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The second volume of the Toaplan Shooters collection has docked for pre-orders!

Five years ago, we had the opportunity to work with Masahiro Yuge and his company, Tatsujin, to re-release four of their shoot 'em up titles for the SEGA Genesis® / Mega Drive. It was our fourth release and first multi-game set, but the response from the community was incredible. We knew then that it was only a matter of time before a new collection would become a reality.  Alright, Pilot... are you ready to save the world again and again?  With this set, we're connecting players with Toaplan's early days with Slap Fight and their final release with Grind Stormer.

Toaplan Shooter's Vol. 2 - Collector's Edition Bundle

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Click below to navigate and see what comes with each release!

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TPV2 Button_7_Grind Stormer

Slap Fight - Collector's Edition

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Strap in for a planetary battle!  Many tens of millions of years ago, in the far reaches of the galaxy, the artificial intelligence “Gaudi” was born to challenge the limits of science. And now, its enormous talons have reached out across the 300,000 light-year expanse of space to reach Earth. To protect the peace of the universe, a single warrior boards the super-light fighter “Leopard” and heads for the planet Helst. An epic battle with the unimaginable Gaudi is about to unfold. Experience the original arcade classic or try the new special mode that changes the gameplay and power-ups - essentially two games in one!


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Grind Stormer - Collector's Edition

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Play the arcade masterpiece at home!  Fly your powerful space fighter through endless waves of alien ships and tanks and blast everything in sight as you make your way through action-packed stages filled with deadly enemies.  Enjoy the spectacular graphics, multi-layer scrolling backgrounds, flashy animation, and endless explosions.  Try the arcade mode or the special V-Five mode and experience a whole new way to play!

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Over 2,200 Collector Bundles Shipped!

3,020 Slap Fight units and 3,030 Grind Stormer units produced.
Shipment Delivery ETA Late 2025

July 1986

Toaplan had a few games under their belt but their best performing by far in its early days was Tiger-Heli.  Despite their hard work, Masahiro Yuge explained that he felt the game was unbalanced and slow and the team wanted to expand on the ideas to keep people playing for long sessions.  Some ideas formed early on such as the weapon system and adding in many hidden secrets, such as enemies that look like the Space Invaders from Taito's hit game, as they were their publisher.  The name Slap Fight comes from an American company they were working with at the time, despite the team feeling a bit uncomfortable with it initially, the name stuck. 

The arcade cabinet did very well despite the low number of arcade boards created.  Toaplan started to gain a reputation at creating fun and challenging shooters.


1987-1989

Ports of the Slap Fight arcade game would spread across the European and North American markets on consoles such as the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.  The initial pressings in Europe went under the title of A.L.C.O.N., which was the name applied to the federation in-game known as the Allied League of Cosmic Nations.  The Hit Squad would re-release the PC console ports years later, sometimes using the original title, as budget releases.

March 1993

Led by Kenichi Takano, a small team of newer developers at Toaplan worked on an upcoming title known as Bakuretsu Wing before getting its official title in Japan - V・V  (pronounced V-Five).   Initially used as a training exercise, it began to take shape, utilizing elements from Slap Fight, and was initially going to be a successor to said game.  While the young team was given direction by the senior staff, they were ultimately left to their own devices until they eventually producing another hit arcade shooter. 

The following month, the game launched in North America as Grind Stormer with gameplay changes allowing the player to pick up weapon power ups and have bombs.


June 1993

Mikito Ichikawa visited the Toaplan offices and proposed to port Twin Cobra to the Mega Drive but was instead offered to port Slap Fight by Tatsuya Uemura.  Ichikawa's company, M.N.M. Software, accepted the task and was developed alongside other projects such as Streets of Rage 2.  He was assisted by Yuzo Koshiro who arranged the Special Mode's music, as requested by Uemura.  The final result was two games in one with Slap Fight MD being a faithful port of the original arcade game and the Special Mode providing a new experience with new stages.

The game would not release outside of Japan.  It was part of the included library of games on the Japanese SEGA® Mega Drive Mini in 2019.

April 1994

Tengen would port V・V to the Japanese Mega Drive and include the original arcade mode as well as the North American version as it used a different weapon and bomb weapon loadout.  Tengen would also release the game in North America as Grind Stormer, with the game modes being flipped around.  Additionally, Grind Stormer would become a rare title to own due to a manufacturing error that resulted in defective cartridges and requiring an additional run.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Toaplan had all but ceased to exist by the time Grind Stormer released on home consoles, as it had declared bankruptcy on March 31st.  Many former employees would go on to form their own studios or become involved at other companies such as Eighting, Tamsoft, CAVE, Gazelle, and Takumi - the latter going on to complete the development of Twin Cobra II after Toaplan's closure.


2023-2024

Most of Toaplan's arcade library was published to Steam by Bitwave Studios and Clear River Games.  The original arcade ports of both Slap Fight and Grind Stormer can be played on PC, Mac®, and Linux computers.

Late 2025

After a short pause, Retro-Bit Publishing began pre-orders for Toaplan Shooters Collection Volume 2 that includes Slap Fight and Grind Stormer for the SEGA Genesis®/Mega Drive.  The collector's bundle comes with a special slipcase, a commemorative clock, and loads of extras, including another special interview with Masahiro Yuge.  They are estimated to be delivered later in 2025.

  • All games have had their licensing updated to reflect this release.
  • Slap Fight is based on Slap Fight MD with updates made to licensing as well as updated game logos.
  • All games are able to be played on either NTSC or PAL consoles.

Special Thanks

Cyril Lachel
Mottzilla
Ryan Engstrom
Ronald Loadwall
Kevin Vigil
Tyler Breitbarth
Giovanni Funes
Michael Rouse
Valentin Neiger
George Gracin III
Patrick Offord
James Genduso
Yudelky de la Cruz

Special Thanks

Cyril Lachel
Mottzilla
Ryan Engstrom
Ronald Loadwall
Kevin Vigil
Tyler Breitbarth
Giovanni Funes
Michael Rouse
Valentin Neiger
George Gracin III
Patrick Offord
James Genduso
Yudelky de la Cruz

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© TATSUJIN Co., Ltd.