Silk Worm

Nintendo console exclusive

Silkworm is a classic horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up. The main difference between this game and many other side-scrolling shoot-em-ups is that you will be on land as well as in the air. The first player would play as a helicopter, but if a second player joins the game, they would play as a jeep. Both players would have to protect each other as well as themselves.

Released: 31 December 1988
Platforms: Amiga Amstrad CPC Arcade Atari ST/STE Commodore C64/128/MAX NES ZX Spectrum
Genres: Shooter Arcade
Developers: Tecmo
Publishers: Sammy USA Corporation Virgin Mastertronic Tecmo
Modes: Co-op Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction

About

Silk Worm is a 1988 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Tecmo for arcades. In 1989, it was ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC systems by The Sales Curve as Silkworm and released by Virgin Mastertronic. Sammy released a version for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990.

Silk Worm inspired the 1991 game SWIV; despite not being a direct sequel, it followed the same core gameplay design of a helicopter/jeep team, albeit as a vertically scrolling shooter instead of a horizontally scrolling one. It was described in several contemporary and retrospective reviews as being "inspired by" and a spiritual successor to Silk Worm.

Keywords

modern warfare
helicopter
shmup
side-scrolling
tank
airplane
boss fight
modern military

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player can take control of a jeep mounted with a machine gun or a helicopter mounted with forward and downward firing guns. Two players can work simultaneously and cooperatively against enemies, with one controlling the jeep and the other controlling the helicopter.

Silk Worm features a variety of enemies, some of which have specific weaknesses, such as the armored AA guns that can only be harmed when their shields are down. Enemies include the "Goose" helicopter, a gigantic, heavily armored "mini-boss" helicopter composed of several smaller vehicles connected together.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Silk Worm as the fifth most popular table arcade unit of March 1988.

The game was well received. Your Sinclair praised the 2-player mode and the sound effects.

Legacy

The 1991 game SWIV was considered a spiritual successor to Silk Worm, which The Sales Curve had previously converted to home computer formats in 1989. The game's heritage is evident from the game design whereby one player pilots a helicopter, and the other an armoured Jeep. SWIV is not an official sequel, as noted by ex-Sales Curve producer Dan Marchant: "SWIV wasn't really a sequel to Silkworm, but it was certainly inspired by it and several other shoot-'em-ups that we had played and loved."

SWIV was described in the game's manual as meaning both "Special Weapons Intercept Vehicles" and "Silkworm IV".

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Arcade	31 December 1988	Japan
Amstrad CPC	31 December 1989	Europe
Amiga	31 December 1989	Europe
Atari ST/STE	31 December 1989	Europe
ZX Spectrum	31 December 1989	Europe
Commodore C64/128/MAX	31 December 1989	Europe
NES	1 June 1990	North America