Image Fight

2025-11-01T23:54:08Z

2600:1700:E5D0:A9A0:C074:F84C:9A92:614C:

{{short description|1988 video game}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Image Fight
| image = Image Fight Flyer.png
| caption = Arcade flyer
| developer = [[Irem]]
| publisher = Irem
| platforms = [[Arcade video game|Arcade]], [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]], [[TurboGrafx-16|PC Engine]], [[X68000]], [[FM Towns]]
| released = {{Collapsible list|title={{nobold|October 1988}}|'''Arcade'''{{vgrelease|JP|October 1988<ref>{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005) |date=October 13, 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |lang=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |pages=14 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n15/mode/2up}}</ref>}} '''NES'''{{vgrelease|JP|March 16, 1990<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.famitsu.com/schedule/recent/fc/|title=All Famicom games sorted from the latest release to the earliest|magazine=[[Famitsu]]|archive-date=October 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015061257/https://www.famitsu.com/schedule/recent/fc/|url-status=dead}}</ref>|NA|July 1990<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/nes_games.pdf |publisher=Nintendo of America |title=NES Games |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611225644/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/nes_games.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2014 }}</ref>}} '''PC Engine'''{{vgrelease|JP|July 27, 1990<ref>{{cite web |title=PC Engine Software List 1990 |url=http://tk-nz.game.coocan.jp/gamedatabase/software/DB_NEC1_PCE1990.html |website=GAME Data Room |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907011033/http://tk-nz.game.coocan.jp/gamedatabase/software/DB_NEC1_PCE1990.html |archive-date=September 7, 2018 |language=ja}}</ref>}} '''X68000'''{{vgrelease|JP|December 14, 1990{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}}}} '''FM Towns'''{{vgrelease|JP|1990}}
}}
| genre = [[Scrolling shooter]]
| modes = [[Single-player]]
}}

{{nihongo foot|'''''Image Fight'''''|イメージファイト|Imēji Faito|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}}, also stylized as '''''ImageFight''''', is a 1988 vertically [[scrolling shooter]] [[video game]] developed and published by [[Irem]] for Japanese [[Arcade video game|arcades]]. It was ported to the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]], [[TurboGrafx-16|PC Engine]], [[X68000]] and [[FM Towns]] in 1990. The NES version was the only version that was released in North America. It was followed by ''[[Image Fight II: Operation Deepstriker]]''.

==Plot==
The following is taken directly from the NES instruction manual:

''On a fateful day in 20XX, the Earth's moon exploded into four large fragments and a multitude of meteors. Aliens from afar had succeeded in destroying the West's moon base. One after another, mankind's other military industrial space complexes were being lost. What mankind dreaded had come to pass. Scores of unidentified fighters were in the area. In addition, the moon's main computer, still intact after the explosion, had a strange vegetation coiled around it. Their trademark evil exploits being a dead giveaway, invaders from the Boondoggle Galaxy had arrived to take over the Earth. To counter these evil forces, leading scientists from all over the globe created the "OF-1" Fightership. Combat pilots depart the Earth to fend off the invaders and earn everlasting glory''.

==Gameplay==
''Image Fight'' was released one year after Irem's successful horizontal scroller, ''[[R-Type]]'', and, although not directly related, the two games have some similarities.

The player flies a futuristic red ship. The game begins with five stages taking place inside a combat simulation, and the player's ability to destroy enemy entities is tested. Upon finishing a simulation stage, the game displays results and shows if their score is considered passing or failing. The player must have an average kill rate of 90% or better in the simulation stages to immediately proceed to real combat. If the player fails, they must play an additional stage before entering real combat. Real combat consists of three stages. The real combat stages play much like a traditional shoot em' up game, where the player immediately proceeds to the next stage upon completing the current stage.

===Pods===
The defining feature of ''Image Fight'' is the Pod, a small, coloured sphere with two short gun barrels attached to it. The Pod, once collected, floats alongside the player's ship.

[[Image:imagefightscreenshot.png|thumb|Screenshot of ''Image Fight'' (arcade version)]]

There are two different kinds of Pod:
* Red Pod – this changes direction based on the movement of the ship, and can therefore be aimed at enemies. This can be very useful, as enemies can and do attack from any direction.
* Blue Pod – similar to the Red Pod, except it always points forward and the direction cannot be changed. This makes it more powerful in direct confrontations, but less versatile.

The ship can support up to three Pods. The first two Pods collected will take up positions on the left and right sides of the ship; the third Pod hovers behind it.

====Pod Shot====
The Pod Shot is a special attack in which the side Pods are launched forward at high speed, before circling back and returning to the ship. This enables them to be used as projectiles themselves, and thrown at enemies ahead. This attack can be performed with either one or two side Pods; the rear Pod, if present, does not participate.

===Speed control===
The ship has four different levels of speed that the player can switch between, to allow for more precise manoeuvering in confined spaces. The structure of the ship transforms during a speed change, the [[wing]]s angling down and back at higher speeds.

The ship's [[Spacecraft propulsion|thruster]]s exhaust a large blue flame whenever the ship changes speed; this can be used as a weapon to damage or destroy enemies.

==='Forces'===
The player can acquire various [[butterfly]]-shaped devices that attach to the front of the ship. These are similar in function to the Force in ''[[R-Type]]'': they turn the player's blaster into a powerful laser weapon. They can also act as a weak shield, protecting the ship from impact; this destroys them but leaves the ship intact. Unlike the Force in ''R-Type'', they cannot be ejected from the ship; the only way to remove them, in fact, is to have them destroyed. The ship cannot pick up a new device if one is already attached. There are a number of different kinds, each of which provides a different weapon. The weapon names are taken from ''R-Type Final''. ''R-Type Final'' implies that these devices are in fact early versions of what it calls the OF Force, but this may be [[retroactive continuity]].

