Twin Hawk

This is the best release of this game. The emulator runs with no stupid envelopes so you can play full screen on your vertical 3//4 monitor. There's rewinds, saves, difficulty selectors, accessibility selectors, multiple binds and multi-binds. It's the same plane-shoots-tanks Toaplan game. All the familiar set-pieces and enemies. But it is not fun. There's a lot of medium and large size enemies that are absolute bullet sponges. And they just fill the screen with bullets. One of the enemies is just a box with a fan that spews a stream of bullets. Instead of the bosses it's usually big dual bullet sponges with a boring design. Instead of screen-clearing bombs you just summon additional planes that can be shot down, so the second you press the button a half of them just dies. The other half follows. Half of everything is a bullet sponge when you have maximum firepower. But on death your firepower resets, so no matter how many lives you have, you are done for. And the death unanimation is very long is unsatisfying. There's no new material and the balance is not fun. It's a typical arcade coin-muncher, and this entry in the plane-shoots-tanks series they were just going through the motions.

I'm about 10 games into Toaplan's shooter library, and this is easily the worst of the bunch. The first impression I got was that I've played this kind of Toaplan game before... but it never felt so sub-par. From there, [i]Twin Hawk[/i] goes pedal-down on the repetitive elements for half an hour, topped off with a crappy soundtrack that just farts along in the background. Nothing new, or at least anything exciting to make up for lack of imagination. The quality just isn't there. (Even the near-ancient [i]Tiger-Heli[/i] is more engaging and still has something going for it.) Considering the huge wealth of quality shooters in the past forty years and in comparison to its own ilk, [i]Twin Hawk[/i] feels like a stale, quarter-munching relic of the arcade era that players ought to leave buried in the past. To quote Jud Crandall: "Sometimes... dead is better."

Big Classic - Twin Hawk - I love this kind of games and i collect them ALL , even on Easy mode its challenge and that is good , i completed the full game whiteout losing all the Lifes and i even got a new record Top Score ( 559870 ) for this performance it took me 10 hours, Practice and Practice makes you good.

A solid emulation, no complaints. The original game's design itself is quite tough. Enemy projectiles often blend in with the scenery making it exceptionally difficult to dodge at times.

オープニングの離陸するところ等で実機にはない「ジ～」ってノイズが入ってるので直して欲しいです。 それ以外は良いと思います。

✍️ A Theory of Shmup Evolution By: Joseph Salomonsen Gradius → R‑Type → Darius → Toaplan → Cave / Treasure / G.rev 🟨 Foundations — Designed Space Gradius (Konami, 1985) The origin of control: resource systems, checkpoints, and authored space. The player shapes their ship to survive the level. R‑Type (Irem, 1987) The Force system: space becomes weaponized. A slow, methodical philosophy—positioning over reflex. Darius (Taito, 1987) Branching structure and spectacle. The first step toward non-linear shmup identity. 🟥 Line 1 — Density → Pattern → Bullet Hell (Toaplan → Cave) Twin Cobra (Toaplan, 1987) The definitive military shooter. Discipline, routing, survival. (my personal fave) Truxton / Tatsujin (Toaplan, 1988) The birth of the “Mega-Bomb” aesthetic—power as expression. Batsugun (Toaplan, 1993) The bridge to Bullet Hell. Density begins to dominate space. DoDonPachi (Cave, 1997) The system is complete. Patterns become language. Mushihimesama (Cave, 2004) The organic extreme. Bullets form ecosystems, not just obstacles. Deathsmiles (Cave, 2007) A divergence: horizontal design fused with atmosphere. Bullet hell becomes mood, not just system. 🟩 Line 2 — Weight → Realism → Physicality (Seibu → G.rev) Raiden II / DX (Seibu, 1993) The peak of “Heavy Metal” sprite-work. Industrial, grounded, uncompromising. Under Defeat (G.rev, 2005) The final expression of the military shmup. Momentum, recoil, and battlefield physics replace abstraction. Here: space > bullets weight > pattern movement > memorization 🟦 Line 3 — Mechanics → Abstraction → Philosophy (Iuchi Lineage) Hiroshi Iuchi ❤️ Radiant Silvergun → Judgment Silversword → Ikaruga → Kokuga → Ubusuna Treasure → M‑KAI → G.rev → M2 Radiant Silvergun (Treasure, 1998) The maximalist foundation. A shmup with layered systems and narrative ambition rarely seen in arcades. Judgment Silversword (M‑KAI, 2004) The technical bridge. The “Silver” philosophy reduced to pure system and code. Ikaruga (Treasure, 2001) The minimalist apex. Seven weapons collapse into one binary system: Black or White. The “chess” of shmups. Kokuga (G.rev, 2012) The tactical pivot. The ship becomes a tank. Weight replaces speed. Strategy replaces reaction. Ubusuna (M2, 2025/2026) The philosophical return. A synthesis of polarity and modern standards—a reflection on the lineage itself. ✅ Synthesis Shmups do not evolve in a single line. They fragment into three competing philosophies: Toaplan → Cave = density / pattern / abstraction of space Seibu → G.rev = weight / realism / physical presence Treasure → Iuchi = system / reduction / philosophy All of them emerge from: Gradius = designed systems R‑Type = controlled space Darius = structural possibility ✅ Final statement From Gradius’ authored space to Cave’s infinite bullet fields, from Iuchi’s compression of systems to G.rev’s return to physicality— The shmup is not just reflex, but a philosophy of dynamic control.

A shmup different from the usual toaplan shmup. This game is a bit rigid. your ship is slow, bullet patterns are simple and easy to dodge but enemyes are a bullet sponge and sometimes hard to kill. yet is not a easy game as the enemyes are so tanky that get in close range and fire to close to react. This game is all about memorizing enemy positions, and play in a strategic way. sometimes you have to let a enemy fly away to kill the others. enemy priority killing is essential. The bullet visibility could improve specially in some areas (sdome backgrounds don´t have good contrast with bullets.right from the first stage were the backgrounds are orange and enemy bullets are yellow. It is not one of the best games from toaplan, but at least is a quite unique game and that is his biggest strength. You don´t see many shmups doing this, and the ones that do it are weaker.Also is good for quick bursts. Bitwave did a awesome port as always, with assist options like small hitbox, autofire,etc. They are perfect in everything except sound emulation (that is still good).