Cloud Master

Cloud Master is a scrolling shoot em up game developed by Hot-B and published by Sega for the Master System in 1989.

Plot
When the Earth was still young, there was a mysterious young hermit known as Michael Chen who rode the winds on a cloud like a chariot. After meditating deep in the mountainous regions of China, Michael Chen had grown powerful with the wisdom of the ancients. With more study, and some luck he hoped to become the strongest superhuman in the world and obtain the title of 'Cloud Master ', cementing himself as the greatest mystic on the planet.

Dark forces have rose up, interrupting Chen's meditation and studies, and so it's up to the young hermit to put a stop to this new threat and save all of China.

Gameplay
Cloud Master plays similarly to other Shoot 'Em Up titles, but rather than the typical sci-fi setting, Cloud Master is set in mystical China, with bizarre enemies such as flying plates of Gyoza, Shumai dumplings, flying pig and tiger heads, pig soldiers, tigers with shields, ground dragons and turtles that shoot blasts from their mouths at you from the ground.

As Michael Chen flies around on his cloud, he can shoot out orb like blasts to defeat enemies. These start off as fairly regular shots, but half way through the level players will come across a mid-boss. Defeating these more difficult enemies will allow players to open up a door to the Power Up Chamber, where upon entering they will be greeted with a selection of power up options to use alongside their regular shot.

The power up will stay in effect until Michael loses a life, and additional power up grabs in following levels will allow him access to even more powerful weapons. Additionally choosing the same power up twice in a row will increase the power of that weapon.

Power Ups:

 * Four Circle Guard: Creates four circling fireballs that extinguish when they destroy an enemy, but can be resupplied after the last fireball is used up.
 * Two Way Guard: Michael shoots out a fireball from above and below him.
 * Three Way Guard: A power up of the above, Michael does the same action but a third fireball shoots out from behind.
 * Dragon Fire: Creates a circle of fire around Michael before traveling forward, looping in circles as it does so.
 * Four Images: Four miniature Michael Chen images fly off in seperate directions. Attacks diagonally from Michael.
 * Two Crescents: Creates two crescent shaped shots that fly from behind before shooting forward attacking slightly above and below Michael.
 * Four Crescents: A power up of the above, it does the exact same thing but with an additional two shots attacking further above and below Michael as well.
 * Bomb: A regular bomb that Michael can drop. It explodes upon hitting the ground but must hit an enemy directly to destroy them.
 * Bouncing Bomb: Same as the regular bomb only it bounces forward when hitting the ground until it hits an enemy.
 * Search Bomb: When dropped, this bomb rolls across the ground until it hits an enemy or obstacle and explodes.
 * Super Bomb: Shaped like a flame, this bomb when dropped bounces as it moves forward. It penetrates through enemies and obstacles as it moves.
 * Scatter Bomb: This bomb explodes when dropped, shattering into 6-8 fragments which destroy the enemy when it hits. A second bomb cannot be thrown until all fragments disappear. If it hits an enemy directly it will act like a regular bomb destroying them outright but with far more power.

Additionally there are other power ups to collect that can be obtained by shooting down the formation of flying dumplings or gyoza and hitting them all. These power ups appear as jars with letters on them and do as follows:


 * P: Power. Increases the power of Michael's regular shot. Can be increased six times.
 * S: Special. When obtained increases Michael's power by two steps.
 * F: Fast. Obtaining this increases Michael's speed to six times the original speed allowing him to manuever faster through enemy fire.
 * A: Auto. Michael's shots all rapid fire.
 * E: Extra. Michael gains an extra life.

Losing a life means greatly decreasing Michael's abilities as all of his power ups are lost upon death.

At the end of each level Michael will fight against a Round Boss, a more challenging and large boss character. Defeat all four and the game is won.

Trivia

 * Michael Chen, much like Alex Kidd is loosely based around Journey to the West's Sun Wukong.
 * This game is a port of the arcade version published by Taito 's Chuuka Taisen.
 * Strangely the Master System version is the only version of the title never to release in Japan.