Cosmic Cop (アームドポリスユニットギャロップ Āmudo Porisu Yunitto Gyaroppu), known in Japan as Armed Police Unit Gallop, is a shooter arcade game developed and released by Irem in 1991, running upon the Irem M-84 arcade board. While not directly based on the R-Type series, it is considered a spin-off of such, with many features being adapted into later games, notably R-Type Final. Gallop is placed during the events of R-Type Delta in the series' timeline.
Story[]
The pilot takes control of the R-11B Peace Maker as part of the Gallop force, taking down autonomous vehicles corrupted by the Bydo called "Mad Cars". The story takes place alongside R-Type Delta.
Gameplay[]
The player pilots an R-craft, the R-11B Peace Maker. As in most horizontal shooters the screen scrolls continuously to the right, but Gallop is unusual in that the scroll rate can be controlled by the player. The further right the pilot's craft is oriented onscreen, the faster the game scrolls. Though this mechanic would not make it into any future R-Type mission, the idea is re-imagined in the Gallop Force.
Gameplay progress through five different "zones," each culminating with a boss. Significant bonus points are awarded for completing the zones quickly. The R-11B is armed with forward-firing guns, as well as a lock-on laser that automatically targets enemies, but whose energy depletes as it is fired. These weapons can be powered-up twice by picking up a letter "P" and the laser's energy can be quickly refilled by picking up a letter "L."
Picking up a letter "M" will equip the R-11B with a missile unit that will fire one of three types of munitions: anti-air missiles, anti-ground missiles, or napalm bombs. Contact with any terrain will cause the missile unit to be lost instantly, so terrain must be avoided at all costs.
Armaments[]
- Missiles
- Photon Missile
- Anti-ground Missile
- Depth Bomb
- Wave Cannon
- Lock-On Wave Cannon: In Gallop, the beam meter recharges automatically, though power-ups could be collected to expedite the process. Power-ups can be gathered to increase the beam's power to higher levels.
- Cannon: Standard vulcan mk.1, but upgradeable with power-ups.