What is the name of this Mega Drive (aka Genesis) side-scrolling shooter?

Question

I really hope one of you knows the answer to this!

Basically, I am looking for a name of a specific Mega Drive (aka Genesis) side-scrolling shooter. I can't guarantee accuracy in the following details, as it was a long time ago, but I would love to hear suggestions.

The "facts":

• Possibly mid 90s side scrolling shooter.
• Possibly had multiple facets - you would be in a ship (?) for some levels, shooting waves of flying enemies, and walking around for others.
• Had a boss either at the end of each level, or occasionally.
• Definitely had a snake boss in one level, where you would have to kill it by shooting different parts of its body as it circled around you.
• Most likely had a fish boss where you had to shoot the scales of the fish to defeat it.
• Definitely could have two players playing at the same time, in co-op mode.
• Possibly quite colourful.
• Possibly had Japanese origins.

Edit: Thanks for all the help so far guys!

Bio Hazard battle is a great game, and I actually did play it when I was younger. However, it is not the game I am trying to find! Thanks anyway Maneero! Also, Viewpoint is not the game either.

I appreciate your help SystemDown, and I agree that Darius is legendary amongst the genre, however it is also not the game I am looking for!

I'm starting to appreciate that this is quite a tough one to crack. I have spent about 8 hours this weekend looking for the game, to the point that I may soon actually believe it never existed!

I shall repeat an improved version of what I have said earlier, about my most vivid details:

The most vivid details I do have concern the snake: When the boss appears, it does so by slowly entering the screen in a circular fashion from the bottom and close to the right. The snake consists of several contiguous segments and it circles the player(s) while the player(s) shoot the segments of the snake. The segments would change colour, eventually to red, as they became more damaged. The snake is defeated by damaging all of the segments. If we were clever enough, we could disable the entire snake before it completed one complete move (ie: shoot all segments as they appear on the screen).

PS: By multiple facets, I mean "hybrid platformer and shmup".

Hope to hear more suggestions!

Edit: Still looking for the answer! Here are some more details:

• Forgot to say it before, but it is a horizontally scrolling shooter.
• It was available in Europe. Specifically, the UK. It's feasible that the game was never released in Japan and/or America.
• Not Bio Hazard Battle, Viewpoint, Darius, Thunderforce IV, Alien Soldier, Gunstar Heroes, Rocket Night.
• Not Blaster Master 2. It is a very close match, but it was only published in North America.
• Not Super Fantasy Zone, although elements like boss-changing-colour make it feel like it is remotely possible the game's developer could have written the game I am looking for.
• Perhaps it wasn't a Mega Drive game after all? I only owned that one console in the past, but am I correct in supposing the only alternative at the time would be a SNES? It isn't totally unlikely that a friend of mine didn't bring over a console to my house at the time.
• Perhaps it is a game that has not been successfully emulated? Is there a list of these games?

I'll see if I can get in contact with some old friends to find out the answer. I think it unlikely, but if I pull it off I'll post the answer here!

Nick

Answer

Could be Sagaia/Darius II indeed, but there is no multiplayer in that one.

Lucky for you, not many shooters on Genesis have co-op mode and fish!

Check out Bio-Hazard Battle:

Or Viewpoint:

(Awesome games BTW!)

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