Cloud Master

Chuuka Taisen (known overseas as Cloud Master) is a horizontal scrolling shoot 'em up developed by Taito. The original arcade version launched in 1988, and the Famicom/FC port was released in 1989. It is a mythological themed STG featuring ancient Chinese aesthetics. Players control the young immortal Michael Chen, who rides a magic cloud resembling the cloud from Journey to the West. Travel through scenic stages including Five Elements Mountain, Yellow River, Great Wall and underwater dragon palace, fighting mythical monsters, flying ramen bowls, demonic monks, pig demons, phoenix and dragon bosses. It features a unique spell shop system. After defeating mid-bosses, players can buy more than ten types of sub-weapons such as fire wheels and bombs. Power-ups upgrade your main shot, but power levels reset completely once you die, raising the challenge. It uses ink-wash inspired pixel art paired with traditional Chinese pentatonic BGM. The bullet density demands careful pattern memorization. Two-player co-op gameplay is supported. Widely included on Subor multicarts, it stands as one of the most recognizable oriental shooters on the Famicom.

These are the default keys. Click the gamepad icon 🎮 in the player’s bottom toolbar to rebind them. Gamepads are detected automatically. On phones you get on-screen buttons.

1P

2P

The NES was always two-player — 2P uses the numeric keypad, and NumLock does not matter. No numpad? Rebind 2P to other keys in the 🎮 panel.