Flash Boy

Flash Boy seems to have originally been released in Japan as a vertically scrolling science-fiction themed punch-em-up for the Data East Cassette System. It was later released as two variants: The Deco Kid which was vertically scrolling, and again as Flash Boy which was tipped on its side to became horizontally scrolling.

You control the title character, who greatly resembles the robotic manga/anime character Astroboy. You are flying through what looks like a space station, littered with boulders and other hazards, while under attack by aliens. The aliens will fly into screen, fire a weapon and then drift away. If you are hit by enemy fire, you will lose a life. Flying into one of the hazards will also lose a life. Avoiding hazards becomes more difficult to avoid when the walls start to narrow.

Aliens that come within your reach may be destroyed by a punch, or knocked out of the sky if you only hit them a glancing blow. Flash Boy may also activate a special attack which launches him at high speed towards his enemies and detonates a fire flash that will take out a group of enemies.

As you fly, your energy continually depletes. The special attack also uses a lot of energy. Destroying glowing enemies will give you more energy. You can also reach the end of level earlier, saving energy, by moving up towards the centre of the screen to fly through the terrain faster. Once you have reached the end of the level, you have an opportunity to completely replenish your energy by destroying all of the white holes within a certain amount of time. After this is achieved, the level repeats with slightly increased difficulty.