Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode

American cover art

***Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode***, known as ***Golgo 13 Episode 1: Twilight of the Gods*** (ゴルゴ13 第一章神々の黄昏) in Japan, is a Japanese video game for the NES based on the *Golgo 13* manga series released on March 26, 1988 in Japan, and in September of that year in the U.S. by Vic Tokai. It was one of the first appearances of the Golgo 13 franchise outside of Japan, and one of the first video games released in the U.S. to feature mature content.

## Synopsis

**Spoiler warning**: ***Plot and/or ending details follow.***

A CIA helicopter transporting a sample of a newly-developed biological weapon, Cassandra-G, along with plans and a vaccine for it, explodes as it is traveling over New York City. The weapon, plans, and vaccine are stolen. The CIA finds an M-16 shell in the wreckage, and concludes that Golgo 13 is responsible, likely under contract by the KGB.

A secret organization called FIXER believes Golgo 13 has been framed. Maria Lovelette, a representative for FIXER, contracts Golgo 13 to find the group actually responsible and assassinate their leader. She also informs him that a spy hiding in East Berlin, code-named Condor, has information on the location of the vaccine for Cassandra-G, but is in danger of being killed by the mystery terrorist group.

Golgo 13 meets up with FIXER agent Cherry Grace, who informs him that a sniper plans to shoot Condor from a nearby television tower. Using a helicopter provided by FIXER, Golgo 13 flies to the TV tower and takes out the sniper.

Golgo 13 meets up with Condor, who gives him a file on the vaccine. Suddenly, Condor is shot by an unseen assailant, but gives Golgo 13 the location of the terrorists' hideout with his dying breath.

Golgo 13 uses SCUBA gear to infiltrate the terrorists' hideout, deep under the Spree River. Fighting his way through, Golgo 13 rescues a man introducing himself as FIXER agent Oz Windham, who explains that the enemy leader has taken the Cassandra-G plans and vaccine to a hideout in Greece. Using a secret passage to escape, Golgo 13 pursues the terrorists to Greece.

Upon arriving, Golgo 13 contacts Tiffany, an arms dealer, and requests a Custom M-16. She tells him to meet with her at a nearby concert hall. When Golgo 13 arrives, he finds Tiffany mortally wounded, and the weapon stolen. Following the killer to Cape Sunion, Golgo 13 runs into Cherry Grace, who gives him the location of the terrorists' new hideout in the Aegean Sea.

Fighting his way through the hideout, Golgo 13 rescues John Brutos, the creator of the Cassandra-G virus, who reveals that the terrorists are a group of neo-nazis. John also warns Golgo 13 that they plan to assassinate him with the help of the culprit behind the helicopter crash.

Once back on land, Golgo 13 is confronted by Fake Enormous, a little person working for the Nazis, who explains that he is responsible for the theft of the M-16, and that Cherry Grace has been taken captive by the Nazis, before fleeing. Golgo 13 gives chase, but loses the trail.

Golgo 13 goes to a nearby hotel, where he is informed that a woman named Eve Christy is waiting to meet with him. Eve, who claims to be an agent for FIXER, has traced Cherry Grace to the Nazis' hideout near Deros Island, and tells him that Oz Windham has prepared a helicopter for him to fly to the hideout.

While trying to meet up with Oz, Golgo 13 is confronted by Spartacus, an assassin working for the Nazis. Golgo 13 manages to kill him, when suddenly Oz shows up to drop off the helicopter. Golgo 13 flies out towards the Nazi hideout, but discovers that a bomb has been planted on the copter.

Narrowly escaping by diving into the sea, Golgo 13 swims the rest of the way to the hideout, where he rescues the *real* Oz Windham, who explains that the other Oz was actually the Nazi leader in disguise, and that Eve Christy is his girlfriend. Golgo 13 also manages to save Cherry Grace, who tells him about a file that will reveal the true identity of the leader of the Nazi group. The file turns out to contain a letter apparently signed by Adolf Hitler.

Golgo 13 and Cherry Grace track the Nazis to Rio De Janeiro, where she explains that the Nazis are hiding in the Amazon rain-forest, are planning to sell the Cassandra-G vaccine, and that a suspicious company that built their getaway plane is located in the city. Upon investigation of the company headquarters, Golgo 13 runs into Fake Enormous, who reveals that the stolen M-16 is there. Fighting his way through the massive complex, Golgo 13 retrieves his M-16, and meets up with Cherry, who tells him that the Nazi leader has escaped into the Amazon.

Golgo 13, alone, travels deep into the rain-forest and locates the hidden base. Before he can approach, he is met by Eve Christy, who explains that the Nazis killed her parents, and that she is only working with them to get close to the leader and get her revenge. She reveals that Hitler is indeed still alive, and is hiding out in the Amazon base.

Fighting his way inside, Golgo 13 confronts the fake Oz Windham, who is suddenly shot and killed by Eve Christy, who explains her hatred for the Nazis to him as he dies, and tells Golgo 13 that the Nazis' main headquarters is located on an island off the coast of Antarctica. Suddenly, Eve is killed by Fake Enormous, who warns Golgo 13 that the Amazon base is about to self-destruct before fleeing.

Golgo 13 follows Fake to the Antarctic base, and after fighting through the defenses, comes face to face with a robotic clone of Hitler. Hitler offers to allow Golgo 13 to join him, but Golgo refuses. Hitler reveals that he has a clone of Golgo 13, which he orders to kill the original.

Golgo 13 manages to kill his clone, and chases the Hitler clone deep into the base, where he discovers that Hitler's brain has been kept alive by the Nazis all this time, and that they are mass-producing robot clones of him. Hitler offers to give Golgo 13 the vaccine in exchange for letting him live, but Golgo refuses. Hitler starts a countdown for the detonation of a nuclear missile, and sics his clones on Golgo, but he manages to fight them off and destroy Hitler's life support systems, upon which he tries to flee in a capsule. Golgo 13 takes out his M-16, takes aim, and shoots the brain, killing it.

***Spoilers end here.***
## Gameplay

Top Secret Episode consists of several different gameplay modes:

* **Horizontal Action:** The standard mode used in most circumstances. Golgo 13 traverses different areas from a 2D side view, while fighting enemies. There are ground, underwater, and flying variations.
* **Pan & Zoom:** At certain points during Horizontal Action mode, Golgo 13 will be ambushed by enemies, and the game will switch to a first-person view in which he must defeat all the enemies in the area before progressing.
* **Maze:** Golgo 13 must search enemy bases from a first-person mode, all while taking out guards, avoiding trap doors, dodging lasers, as well as trying to keep his bearings.
* **Animated Text Window:** Golgo 13 meets up with various characters throughout the story who will either help or hinder his mission. This is where most of the plot unfolds.

## American Censorship

The American version of the game is infamous for the amount of mature content that managed to slip through Nintendo of America's heavy censorship practices of the time:

* While the English text renamed the Nazis the "Drek Empire" and Hitler was renamed "Smirk", the graphics for the dialogue portrait of the robot Hitler, as well as a file with a swastika on the cover, were left unchanged.
* The sex scenes had an animation of the female characters undressing removed, but are otherwise unchanged.
* All instances of enemies spraying blood when shot are intact.
* In Greece, Golgo 13 can pick up a pack of Cigarettes which he will then proceed to smoke, refilling his health.
* In the American version, Golgo 13 is never referred to as an assassin, but his actions are unchanged.