missiles. The development team were interested in including an asteroid belt stage with diagonal scrolling and enemies using the asteroids as shields, however time and hardware constraints forced it to be scrapped. Composers Masaaki Inoue and designer "S-guchi-san" composed the music. Per Uribo's request, Keita Hoshi created a medley theme featuring music from each stage of the game to be played at the end credits. Atsushi Kakutani designed the Caravan Mode almost entirely alone, although Uribo provided some minor assistance. The cover art was created by Yuji Kaida, a famed Japanese illustrator known for producing art for series such as Godzilla, Ultraman and Macross. Release Soldier Blade was released for the PC Engine in Japan on July 10, 1992. It was released in North America for the TurboGrafx-16 two months later in September. Uribo wished that he and the development team had more time to correct and refine many of its mechanics and features, however time constraints forced them to release it in its current stage. After its release Uribo began drafts for a potential Soldier Blade II, an idea that was never fulfilled. For their Caravan tournament, Hudson produced a modified version of the game called Soldier Blade Special Version, which only features the two Caravan time attack modes. It was produced in very limited quantities, and typically commands high prices on online auction sites. Soldier Blade was digitally re-released for the Wii Virtual Console in North America on January 8, 2007, in Europe on January 26, 2007, and in Japan on January 30, 2007. It is included in the 2008 PlayStation Portable compilation Soldier Collection alongside its predecessors Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier and Star Parodier. It was re-released for the PlayStation Network service on February 17, 2010 in Japan under the Game Archives brand. A digital version for the Wii U Virtual Console was released in 2014. Reception The original TurboGrafx-16 version of Soldier Blade was met with a mixed response from critics. GameFan compared the game favorably to Hudson's own Blazing Lazers, while Famitsu said it was one of the better shooters released for the console. One reviewer from Electronic Gaming Monthly labeled it "a hastily crafted title to herald the coming of the soon-to-be-released TurboDuo," but other reviewers from the magazine were more positive, despite noting the game's lack of originality. Reviews were mixed on the gameplay. The reviewers from Electronic Gaming Monthly rated it