The Ocean Hunter (オーシャンハンター), also known as The Ocean Hunter: The Seven Seas Adventure, is a light gun/rail-shooter arcade game developed by Sega AM1 and published by Sega. It was released in Japan in September 1998 and later worldwide the rest of the year.
The Ocean Hunter has never been ported to console so far, thus the game is extremely rare to find[4], despite Computer and Video Games magazine mentioning a rumored Dreamcast port[5]. However, on April 2011 it was unofficially ported to PC by fans through the Supermodel emulator[6], but with severe graphics and control issues. Many of these issues can be fixed by editing the controls in the Config folder and using the updated emulator version.
Synopsis[]
The seven seas spread throughout the world. It is said that there is a monster for each of these seven seas. Ships are being attacked one after another. Sharks gather around monsters seeking human flesh. The ocean is not only a place of blessing but a place of terror. Defeat the violent gigantic monsters of the seven seas. An enormous bounty has been set for their heads. Brave youth go out to face the monsters.
Set in an alternate steampunk world, a new civilization is flourishing in the seas. However, the Seven Great Monsters, accompanied by a number of minor sea monsters and ordinary marine predators, are attacking many shipping vessels out at sea, harbors, humans and even native marine life with increasing frequency. Frightened for their lives, the people issued bounties on the monsters' heads as well secondary bounties on the minor sea monsters.
The game follows two young underwater adventurers, Torel and Chris, as they head out to defeat the Seven Great Monsters of the Seven Seas.
Characters[]
- Torel (Player 1)
- Chris (Player 2)
- Morfa (in concept art only; was cut from the final version)
- An unknown hunter (in concept art only; was cut from the final version)
- Various hunters and divers
Stages[]
The Ocean Hunter primarily takes place in the Seven Seas of an alternate steampunk world. Each of the Seven Seas has its own set of enemies, sub boss(es), and one of the Seven Great Monsters:
- Stage 1 - Baroque Sea (Kraken)
- Stage 2 - Luna Sea (Leviathan)
- Stage 3 - Tartarus Deep (Charybdis)
- Stage 4 - Texcoco Great Lake (Ahuizotl)
- Stage 5 - North Sea (Karkinos)
- Stage 6 - West Ocean (Midgardsorm)
- Stage 7 - Panthalassa (Rahab)
Gameplay[]
The Ocean Hunter is played by using two mounted turret-like guns on the arcade cabinet. The game is capable of being played with either one or two people simultaneously. During the game, the players use the Shock Guns to aim and shoot enemies while the characters' movements are pre-determined and directed by the game. Because the game is a rail-shooter, it requires players to be strong on their accuracy and speed and especially their reflexes, as the camera may suddenly turn at any given point to focus on a more immediate threat that only offers a short window to attack. Unlike other rail-shooters, any shot fired by the players will "float" up or down depending on where they are aiming on the screen to give them immersion of being in the underwater environment, which can be a problem for first-timers.
The game is divided into seven stages to track progress, with each stage having its own enemies, at least one or more sub bosses, and a boss to defeat at the end. During the boss fights, usually near the end, there will be one or more weakpoints, nicknamed "Sweet Spots", that will be highlighted for the player to target and shoot three times to defeat the boss (the only exception being Rahab in his third form).
The player has a life meter consisting of 3 Life Points. Life Points are lost by taking damage from enemies or shooting friendly fire at nearby hunters and divers regardless of their situation, and can only be restored by obtaining health units from rescuing said hunters and divers.
There are treasure chests hidden throughout each stage that reward the player 100 bonus points. The bonus points can multiply depending on how many times the player shoots the treasure chest.
High Score features[]
So far it's been discovered by a Japanese player, Umi Bo-Zu, that by meeting certain conditions upon completing the game with the final score qualified to be submitted into the High Score list, at least three unique icons can appear, either as part of the player's name entry or to replace the treasure chest icon next to the qualified final score.
- If the player hits a total of 1000 or more treasure chests, a chibi sprite of Rahab will replace the treasure chest icon next to the player's final score and name entry.[7]
- By shooting the pufferfish on the left side of the Name Entry screen, next to the "I", a fish icon can be added to the player's name entry. Pointing the crosshair at the pufferfish will inflate it (see image below), and pointing the crosshair away will deflate it.[8]
- By selecting the Enter symbol [→] in the Name Entry screen, right below the "V", a blank space will be submitted into the current letter slot in the entry field. After exiting the Name Entry screen and after the credits roll, any blank text slots will then be converted into shark icons in the High Score list.[9]
Music[]
- Main article: The Ocean Hunter Original Soundtrack
Trivia[]
- Despite its rarity overseas, The Ocean Hunter can be found at most, if not every, arcades in Singapore and Japan, and a handful of arcades and places worldwide[10]
Gallery[]
Game flyers[]
Magazine scans[]
External link[]
References[]
- ↑ Sega Arcade History
- ↑ Wikipedia (Japanese), オーシャンハンター
- ↑ Arcade UK, issue 2
- ↑ KLOV.com The Ocean Hunter
- ↑ Computer and Video Games, issue 207
- ↑ Supermodel emulator (requires account to access the forum)
- ↑ @TheOceanHunter tweet (Japanese), 10/9/2022
- ↑ @TheOceanHunter tweet (Japanese), 12/3/2022
- ↑ @TheOceanHunter tweet (Japanese), 12/5/2023
- ↑ Aurcade, The Ocean Hunter