Top pistol was an influence, but before I saw it Top pistolI already had the idea for a fighter jet game taking shape in my head. At first I thought of something similar Laputa: Castle in the skysomething with that sci-fi anime feel. But Sega’s taikan games would be sold not only in Japan, but in America, Europe and around the world. So we finally switched to an F-14 fighter jet, something that would be recognizable and approachable to everyone, no matter what country they came from. Americans in particular tend to prefer realistic worlds over the imaginative, anime-like worlds that Japan loves. Although I think that Americans now largely understand the appeal of those fantasy worlds.
–Yu Suzuki