Bomber Raid is a single-player, vertical scrolling shooter video game released for the Sega Master System

Sega Master System

The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....

 in 1988 in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, and 1989 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It was the last game for the Master System in Japan.

Gameplay

In Bomber Raid, the player controls a small "Freedom Fighter" aircraft able to fire different types of projectiles through five levels. As a shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up

Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...

 game, gameplay is similar to the arcade games

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 1942

1942 (arcade game)

1942 is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up made by Capcom that was released for the arcade in . It was the first game in the 19XX series. It was followed by 1943: The Battle of Midway....

 and Raiden

Raiden (arcade game)

is a scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Seibu Kaihatsu. It was the first game in the popular Raiden series of scrolling shooter arcade games.Raiden first made its debut in September 1990...

.

The player starts with three lives. Any collision with either an enemy aircraft or enemy fire results in the loss of a life. One type of enemy, a strange disk like object with a green and red flashing center, drops a powerup when destroyed. Power-ups

Power-up

In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...

, which can be a weapon power-up (p) which replace the standard twin cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

, speed power up (s) or provide the player with a fighter plane companion to assist in destroying enemies. The player can only have up to two fighters. The player also starts with a limited number of cluster bombs

Cluster bomb

A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller sub-munitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles...

, which will clear the screen of many enemies (except bosses), and power pods, which give extra points, weapon power-ups, and a temporary "backup squadron

Squadron (aviation)

A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...

." The cluster bomb's explosion is influenced by the squadron (up to two small planes that fly in formation with the fighter and shoot when it shoots). If there are no planes, then the cluster bomb will be a ring of fire that flies forward. With one fighter, the bomb's explosive area is over a wider area, and with two fighters, the "orbs" of the explosion will radiate outwards in all direction.

The miniature planes' formation and the direction they fire in depends on the last "squadron" power-up received.