Lucky Star (1987 video game)

Lucky Star (らき☆すたで科学者城 Raki Suta de Kagaku-shajō lit. Lucky Star in Scientist's Castle) is a 1987 survival horror danmaku shooter developed by Drillimation Studios and published by Namco. The game was released in the arcades in 1987 and for Microsoft Windows, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the PC-98 later that year. The game is loosely based on the plot of Konami's Castlevania, and is the first in the series.

Gameplay
The game is a danmaku shooter that plays similar to Touhou Project. The game is broken down into six stages with three phases each. Konata uses the Lightning Rod given to her from a youkai that can grant them any wish to defeat monsters that jump out and try to frighten the player. The game begins with three lives with an extra life at 30,000 points, another at 80,000 points, and another after every 80,000 points. Konata has a health bar, which decreases by one when Konata is struck by an enemy or projectile, and Konata is killed when the health bar is depleted. Chocolate cornets, which is what Konata eats for lunch at school, restores lost health. The goal of the game is to defeat Dr. Manhole which causes the destruction of his fortress.

Throughout the game, Konata can use a bomb to wipe out all bullets on screen. Konata can only use a bomb once per stage, and she gains one whenever a life is lost. Other items include point bonuses, a starman to make her temporarily invincible, and weapon upgrades.

In order to get the good ending, the player must beat the game without using continues. Beating the game using continues results in the bad ending.

Plot
Lucky Star puts players in control of a magical girl named Konata Izumi who must overcome dangerous obstacles and to defeat Dr. Manhole for killing her mother when she was an infant. The game begins after Konata Izumi has graduated from junior high school, and after the end of every academic year, Dr. Manhole rises from his tomb for a final reign of terror. Konata meets a pacteria-like youkai that can nearly resembles Konata minus her ahoge, and grants her the wish to become a magical girl. To fight off all of Team Ankoku's hackers, Konata is given the Lightning Rod. Konata battles numerous bosses based on Team Ankoku, and when Konata encounters Dr. Manhole, Manhole encourages her to beat him without using chocolate cornets. After defeating Dr. Manhole, Konata escapes Manhole's lair as it crumbles apart.