Captain Tomaday (キャプテン・トマディ) is a shoot 'em up game developed by Visco and released in 1999 for the Neo Geo.
Story
The time is the near future. At the Institute for Space Research, weapons were being developed to counter the invasion of the Eggplant Aliens, which was expected in the future.
In one of the rooms of the institute, petit tomatoes were cultivated for dinner. One stormy night, a tomato that felt from the trunk fell into a reagent under development. The tomato soaked in the reagent received a flash of intense light and ended mutated, transforming into Captain Tomaday.
Around the same time, on the planet Ganbar, far from Earth, the final stage of the Earth Conquest program was reached, and numerous weapons were launched toward Earth to destroy humankind. The research institute, which was the first to know of the information, sent out Captain Tomaday, which was born in a freak accident during weapons development, to repel the Eggplant Aliens.
What fate awaits Captain Tomaday, who left for space to protect the Earth with just one grain?
Overview
In Captain Tomaday players control the titular character, a cartoonish tomato. When playing with two players the second player controls a female version of Tomaday with a ribbon.
Unlike most shoot 'em ups the player doesn't shoot bullets. Instead, the A and B buttons control each of Tomaday's floating fists, which are launched at enemies and quickly return after hitting a _target or reaching a certain range. By holding one of the buttons the corresponding fist is continuously launched, while the opposite fist builds power, growing in size until turning into a 16-ton weight which causes heavy damage when launched.
During levels the player finds tomato cans floating around which drop items when hit, including score bonus items and power ups. One of the power ups will create a clone which follows the player, effectively doubling its firepower; when having multiple clones the player can set their formation with the C button. Another power up will transform the player into another form, with 16 different forms available, each with their own unique attack methods.