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Hellfire

Trigger-happy aliens are closing in! Only you can burn the invaders to a crisp with the ultimate starship: HELLFIRE! Discover Toaplan's first side-scrolling shooter, known for its stunning graphics and strategic gameplay. Now on PC with quality-of-life extras!

Steam Page
Developer
Bitwave Games, Toaplan
Publisher
Clear River Games
Release
August 24, 2023
2 years and 344 days ago
Steam Reviews
Positive22 reviews86.4%

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Game contextLatest: IGF Team
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Notes
Latest Contributor: IGF TeamEdit notes
Updated: Jul 14, 2026Developer scaleThe operating scale of the game's developer.
Updated: Jul 14, 2026Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher.
A separate outside publisher is documented for this title.
Search Google: Is Hellfire self-published or published by Clear River Games?Publisher statusHow the game's publishing relationship is classified.
Search Google: How is Hellfire and Clear River Games funded?FundingThe known source of funding behind the game.
Updated: Jul 14, 2026Creative controlWho appears to retain creative control of the game.
A material outside publishing relationship creates mixed creative-control evidence.
Updated: Jul 14, 2026Release statusWhether and how the game has been released.
The title released with a material outside publishing relationship.

Media

11 items

About the Game

ALIENS BLAST YOU FROM ALL DIRECTIONS!


HELLFIRE is Toaplan's first side-scrolling shooter! This PC port of the celebrated 1989 arcade title features online leaderboards, arcade-accurate emulation, quick saves, and more. You'll face a blood-boiling trial of complex choices, blazing graphics, and aliens ambushing from every angle. Firepower alone won't cut it; you must use your weapons strategically and with great prowess!

"Desperate to regain the six planets stolen by the sinister Guild Empire, the kindhearted Captain Lancer of the rebelling forces unleashes a superheated space battleship: HELLFIRE! Its blinding firepower marks the beginning of an all-out war between good and evil."

ORIGINAL GAME FEATURES:


  • Choose Fire Direction: Rotate through eight shooting directions of four mighty weapons and unleash a whirlwind of hell. A strategic mindset is required, but once you master this system, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
  • Co-op Mode: Play alone or with a friend!
  • Wildly creative graphics: Explore a world of stunning vistas, mighty machines, and deadly enemies. If you can't handle the heat, at least you'll go down in style…
  • The rock-heavy soundtrack by Tatsuya Uemura showed a different side of Toaplan in the 80s, and it’s still headbang-inducing today.

QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS:


  • Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
  • Quick Save using F1-F10, Reload with Shift+ F1-F10
  • Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
  • Instrument panels with extra gameplay information and artwork.
  • Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
  • Experience the game in Mirror Mode
  • Capture sharable replays to immortalize your interstellar victories (or funny moments).
  • Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
  • Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
  • Pixel perfect or full-screen scaling in windowed or full-screen mode.
  • Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
  • Steam Achievements
  • Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
  • Hone your skills in the ultra-customizable practice mode!

※ If you want to play this game on a Steam Deck, you may need to force the use of "Steam Linux Runtime" in the compatibility menu in the game options
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