The SG-1000 version of Choplifter was published – in Japan only – by Sega in 1985, and it is surprisingly good. It’s actually one of the better versions of the first Choplifter, with decent controls and some unique features not seen in other versions.

Choplifter on the SG-1000 is graphically similar to the MSX version of the game, and has very flickery sprites, but it at least doesn’t end – like the MSX version does – when you complete the first stage. It actually continues onto a second stage, over the sea.

This sea stage is a little strange, though, because you can ‘land’ on top of the water to rescue swimming men. I guess that Sega‘s programmers either didn’t have the time or memory (or inclination) to create a rope for them to climb up. They did, however, create the code to make the waves on the water move up and down…

While the SG-1000 version of Choplifter is a half-decent game, it’s still not the version I’d choose to play, if I could only choose one version of Choplifter. That would probably be the Sega Master System version, or the Super Nintendo sequel, Choplifter III.

More: Choplifter on Wikipedia