Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 4)

(This post is going to be video heavy, so I hope you guys watch them.)

Last time, I looked at the sequels to Galaga, which is a sequel to Galaxian.  By that logic, it would make sense that Gaplus and Galaga '88 are sequels to Galaxian, as well.  To some people, they are, but there actually was another arcade game that can be considered a direct sequel: Galaxian 3 (which would mean that Galaga would be "Galaxian 2").  Though there really wasn't much of a story to these games to warrant sequels.  After all, the only plot we get from Galaxian is "We are the Galaxians.  Mission: Destroy aliens."  So it's hard to tell how the games flow into each other.

That changed with Galaxian 3 (which has the subtitle Project Dragoon).  While you could only fill out a few pages with the plot, the game does tell the story of a United Galaxy Space Force gunship known as the Dragoon.  It is called out into space to prevent this race of mechanized aliens from destroying Earth with the planet shattering Cannon Seed.  The game used a combination of a traditional arcade board and laserdisc players, similar to some of the laserdisc games of the 1980s.  The laserdisc players provided the backgrounds while the arcade boards made the on screen enemies and other effects, such as explosions or your targeting reticle.

Instead of piloting the Dragoon, players are gunners that aim the ship's turrets at the alien armada that awaits them.  The interesting thing about this game is that it was made for large groups.  In its initial incarnation, in 1990, Galaxian 3 was actually a theme park attraction that had its own building.  The first one, the GH-28 model, actually seated up to 28 people!  Imagine a 28 player video game that wasn't online.  How insane is that?  Only two GH-28 models were ever made, but Namco also created a GM-16 model, which housed, you guessed it, 16 players at once.  While the GH-28 was used in big conventions, such as Osaka's Expo '90, the GM-16 models were installed in Namco's Wonder Eggs amusement parks.  Both models have a similar design: all the "technical stuff" was at the center of a circular room.  The consoles where the players sat ringed around it with the players facing outward.  The game was projected on the outer wall and divided in half (the screen was broken up by the entrance and exit on opposite ends of the room.

 Here's a diagram of the GH-28 model.

The "pilot" and "co-pilot" are the staff that operate the ride.  I say ride because, at least for the GH-28, the central area was actually a platform that had a hydraulic system.  This allowed the platform to rock back and forth while the game played, giving the feeling of the Dragoon listing as it took damage.  From what I've seen, it doesn't look like the GM-16 had this hydraulic system, so that's one of the few differences.  If you look at this promotional video, you'll see the GH-28 in action (as well as other Namco attractions, such as a ride based on the arcade game Tower of Druaga).

(By the way, if you want to find these theme park versions of Galaxian 3, don't bother.  They were all shut down at the turn of the century.)

After creating these attractions for theme parks, Namco was interested in creating a version of this game for game centers (which is what they call arcades in Japan).  Of course, they would have to scale down the number of people who could play to fit the game in smaller buildings.  Namco worked on designing the arcade version, but, for some reason, scrapped the project.  However, something did come out of that research, but it wasn't Galaxian 3.  Compare these two videos: the first one is footage from the arcade version of Galaxian 3 (you don't have to watch the whole thing -- just skip to the middle of the video).



The second video is footage from another Namco arcade game that came out in 1991: Starblade.



If you notice they look a lot alike, it's because Starblade was the remnants of their project to turn Galaxian 3 into a one player arcade game.  My guess is that they felt that Galaxian 3 needed to be a multiplayer game -- one player wouldn't have the same effect.  So they changed the name and released it into arcades.  I actually remember playing Starblade.  The sit down cockpit with a concave mirror display made it feel like you were surrounded.  I also remember the strobe light right above the player's head.  Each time you got hit, it would flash.  Heaven help you if your ship was about to blow up, because that strobe would go nuts on you.  You know those warnings about how certain video games can induce seizures?  This was definitely one of those games.  Anyway, Starblade gets an honorable mention -- it's not really considered part of the Galaxian series, but it is a distant cousin to Galaxian 3.

After a few more years, Namco finally revealed the fruits of their labors.  In 1994, a six player version of Galaxian 3 arrived in arcades, known as the Theater 6 system.  While it definitely was diminished from the GH-28 and GM-16 models, it was still a behemoth.  The "cockpit" was practically the size of a large bathroom.

I could probably set up a sleeping bag

and, theoretically, live in there.

Six players sit, side-by-side, in front of a huge projection screen.  Other than that, its almost the same thing as the GM-16.  Later on, Namco made another game using the Theater 6 system: Attack of the Zolgear, which was the sequel to Galaxian 3.  Sadly, I've never seen one of these in person.  I have heard that some arcades re-purposed the Theater 6 for other games, but I doubt that I will ever find an original Galaxian 3 in the US.

Both Galaxian 3 and Starblade made their way to the original Playstation in 1996, but only Starblade (renamed Starblade Alpha, with an enhanced graphics version) made its way to the States.  Meanwhile the Playstation version of Galaga 3 (again, not available for US Playstations) only has four player support, but adds a new sequel, The Rising of Gorub.

