| Fire Shark | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Toaplan |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Designer(s) | Sanae Nitō Yuko Tataka |
| Artist(s) | Shintarō Nakaoka |
| Composer(s) | Masahiro Yuge |
| Series | Shark |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Mega Drive/Genesis |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Vertically scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, co-op |
Fire Shark[a] is a 1989 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe, and by Romstar in North America. It is the sequel to Flying Shark, a game released in 1987 on multiple platforms. Set in the year 1991, the game focuses on a mysterious armada launching a worldwide attack from a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. Players take control of the titular biplane to counterattack the enemy forces.
Though first launched for the arcades, Fire Shark was ported in-house to the Mega Drive/Genesis and published worldwide by DreamWorks, Toaplan and Sega between 1990 and 1991. The console launch featured various changes compared with the original release. A conversion for the Sharp X68000 was developed but never released. The game was well received in arcades across Western regions where reviewers commended its graphics, sound and gameplay, but it proved to be less popular in Japan due to the high difficulty level. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was also met with mostly positive reviews from critics across multiple regions.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).