<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
is	O
a	O
horizontally	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
developed	O
by	O
Tecmo	O
and	O
first	O
released	O
for	O
arcades	O
in	O
1988	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1989	B-Application
it	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
,	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
Commodore	O
64	O
,	O
ZX	B-Operating_System
Spectrum	I-Operating_System
,	O
Amstrad	B-Device
CPC	I-Device
and	O
NES	O
(	O
1990	O
)	O
systems	O
by	O
The	O
Sales	O
Curve	O
and	O
released	O
by	O
Virgin	O
Mastertronic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
also	O
spawned	O
what	O
many	O
consider	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
spiritual	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
SWIV	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
SWIV	B-Application
was	O
not	O
a	O
direct	O
sequel	O
,	O
it	O
followed	O
the	O
same	O
core	O
gameplay	O
design	O
of	O
a	O
helicopter/jeep	O
team	O
,	O
albeit	O
as	O
a	O
vertically	O
scrolling	O
shooter	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
horizontally	O
scrolling	O
one	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SWIV	B-Application
was	O
described	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
manual	O
to	O
mean	O
both	O
"	O
Special	O
Weapons	O
Intercept	O
Vehicles	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Silkworm	B-Application
IV	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
was	O
released	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
where	O
side-scrolling	O
shooting	O
games	O
were	O
among	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
genres	O
-	O
it	O
was	O
released	O
at	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
as	O
Forgotten	B-Application
Worlds	I-Application
,	O
Sanxion	B-Application
,	O
Mr.	B-Application
Heli	I-Application
and	O
DNA	O
Warrior	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Spectrum	O
version	O
took	O
three	O
months	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
was	O
converted	O
from	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
version	O
which	O
was	O
almost	O
identical	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
reached	O
number	O
three	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
Spectrum	O
sales	O
charts	O
,	O
behind	O
RoboCop	B-Application
and	O
Dragon	B-Application
Ninja	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
1990	O
,	O
Virgin	O
would	O
rerelease	O
Silkworm	B-Application
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Edition	O
1	O
compilation	O
,	O
which	O
also	O
included	O
Double	B-Application
Dragon	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
shoot'em	O
ups	O
Gemini	O
Wing	O
,	O
and	O
Xenon	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
had	O
interesting	O
graphics	O
and	O
relatively	O
fast-paced	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
player	O
can	O
take	O
control	O
of	O
a	O
Jeep	O
mounted	O
with	O
a	O
machine	O
gun	O
or	O
a	O
Helicopter	B-Application
mounted	O
with	O
forward	O
and	O
downward	O
firing	O
guns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
players	O
can	O
work	O
simultaneously	O
and	O
cooperatively	O
against	O
enemies	O
,	O
with	O
one	O
playing	O
as	O
the	O
Jeep	O
and	O
one	O
as	O
the	O
Helicopter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
single-player	O
mode	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
generally	O
easier	O
to	O
play	O
with	O
the	O
Helicopter	B-Application
than	O
with	O
the	O
Jeep	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
two-player	O
mode	O
,	O
the	O
Helicopter	B-Application
and	O
Jeep	O
must	O
cooperate	O
and	O
the	O
players	O
depend	O
on	O
each	O
other	O
to	O
succeed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
Helicopter	B-Application
can	O
only	O
fire	O
forward	O
,	O
so	O
occasionally	O
,	O
the	O
Jeep	O
must	O
cover	O
the	O
rear	O
with	O
his	O
swivelling	O
gun	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
when	O
covering	O
the	O
rear	O
,	O
the	O
Jeep	O
is	O
vulnerable	O
from	O
the	O
front	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
Helicopter	B-Application
must	O
cover	O
him	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
featured	O
a	O
fairly	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
enemies	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
which	O
had	O
specific	O
weaknesses	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
armoured	O
AA	O
guns	O
that	O
could	O
only	O
be	O
harmed	O
when	O
their	O
shields	O
were	O
down	O
to	O
fire	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
famously	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
the	O
"	O
Goose	O
"	O
helicopter	B-Application
-	O
a	O
giant	O
,	O
heavily	O
armoured	O
"	O
mini-boss	O
"	O
helicopter	B-Application
that	O
was	O
composed	O
of	O
several	O
smaller	O
vehicles	O
connected	O
together	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
featured	O
a	O
background	O
music	O
theme	O
composed	O
by	O
Barry	O
Leitch	O
,	O
which	O
went	O
on	O
to	O
be	O
included	O
on	O
a	O
Sinclair	O
User	O
covermounted	O
cassette	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
Shinobi	B-Application
and	O
Continental	B-Application
Circus	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Silkworm	B-Application
belongs	O
to	O
the	O
games	O
that	O
"	O
do	O
n't	O
have	O
a	O
final	O
"	O
:	O
after	O
a	O
certain	O
level	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
goes	O
on	O
infinitely	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
exceptions	O
being	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
and	O
NES	O
conversions	O
where	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
final	O
sequence	O
and	O
an	O
ending	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
video	O
released	O
by	O
ChinnyVision	O
in	O
August	O
2019	O
disproved	O
this	O
and	O
shows	O
endings	O
for	O
the	O
Amstrad	B-Device
CPC	I-Device
and	O
Commodore	O
64	O
conversions	O
.	O
</s>