==Ports and related releases==
The arcade game was also ported for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] as well as becoming a Japan-only game for the [[TurboGrafx-16|PC Engine]], [[Sharp X68000]], and [[FM Towns]] in 1990. The PC Engine version was later re-released for the [[Wii]] [[Virtual Console]] only in Japan. In 1998, ''Image Fight'', along with another arcade game by Irem, ''[[X-Multiply]]'', was released only in Japan as a one-disc double-bill for the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] and the [[Sega Saturn]], titled ''AG Arcade Gears Image Fight & X-Multiply''.

The arcade game was followed by ''Image Fight II: Operation Deepstriker'', a sequel for the [[TurboGrafx-16|PC Engine Super CD-ROM²]] in 1992 exclusively in Japan. Like the PC Engine version of the first game, ''Image Fight II'' was re-released for the [[Wii U]]'s [[Virtual Console]] in Japan in 2015 and for the first time in the United States in February 2018 for both games.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/imagefight-wii-u/|title=IMAGEFIGHT for Wii U - Nintendo Game Details|website=www.nintendo.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-09|archive-date=2020-11-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130104718/https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/imagefight-wii-u/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/imagefight-2-wii-u/|title=IMAGEFIGHT 2 for Wii U - Nintendo Game Details|website=www.nintendo.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-09|archive-date=2020-11-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129020156/https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/imagefight-2-wii-u/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000015767 イメージファイト | Wii U | 任天堂] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918054656/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000015767|date=2018-09-18}}, nintendo.co.jp, ([https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000015767&usg=ALkJrhi0xJyWrpGERuVoq4jA5MJNAV1NoQ Translated])</ref><ref>[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000020188 イメージファイトII | Wii U | 任天堂] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918054531/https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000020188|date=2018-09-18}}, nintendo.co.jp, ([https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&nv=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.nintendo.co.jp/titles/20010000020188&usg=ALkJrhhXX2IN5KYZrcYwnobSwtAXWdRiag Translated])</ref> ''Image Fight II'' and its PC Engine predecessor also made their European debut in February 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/TurboGrafx/ImageFight--1335146.html|title=ImageFight™|website=Nintendo of Europe GmbH|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/TurboGrafx/ImageFight-II-1335147.html|title=ImageFight II|website=Nintendo of Europe GmbH|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-09}}</ref>

[[Hamster Corporation]] released the arcade version as part of their ''[[Arcade Archives]]'' series for the [[Nintendo Switch]] and [[PlayStation 4]] in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calvert |first=Darren |date=2019-05-30 |title=Nintendo Download: 30th May (North America) |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/05/nintendo_download_30th_may_north_america |access-date=2025-08-28 |website=Nintendo Life |language=en-GB}}</ref>

The ship from this game is included in ''[[R-Type Final]]'', where it is the first in a series of five fighters called the OF series. The Pods are also available on fighters of the OF series.

== Reception ==
In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Image Fight'' as the most successful table arcade unit among operators surveyed during December 1988.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]]|issue=346|publisher=[[:ja:アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]]|date=15 December 1988|page=25|lang=ja}}</ref>

==Legacy==
According to producer Hiroshi Iuchi, creator of ''[[Radiant Silvergun]]'', ''Image Fight'' was the main inspiration for ''Radiant Silvergun''{{'}}s design.<ref>{{cite journal |year=2004 |title=Hiroshi Iuchi Interview |journal=Emuxhaven |url=http://www.emuxhaven.net/~silver/Hiroshi%20Iuchi%20Interview.html |access-date=2009-07-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205182519/http://www.emuxhaven.net/~silver/Hiroshi%20Iuchi%20Interview.html |archive-date=2012-02-05 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Tomonobu Itagaki]], creator of the ''[[Dead or Alive (franchise)|Dead or Alive]]'' series, listed ''Image Fight'' as one of his five favorite games.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mielke|first=James|date=September 29, 2005|title=Itagaki's Hit List from 1UP.com|url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3144194|url-status=dead|journal=[[1UP.com]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604004257/http://www.1up.com/features/itagaki-hit-list|archive-date=June 4, 2011|access-date=2009-07-30}}</ref> ''Image Fight'' is also said to be the favorite shooter game of [[Granzella]]'s Kujo Kazuma.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barder |first1=Ollie |title=Kujo Kazuma On The Legacy Of Irem, The Brilliance Of 'Image Fight' And The Future Of 'R-Type' |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2021/10/02/kujo-kazuma-on-the-legacy-of-irem-the-brilliance-of-image-fight-and-the-future-of-r-type/?sh=4bfa5ad91dda |access-date=4 February 2022 |work=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204232447/https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2021/10/02/kujo-kazuma-on-the-legacy-of-irem-the-brilliance-of-image-fight-and-the-future-of-r-type/?sh=4bfa5ad91dda |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{KLOV game|id=8181}}
* ''[http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=image-fight&page=detail&id=1181 Image Fight]'' at arcade-history
* {{moby game|id=/nes/image-fight|name=''Image Fight (NES version)''}}

{{Irem}}
{{R-Type series}}

[[Category:1988 video games]]
[[Category:Arcade video games]]
[[Category:Arcade Archives games]]
[[Category:FM Towns games]]
[[Category:Hamster Corporation games]]
[[Category:Irem games]]
[[Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games]]
[[Category:Science fiction video games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:TurboGrafx-16 games]]
[[Category:TurboGrafx-CD games]]
[[Category:Vertically scrolling shooters]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Japan]]
[[Category:Video games set in the 2040s]]
[[Category:Virtual Console games]]
[[Category:Virtual Console games for Wii]]
[[Category:Virtual Console games for Wii U]]
[[Category:X68000 games]]

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Image Fight