Playing Flying Shark, I get the feeling of just barely holding on.

The screen pours in with ‘aimed-shot’ boats, tanks and a couple bigger, harder to destroy planes.  I guide the little fighter plane to the other side of the screen, tapping the shot button as fast as possible, hoping to shoot every turret off of the enemy forces.  But I miss a couple, and they continue to fire aimed shots at me as they pass down through the middle of the screen to the bottom.  “Sharko!” (the name I fondly gave to the fighter) “Oh no!” I yell under my breath, spazzing out slightly as I take in account the horizontal shots that are coming from the turrets I didn’t destroy.  Throttling forward and braking backwards, I dodge their last shots as I realize that I have to sweep the screen to the right as soon as possible lest the situation repeats and I become flanked by bullets.   In this awkward position on the left side of the screen, I drop a bomb that finishes off the larger plane and consumes a couple dozen crossfire bullets so that I can sweep back and to the right as bullets whiz by the left of Sharko’s ship.  “Oh my god, phew!”

Then there is a breezy rest.  The end-of-stage runway becomes visible as Sharko’s fanfare beats in as he drops down for a successful landing. “Fuck yeah.”

Flying Shark is like this.  I find that I have some luck with my timing, but also that learning specific enemy locations and how to approach them saves me from certain deaths.  Bombing is so effective in this game that you always feel regret when you die with a few of them remaining.  I really love the manual firing for each shot, and how you can really make it count when your shots are being met by enemies at close range, tapping even faster to shoot ‘em down.  After tapping your fastest, the game will sometimes reward you with a few second rest period.  This is how the old shooters were.  This is what that old STG developer means when he says, “shooters aren’t about shooting anymore, they’re about dodging.  I don’t like that.” I’ve found myself captured by this gameplay mechanic of shooting, rapping on the button as fast as possible.  And sometimes  I’m playing Flying Shark and I just rap on the button harder than I have to, not even increasing my speed but become so nervous because I never got to that point before.  This is part of the arcade experience, isn’t it?  This is why I’m glad I got an HRAP.  You can’t put this fever onto a controller.

So, my fondness for Toaplan is still blooming.  And even though I’ve cleared Flying Shark a few times, I keep coming back, the music.  The music is one of the best STG scores I’ve heard and the game itself is a hypnotic rollercoaster overall.  It is a great game.  10/10.