Developer - Tengen   Catalogue No. - T-48173

Type - Vertical Shooting Action

V-V, pronounced V Five is one of the higher sort after Mega Drive shooters out there and for a good reason. It’s bloody rock solid! The original Toaplan arcade has came to the Mega Drive curtsies of Tengen.  Not only have Tengen included a conversion of V-V but also the western version named Grind Storm. Now you maybe wondering why did Tengen bother to stick in the western title version of the game. Well, the reason is because it’s actually quite different from the rock solid Japanese release. Graphically and sonically they are both the same apart from the different title screens. The main differences come from the way the two games play. Read on to find out how they are different.

In V-V there is a selection of weapon types as well as speed ups listed down the side of the screen. These can only be accessed in order meaning that if you want to power up your weapon you are going to have to collect 5 “weapon” icons throughout the stage. Thankfully the weapon icons are pretty much plentiful. However if you die you can say goodbye to all your weapons and hello to stress city due to the weakness of your weapon and the lack of any bombs. Now in Grind Storm the list of weapons down the side is replaced by a list of bombs. Each stage starts of with 3 bombs with more being available for pick up throughout the level. Powering up your weapon is done be selecting the different icons throughout the levels. This is much easier that the Japanese "select enough icons until you reach the item you want" method.

Over all this is a very nice shooter that while on one hand doesn't look as good as other Mega Drive shooters it certainly has enough in it to keep you occupied for quite some time.