And so ends my Galaga retrospective -- 30 years of classic gaming and still going strong.  If you ever happen to pass by any of these games in an arcade, bowling alley, or neglected corner of a movie theater, drop a quarter and give them some love.

Until next time, keep your scores high and the Earth free from alien bugs.

(Special thanks to the forums at dragonslairfans.com, especially user DarthNuno, who compiled a lot of information involving Galaxian 3.  Images and videos on this post are courtesy of him.)

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 3)

Given the runaway success of Galaga, Namco wanted to see if they could make lightning strike twice.  There have been a few sequels, not to mention remakes and arrange versions, but none of them seemed to capture the gaming public quite like Galaga.  This isn't to say that they aren't enjoyable, so don't discount them so easily.

In 1984, Namco updated the formula started with Galaxian further with Gaplus.  This time, Gaplus added loads more new features than its predecessors: faster action, power-ups, collecting parts to get a 1-up, secret "easter eggs," and the ability to move your ship up and down (instead of just left and right).  One of the power-ups you can get from shooting the "Queen" Gaplus (similar to the "Boss" Galaga) is the capture beam (again, similar to the "Boss" Galaga -- the poor guy).  Getting the capture beam allows you to capture dive-bombing Gaplus and use them for extra firepower.  You would think that this makes the game too easy, but, in later levels, it's really hard to survive without some Gapluses (Gapli?) backing you up.  The "Challenging Stages" have changed, too.  Instead of trying to shoot a bunch of enemies that swoops by, you have to juggle them by continuously shooting them.  Each time you hit one, the game slowly starts to spell out a word.  Complete the word and you get a bonus (all of this should make sense in the video below, even if you don't speak Japanese).



Despite coming from a pedigree of great shooters, Gaplus wasn't a big hit.  It was renamed Galaga 3 because some people thought the game strayed too far from Galaga to be recognized as a sequel.  Even so, the video game crash of 1983 sealed this game's fate.  While this game is not as well recognized as others in the series, you can still find this game, especially if you have a Nintendo Wii.  It can be found on Namco Museum Remix or available for the Virtual Console for $6.

That makes no sense.  Where's Galaga 2?

 Three years later, Namco tried again with Galaga '88 (yes, that means it was released in 1987).  This time, the gameplay didn't stray too far from the original Galaga -- gone were all of the features of Gaplus.  Instead, they significantly improved the graphics and sound.  The only added feature to Galaga '88 was the ability to travel to higher dimensions.  Higher dimensions have different looking enemies with increasing difficulty, but reaching them nets you bonus points.

Even though Galaga '88 was better received than Gaplus, less units of the arcade game were made, so it wasn't as widespread.  There are only two ways to play this game (with the exception of the Galaga 30th Anniversary Collection for the iPhone, which I don't own), on the Namco Museum 50th Anniversary collection for last-gen consoles or on the Wii's Virtual Console.

In 1995, there was a compilation arcade cabinet in Japan that included arrangement versions of Galaga, Xevious, and Mappy.  Galaga Arrangement is of note here because it's the only Galaga game to support two players simultaneously.  Other features, such as faster shooting and new rules for "Boss" Galagas, have been added, too.  This version of Galaga is only available in the US through Namco Museum for last-gen consoles.  I really don't know very much about this version, so I'll let this video speak for itself.



Well, those are the direct sequels to Galaga (not including that mediocre PS1 title, Galaga: Destination Earth -- Namco didn't even make that one).  There are a few more games dealing with Galaxian, though, but we'll save that for next time.

Until then, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.

The Mercury Men - Coming Soon!

I know it's not Wednesday.  I know this isn't a Galaga anniversary post.  You'll get that tomorrow.  I just wanted to spread the word about this new web serial I heard about today.  I am very much a fan of pulp adventure and anything that has laser blasters, sci-fi flyboys, and strange, malevolent beings from beyond piques my interest.

So, imagine my excitement when I found out about this show coming out called The Mercury Men on a commercial on the Syfy network.  The show is premiering on syfy.com next Monday (July 25).  Right now, they have a bunch of extra content on the show's website, including behind the scenes footage, pictures of promo posters, a fake toy line in the vein of the Kenner Star Wars toys, and this trailer to whet your appetite.



Don't forget to check out the website for more extras and keep your eyes peeled next Monday for the premiere of The Mercury Men.

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 2)

 

Anyway, back to Galaga's 30th anniversary.

In 1978, Taito created what would be considered one of the most influential games in arcade history: Space Invaders.  Considered the father of all shoot 'em ups, its popularity has spawned a plethora (I say plethora) of direct imitators.  Out of all of them, the most popular has to be Namco's Galaxian.

Created one year later, Galaxian takes the classic formula of Space Invaders and adds its own elements.  Where Space Invaders had you fighting rows of aliens as they slowly advanced toward the planet, bombarding you with death rays, Galaxian had your ship and the enemies floating through space.  As you played, the aliens would fly toward you, kamikaze style.  It was a style cloned by other games, such as Phoenix and Gorf (which had a mission called "Galaxians," as Midway owned the rights to many Namco games in the US (something they would abuse on many occasions).

