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MachStorm

MachStorm

Console: Arcade
TV Standard: Region Not Set
Developer(s): Bandai Namco Entertainment
Publisher(s): Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release Date: 2013-12-04
Players: 1
Co-op: No
ESRB: E - Everyone
Type: Shooter

Mach Storm is an arcade game developed by Bandai Namco. It utilizes assets from other Ace Combat games released near the same time, and is one of the first international arcade games to use a modified Namco System N2 "P.O.D." display. Parts of its gameplay are taken from Mobile Suit Gundam: Bonds of the Battlefield, which also used the N2 P.O.D. system.
Mach Storm was released in December 2013 in Japan, and available internationally by February 2014.

Mach Storm uses an special cabinet called P.O.D. (Panaromic Optical Display). The player flies as the flight lead of Storm Squadron in a COFFIN-equipped CFA-44 Nosferatu while battling enemy forces in locales across the world. The P.O.D. reacts to the user's actions, activating fans when flying at high speeds or vibrating the chair if the aircraft gets damaged. The aircraft is controlled with a flight stick for motion and a throttle control for acceleration and deceleration.

One credit (price dependent on location) allows the player to select any of the five available missions. After selecting a mission, the player permanently flies in a scripted path in Dogfight Mode, engaging and destroying enemy units. Bonuses are awarded for destroying enemies in quick succession, without getting damaged, and with gunfire. Like Dogfight Mode in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, levels will include cinematic sequences like collapsing buildings and flying through cramped spaces.

If the player survives to the end of the mission, they will enter a timed boss encounter specific to the mission they're playing. If the boss is successfully destroyed, the player has the option to use another credit to play a bonus round to potentially double their score. The bonus round lasts for 60 seconds, but time can be extended by destroying certain enemies, and each kill will fill a gauge to use multi-lock missiles to gain more points.

At the end of the session, the player is ranked for their actions and placed on a local leaderboard.