{{Short description|1991 video game}} {{Infobox video game |title = Head Buster |image = Head Buster.jpg |caption = Cover art |developer = NCS Corporation<ref name="mobygames"/> <br> Winds Co.<ref name="mobygames"/> |publisher = Masaya<ref name="mobygames"/> |composer = [[Noriyuki Iwadare]]<ref name="smspower">{{cite web | url = http://www.smspower.org/Games/HeadBuster-GG | title = Media/composer information | publisher = SMS Power | accessdate = 2012-11-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100724152658/http://www.smspower.org/Games/HeadBuster-GG | archive-date = 2010-07-24 | url-status = live}}</ref> <br> Isao Mizoguchi <br> Hiroshi Fujioka |programmer = Takahiro Matsuzawa<ref name="gamefaqs">{{cite web | url = http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gamegear/data/570304.html | title = Release information | publisher = [[GameFAQs]] | accessdate = 2009-04-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081212064151/http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gamegear/data/570304.html | archive-date = 2008-12-12 | url-status = live}}</ref> |producer = [[Toshiro Tsuchida]] |released = {{vgrelease|JP|March 15, 1991<ref name="3rd party titles - Sega JP">{{cite web | title=Software List (Released by Soft Licensees) | url=https://sega.jp/history/hard/gamegear/software_l.html | website=セガ 製品情報サイト | publisher=Sega | access-date=May 15, 2023 | language=ja}}</ref>}} |genre = [[Strategy video game|Strategy]] involving breeding/[[construction|constructing]]<ref name="gamefaqs"/> |modes = [[Single-player]], [[multiplayer]] |platforms = [[Game Gear]]<ref name="gamefaqs"/> }}
{{nihongo|'''''Head Buster'''''|ヘッドバスター||Headbuster}} is a 1991 video game for the [[Game Gear]] handheld console. It involves [[robot]]s fighting in [[combat]] sequences.<ref name="mobygames">{{cite web | url = http://www.mobygames.com/game/head-buster | title = Game information | publisher = [[MobyGames]] | accessdate = 2009-04-26 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080510174844/http://www.mobygames.com/game/head-buster | archive-date = 2008-05-10 | url-status = live}}</ref>
==Gameplay== [[File:HeadBusterGGTargeting.png|225px|left|thumb|If the opponent happens to be range of the player's weapon, he can prepare to destroy the enemy.]] The object is to earn more [[gold]] by winning matches and spending that money on better [[weapon]]s like [[rifle]]s, [[Shoulder-launched missile weapon|missile launchers]], and [[flamethrower]]s.<ref name="mobygames"/> Robots can be traded in for money (gold) if updating them is impossible. At the center of each starting point is a base (circle). Either the base must be destroyed or all the opponent's robots must be destroyed in order to clear the [[wikt:battlefield|battlefield]].<ref name="mobygames"/> There is a certain range to each weapon; opponents cannot be attacked if they are too close or too far away from the weapon's firing range.
There are ten different maps in the game. Each level has its own [[password (video gaming)|password]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://ameblo.jp/wettissue/entry-10154449175.html | title = Advanced game information | language = Japanese | publisher = Ameblo | accessdate = 2012-11-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203010842/http://ameblo.jp/wettissue/entry-10154449175.html | archive-date = 2013-12-03 | url-status = live}}</ref> Players must deliver newspapers for a tiny [[stipend]] in order to resume competing after a loss.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/HeadBusterEnglish/ | title = Consequences of losing | publisher = Chris M. Covell | accessdate = 2012-11-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110725144306/http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/HeadBusterEnglish/ | archive-date = 2011-07-25 | url-status = live}}</ref>
==Development== The beta version of ''Head Buster'' had a different readout of the battle along with more complicated terrain types. Stairs, for example, would have been used to climb up steep mountains. They were removed during the late development stages. Players would have to develop their robots literally from the ground up in the unfinished version while robot models were already fully assembled in the finished version.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/MD__1990Q4.html | title = Development information | publisher = Chris M. Covell | accessdate = 2013-01-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140810103718/http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/MD__1990Q4.html | archive-date = 2014-08-10 | url-status = live}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Head Buster}} [[Category:1991 video games]] [[Category:Game Gear games]] [[Category:Game Gear-only games]] [[Category:Japan-exclusive video games]] [[Category:Masaya Games games]] [[Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games]] [[Category:Side-scrolling video games]] [[Category:Strategy video games]] [[Category:Top-down video games]] [[Category:Video games about mecha]] [[Category:Video games about robots]] [[Category:Video games developed in Japan]] [[Category:Video games scored by Noriyuki Iwadare]]