlled character is killed, that character turns into a captive, except that they will disappear if the next active player controlled character dies, exits the level without them, or the player has no characters left in their party.

The game is over when all controlled characters in the party are killed without any reaching the exit. However, there are three continues which allow a player to restart the level with their original three characters.

There are 40 levels in the arcade version of the game. The Master System and the Genesis/Mega Drive have 50 levels in the game. The last level can be beaten without the previously stated "suicide tactics".

Characters

There are twenty playable characters in Gain Ground, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each character has a minor, weak weapon which can be fired in any direction, and a special weapon which has different capabilities from the normal attack and which vary between characters.

The characters in Gain Ground also vary in which hand they hold their weapons. This was originally done purely for cosmetic purposes^{[citation needed]}, but it was very soon discovered that this feature made it easier for some characters to shoot around certain walls and obstacles than others. When selecting a character for a situation, one must consider the character's speed, weapon type and range, and with which hands they hold their weapons.

History

Gain Ground started off as an arcade game. Released in Japan and America in 1988, Gain Ground ran on the Sega System 24 architecture. It supported up to three players at once. Each player had an 8-direction controller and two buttons.

Gain Ground was ported to the Sega Master System in 1990 and the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. Renovation Products released the game in the United States. Both coversions were handled by Sanritsu. In 1992, a PC Engine Super CD-ROM² version (Gain Ground SX) was released by NEC Avenue. In 2004, the game was remade for a modern audience on the PlayStation 2 as part of Sega's Sega Ages 2500 series. It's now been ported onto the Wii's Virtual Console for download. In 2006, the game was re-released as part of the Sega Genesis Collection.

Storyline

From a Gain Ground flyer:

A long period of peace has deprived the earthlings of their instinct to wage war. The Federated Government, greatly concerned regarding this ever increasing dangerous situation, developed a GAIN GROUND simulation system in the year 2348 in an effort to instigate their ever waning fighting spirit. However, suddenly without warning, the Supercomputer went berserk and took many of the citizens as hostages. In order to rescue the POWs, three of the bravest warriors were urgently dispatched to go forth into the deadly GAIN GROUND.

External links

• Gain Ground at the Killer List of Videogames
• Translation of an interview with Yoshiki Ohka, one of the programmers for Gain Ground, via the Internet Archive.