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.

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.

Forgotten Worlds - Galaga Turns 30 (Part 1)

Thirty years ago, arcade history was made.  Namco released one of the most popular video games in the world, Galaga.  Now, Namco has had a storied history of some of the greatest arcade games ever made, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Tekken, Soul Edge/Soul Calibur, and, of course, Pac-Man, but Galaga is special.  It's one of those few games from the golden age of arcades that just about everyone has played.  Even kids today have played this game.  It begs the question of how a simple shooter from 1981 became such a phenomenon.

The answer is simple: Galaga was friggin' everywhere.  Galaga is one of the most prevalent arcade cabinets (whether by itself, or with Ms. Pac-Man in the 20th Anniversary arcade cabinet, which means Ms. Pac-Man is also 30).  You could find it at thousands of arcades, movie theaters, laundromats, bars, pizza places, etc.  Many major video game systems, from the Atari 7800 to the XBOX 360, have a version of Galaga.  It's even been available on most cell phones (I know I had a copy of the game on an old phone of mine).  On top of that, there have been a couple re-imaginings of the classic game, such as Galaga: Destination Earth on the original Playstation and Galaga Legions (along with the forthcoming DX version) on the XBOX 360.

Okay, perhaps the answer is not as simple as that.  No game would be an established part of the video gaming consciousness if it sucked.  While Galaga was not the first top down shooter, it certainly did revolutionize the genre with action never seen before in an arcade game.  Even when other shooters eventually surpassed it in technological advancement, Galaga remained a steadfast favorite of arcade goers.  Perhaps it was the waves of oncoming enemies, or the classic arcade strategy needed for scoring the most points.  Maybe it's the iconic visuals and sounds.  Personally, I just think it has that "x-factor" -- a combination of challenge and fun that is so hard to attain.  Not even its predecessor, Galaxian, nor its multiple successors could duplicate the phenomenon that was Galaga.

But there's much more about this franchise than Galaga, including many other games.  Games which I will go over in the upcoming weeks.  For now, enjoy this anniversary present: a papercraft of the classic Galaga cabinet, courtesy of WayoftheRodent.com.  Just click on the image below, print it out, and start cutting, folding, and gluing.

Until next time, keep your scores high and don't let your last ship get captured.