corona180 plays TaleSpin - Part 1 of 5

What's this? A Disney Afternoon classic made into a shmup by Capcom? And it's TaleSpin? No surprise there.

I should have played this when I was a kid, I would have shat my pants from the pure awesome.

Stage 1

The game begins with Rebecca Cunningham and her daughter Molly waking you up, telling you she's got eight assignments lined up for you. Your first assignment is to get some cargo while dealing with Don Karnage and the Air Pirates.

In case moving around feels weird, just remember that you have to be in the center in order to move around like you would in an ordinary shmup. You'll be doing this quite a bit, as you pick up money bags and boxes of cargo to add to your bankroll at the end of a stage.

Unlike other shmups, you can go upside down with the push of a button to go back in case you miss anything important.

Shortly after the beginning, you can find the icon for a bonus level (which looks like the opening to a cave) in one of the chests. In the bonus level, you'll play as Kit Cloudkicker on an air board that auto-scrolls to the right. Pop the balloons and get the fruit inside. Some of them contain 1-ups, so keep your eyes peeled. The clock doesn't start until Kit comes out.

The boxes with the balloons that pop out of enemies contain fruit that give you bonus points.

If you ever find a heart and you have less than three hits on the health meter in the upper-left hand corner, grab it. A small heart will refill one hit while a large heart will completely refill your health.

The boss here is a submarine. Avoid the missiles it sends at you as well as its other firepower as you fire at the periscope. The plane is pretty slow, and you can only fire one shot at a time, but as you progress through the game, you'll be able to make upgrades, as you'll soon see.

Shop

Just like in the show, Wildcat is at the wrench, and not only does he help fix the ship as always, he also upgrades stuff this time around.

Parts for the engine make the plane faster.

The continue memo gives you an extra continue.

Parts for the body adds more hearts to your maximum health.

Parts for Super Rapid Shot lets you fire three shots at a time.

Parts for Rapid Shot lets you fire two shots at a time. You'll most likely be buying this first.


Extra lives are self-explanatory.