Grind Stormer

Grind Stormer is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game where players assume the role of a young secret agent assigned by the government taking control of the NA-00 space fighter craft through six stages in an effort to defeat the titular VR game, rescue the abducted players who lost against it and unveil its true purpose as the main objective. As far as vertical scrolling shooters go, the game initially appears to be very standard but the power-up and scoring systems change depending on the version being played. In Grind Stormer, players have the normal weapon layout with instant power-ups and bomb icons. This version also has speed-up icons as well as speed-down icons, and higher value point items.

In V・V, however, the players collect gems that allow them to choose between multiple weapons through a power meter system reminiscent of Gradius and Slap Fight instead, removing the bombs and weapon icons completely. This version also has a shield power-up not featured in the former version as well.

The plot summary of Grind Stormer varies between each version. In the original arcade versions, the game is based around a video game within a video game concept and takes place in the year 2210, where 'the ultimate arcade machine' called Grind Stormer/V・V has finally been released to the public. A VR shooting game, it became so addictive that the government assigned a young secret agent to investigate the arcade phenomenon in order to question its true purpose and to perform the impossible: to beat the game by taking control of the NA-00 space fighter craft, as those who played and lost against it were abducted as a result. In the Sega Genesis version, players assume the role of the last surviving Terran Defense Force fighter pilot taking control of the titular fighter craft in order repel an alien race known as the Zeta Reticulli from invading Earth.

Grind Stormer was created by a small team of new employees at Toaplan, who would later go on to work at one of its offshoots after the company declared bankruptcy in 1994, and was originally titled Bakuretsu Wing before being ultimately renamed to V・V in Japan. Its development was helmed by director Kenichi Takano, with artists Mikio Yamaguchi and Yusuke Naora acting as graphic designers, while composer Masahiro Yuge wrote the soundtrack. Guardian and Twin Cobra artist Kōetsu Iwabuchi also served as the project's planning manager.

Cave co-founder Tsuneki Ikeda served as one of the game's programmers in his first video game role prior to Batsugun and DonPachi alongside Seiji Iwakura and he has recounted about Grind Stormer's development process in various interviews across publications such as Monthly Arcadia. Ikeda stated that the project was conceived as a "training exercise" for the small team, as they received a sample game program containing basic elements from the shoot 'em up genre to work with, which served as a basis to add other elements and Ikeda claimed that the project was pitched as a spiritual successor to Slap Fight. He also stated that the sample program contained a smaller hitbox for the ship and went unnoticed as the team proceeded on making the game. During initial testings at Toaplan, one of the company's senior programmers gave positive feedback in regards to bullet dodging due to the small hitbox and considered it to be better than Truxton II, encouraging Ikeda and the team to work with the format. When developing the game, Ikeda was influenced by Salamander.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Grind Stormer on their April 15, 1993 issue as being the eighth most-popular arcade game at the time. GamesMaster noted its "fast and furious" action. According to Masahiro Yuge, Grind Stormer proved to be popular in arcades and exceeded the company's expectations. Den of Geek noted it to be one of the titles from Toaplan which intensively pushed the formula established by their previous endeavors. Time Extension noted the game as historically significant to the evolution of the bullet hell format.

Reviewing the Genesis version, GamePro remarked that despite being not technologically innovative as Star Fox, they ultimately called Grind Stormer a colorful and fun game.

Grind Stormer has been regarded by some retrospective reviewers to be an early example of a manic shooter. The rights to the game and many other IPs from Toaplan are now owned by Tatsujin, a company named after Truxton's Japanese title that was founded in 2017 by Yuge, and is part of Embracer Group since 2022.