With the sequel, Galaga, Namco perfected the formula they started.  Galaxian only added dive bombing enemies to Space Invaders' foundation (even a lot of the sounds from Galaxian are extremely reminiscent of Space Invaders).  Even though Galaga overshadowed its predecessor, Galaxian was still very popular and is considered a classic.

If you've never played Galaxian (which has been ported to just as many console systems as Galaga), check out this video and compare with the gameplay of Galaga.

And if you enjoyed making your own mini Galaga machine out of paper, here's the papercraft version of Galaxian to add to your papercade.  Click, print, cut, fold, paste - you get the idea.

Next time, on Forgotten Worlds, (maybe next week, maybe not), I'll go over the sequels to Galaga.  Keep in mind, these are not sequels to Galaxian.  I'll get to those another time.

Keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.

Games You Should Know About... Earth Defense Force 2017

It was only two days ago that people across America were celebrating... well, being American.  Granted, the Fourth of July commemorates the nation's independence from Britain after a hard fought war over 200 years ago, but we get along with the British, nowadays.  Besides, I don't think George Washington crossed the Delaware in deathly cold weather so we could go swimming, eat bratwurst (man, I could go for a bratwurst), and shoot off tiny, explosive charges into the sky.

It doesn't matter, though.  While I do live in America, I consider myself more a citizen of the world.  The US Armed Forces are nice, but they've got nothing on the Earth Defense Force: destroying mutated insects, giant robots, and an armada of alien invaders with all sorts of lasers, masers, and rocket launchers.  Those are the kind of fireworks I'm into.

I say this because Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon came out this week.  While I am interested in playing it, I do have my doubts.  This is the first title in the series not created by Sandlot, who made the other games in the Chikyuu Boueigun series (which is Japanese for Earth Defense Force) and the PS2 cult classic Robot Alchemic Drive.  Instead, Insect Armageddon was made by Vicious Cycle, who also created Robotech: Battlecry (which was good) and Robotech: Invasion (which was not).  Despite this, most reviews have been pretty favorable, so far, so I'll give the game a shot.  But I'm not talking about Insect Armageddon, today.  Nope, the game you guys should know about is its predecessor.  We're taking a look at Earth Defense Force 2017 for the XBOX 360.

Even though this is the first EDF title to reach US shores (unless you count Earth Defense Force for the Super Nintendo -- no relation), it's actually the third game in the Chikyuu Boueigun series.  The first two were released for the Playstation 2, but only in Japan and Europe.  EDF 2017 is also part of publisher D3's Simple series, which are low budget games that were inexpensive for the consumer (Agetec published a few of the Simple titles for the original Playstation in the States).  Think of them as the video game equivalent to B-movies.

In EDF 2017, you play as a member of Storm 1, one of the special units in the EDF Japan Division.  One day, a giant mothership appears over Japan just as hordes of giant insects, robots, cyborg dinosaurs, and spaceships attack all over the Earth.  It's up to you to destroy the alien menace and save the planet.  As you keep playing, you pick up armor upgrades (which increases your hit points) and new weapons (over 300 to collect).  There's also five different difficulty levels that give the game a high replay value: Easy, Normal, Hard, Hardest, and Inferno (which, strangely enough, is harder than Hardest).  Split screen co-op is also really fun and, probably, the best way to play this game (no online co-op -- just invite a friend over to your place, you lazy bum).

I won't say this is a highly polished game, though.  The enemies, whether they're ants, spiders, robots, or spaceships, only have one tactic: cluster-fuck you until you die.  Of course, there really isn't any strategy for you, either.  Just keep blasting them and retreat when the cluster-fuck gets to be too much.  There are vehicles to use, but they're practically useless; except for the helicopter, which is only available in a few levels.  Most of the levels take place in city landscapes, though there are countryside, beach, and the most annoying underground levels that are hard to navigate.  The dialogue is extremely cheesy, with teammates shouting, "Come this way, and I'll kill you," "How do you like the taste of my bullets?" and the team chanting a fan favorite, "E-D-F!  E-D-F! E-D-F!"  While the graphics aren't bad for a 360 game, it does suffer from some heavy slowdown, especially when the aforementioned cluster-fucks happen.  Fortunately, most of these idiosyncrasies actually add to the B-movie charm which makes this game so great.

If you're the kind of gamer that doesn't mind a shallow, cheesy plot and minor technical limitations, so long as you're having fun (personally, this is the only kind of gamer that matters), then you owe it to yourself to get EDF 2017.  You may have to do some searching to find this game at local game stores, but you can also download it onto your XBOX 360 for the bargain basement price of $19.99.  So what are you waiting for?  Celebrate your independence by wresting it from the clutches of evil aliens.

If you'll excuse me, I need to see if I can find an Earth Defense Force patch for sale online.  E-D-F!  E-D-F!

Here's the Japanese trailer for the game, because the American trailer makes the game look like a Michael Bay film, which is lame.