Dedicated to any retro gaming collector is Retro-Bit® Publishing’s Toaplan Shooters Collector’s Edition!

The Toaplan Shooters Collector’s Edition is our most ambitious release to date. It brought four classic “shoot ’em up” titles by Toaplan® for the SEGA Genesis®/Mega Drive to our fans. Each game - Hellfire, Truxton, Fire Shark, and Zero Wing - came chock full of extras. Zero Wing (known for the “All Your Base Are Belong To Us” meme) received full translations for each of its 30+ endings, as well as being officially released in North America for the first time ever. Each title could be purchased on its own or as a full bundle - great for fans new and old, alike!

Toaplan Shooters - Collector's Edition Bundle

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

Truxton - Collector's Edition

Take out all 8 asteroid bases across 5 massive stages using 3 upgradeable weapon styles to put an end to the Gidan’s invasion. Destroy each of their massive leaders, including the mighty Dogurava. Released in 1988 to arcades as Tatsujin (タツジン), which translates to "master", it allows players to power up their ship with various power ups including the devastating Truxton Beam.

Hellfire - Collector's Edition

Shoot your way through 6 massive stages using the unique weapons aboard the Sylphide. Fire your weapons using 4 different modes as you fight your way into the Super Mech’s fleet using plasma shots, missiles, and lasers. Released in 1989 for arcades, Hellfire gives you four ways to fire your weapons: forward, backward, vertical, and 4-way diagonal. This game puts emphasis on maneuvering around the environment as well as positioning.

Fire Shark - Collector's Edition

Play through 10 action-packed stages as you bring down enemy tanks, planes, ships, and massive enemy structures. Strafe squadrons with your Wide Shot, slice through bombers with your Shark Beam, burn down battalions with your Super Fire weapon, or lay waste with your Bombs. Released in 1989 in Japan originally as Same! Same! Same! (鮫!鮫!鮫!), It is the sequel to Flying Shark and builds upon aspects that appeared in other Toaplan titles, such as Truxton, to provide players with a unique challenge.

Zero Wing - Collector's Edition

Never officially released in North America, prepare to take control of the avenging ZIG space fighter across 8 stages using 3 different weapons and your Tractor Beam. Take out each enemy commander, including the flamboyant leader known as CATS, reclaim all your bases, and experience over 30 different endings - if you can continuously beat the game!

3,500 Units of Each Game Shipped

ALL COPIES DELIVERED FEBRUARY 2021

Release Timeline

October 1988

Truxton launches in Japanese arcades under its original title, Tatsujin, which means "master". It became a popular cabinet and received wide praise from the media. It was considered a Taito game, but in reality, Taito was the publisher. Toaplan generally didn't put its company name or logo on its earlier releases.

April 1989

Hellfire launched in Japanese arcades, which became one of their first releases with their company name featured prominently on advertising. It was developed alongside Tatsujin, but encountered development issues as the game underwent numerous changes throughout its cycle. As one of their first horizontal shooters, the game provided a different challenge with its its four firing modes.

October 1989

Zero Wing arcade cabinets were released in Japan and the United States. The game was initially not intended to be released. It began as a proving ground project for newer developers at Toaplan. As development continued, it caught the attention of Toaplan's senior developers, who ended up joining their younger counterparts until they released it.

November 1989

Same! Same! Same! launches in Japanese arcades and gained a reputation for its difficulty. It was released in April 1990 in the United States, now renamed Fire Shark. Masahiro Yuge noted that it was more popular in the U.S. than in Japan. The game is a sequel to Toaplan's 1987 shooter Flying Shark.

December 1989

Tatsujin lands on the Japanese SEGA® Mega Drive and as Truxton on the North American SEGA Genesis®. It was a faithful port with a few new color palettes as well as a resized screen being the key differences. A PAL version was released the following year.

September 1990

The Japanese Mega Drive receives a port of Hellfire, another faithful adaptation of the arcade hit. A port for the North American SEGA Genesis® would launch in November, and the PAL European Mega Drive would get its version in 1991.

November 1990

The SEGA Genesis®/Mega Drive ports of Fire Shark are launched in Japan and United States at the same time. The PAL Mega Drive port would launch the following year.

April 1991

The PC Engine received a port of Hellfire called Hellfire S: The Another Story. It features a remixed soundtrack, animated cutscenes, updated plot, and replaces the previous protagonist with Kaoru, a female pilot.

May 1991

Toaplan released Zero Wing in Japan for the Mega Drive, with a poorly translated version for the PAL Mega Drive arriving in Europe in 1992. It is the PAL version that would go on to spawn the "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US" meme. The game did not receive a North American port. Those who wished to own it would import the European release and play at 50Hz on their NTSC 60Hz console.

July 1992

The PC Engine received a port of Tatsujin. This version includes CD-quality audio, improved visuals, and new gameplay options. Also, that cover art is pretty sweet.

September 1992

Zero Wing launches on the PC-Engine CD with two additional levels - Deeva and Vacura.

February 2021

Retro-Bit Publishing releases the Toaplan Shooters Collection, which includes Truxton, Hellfire, Fire Shark, and Zero Wing. It was available either as a full collection or as individual games. Pre-orders had closed on October 2020.

Game Updates

All games have had their licensing updated to reflect this release.

A tiny fix has been added to Hellfire to prevent an audio issue when playing on certain SEGA Genesis®/Mega Drive consoles.

All previously hidden extra endings in Zero Wing have been returned and fully translated into English. Each time the game is completed, a dialogue with CATS will appear at the end.

All games are able to be played on either NTSC or PAL consoles.

Special Thanks

Castlemania Games

Limited Run Games

DragonBox Shop

Spel & Sånt

Strictly Limited Games

Masahiro Yuge

Tatsuya Uemura

Gideon Zhi (Nathan)

Clyde Mandelin

Cyril Lachel