Galaga '90
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is a 1987 fixed shooter arcade video game by Namco. It is the third sequel for '' Galaxian'' (following '' Galaga'', and '' Gaplus''). It features significantly improved graphics over the previous games in the series, including detailed backgrounds, larger enemies and greater ship details. The game runs on
Namco System 1 Namco was a video game developer and publisher, originally from Japan. Bandai Namco Entertainment is the successor to Namco and continues manufacturing and distributing video games worldwide. For Namco games released following the 2006 merger w ...
hardware. ''Galaga '88'' was a commercial success in Japan, but was not as commercially successful as its predecessors outside of Japan. The game was praised by critics for its gameplay, graphics, and music. Reviewers complimented its new enhancements that changed and innovated the core gameplay, and for standing out among other games at the time. It was ported to the TurboGrafx-16, X68000, and Game Gear and is included in Namco compilations. It was followed by '' Galaxian3: Project Dragoon'' in 1990.


Gameplay

''Galaga '88'' is a fixed shooter video game. Its plot involves the launch of a starship named the Blast Fighter to destroy the hostile Galaga forces and their home planet. Its gameplay is similar to its predecessors; as the Blast Fighter, the player must shoot each of the Galaga aliens, who fly into formation from the top and sides of the playfield. Aliens will make an attempt to hit the player by divebombing towards the bottom of the screen. Colliding with an alien or their projectile results in a life being lost. Atop each formation are four larger enemies known as the Boss Galaga, which take two hits to destroy. These aliens use a tractor beam to capture a player's ship, returning with it to the top of the screen. The player can reclaim the captured fighter by shooting a Boss Galaga holding one while it is divebombing. If they are successful, the captured fighter joins with the player's own to create a dual fighter that has additional firepower and a larger hitbox. A Boss Galaga can also capture a dual fighter; rescuing it in the same fashion instead creates a triple fighter, an even larger ship with wide, fast-moving shots. A triple fighter can also be acquired by finding pink-colored capsules. ''Galaga '88'' consists of five "worlds", each one containing up to four stages, including a bonus stage at the end. Each world gives the player a chance to acquire up to two blue warp capsules by defeating large enemies and destroying obstacles; completing a bonus stage with two capsules warps the player to the next dimension, in which enemies and formations are different and generally more difficult. There are additionally two vertical-scrolling stages featuring two enemy formations and a boss. The game features four different endings based on which dimension the player is in when they complete the game.


Development


Music

The soundtrack for ''Galaga 88'' was composed by Hiroyuki Kawada, a former game designer that created music for games such as ''
Solvalou is a 1991 first-person rail shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. The sixth entry in the ''Xevious'' series, the player takes control of the Solvalou starship from a first-person perspective as it must destroy the Xeviou ...
'', ''
Yokai Dochuki is a 1987 platform arcade game developed and released by Namco in Japan and other parts of Asia. The player controls a young boy named Tarosuke as he must make his way through Jigoku, the Japanese concept of Hell, to reach Buddha, who will det ...
'', and ''
Valkyrie no Densetsu ''Valkyrie no Densetsu'' is a 1989 action-adventure role-playing arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. It is a follow-up to the Family Computer game '' Valkyrie no Bōken'' (1986). Players control the warrior maiden Valkyrie an ...
''. Kawada expressed his admiration for its gameplay, and wanted the music and sound effects to convey a sense of entertainment instead of stoicism. For the ''Galactic Dancin'' stages, he created music that tapped into a wide variety of genres, like orchestra, tango, salsa, and big band jazz. Kawada based the idea off his "eclectic" taste in music, and wanted the soundtrack in ''Galaga 88'' to reflect this. The music was created before the stages themselves were programmed; Kawada composed the tracks while the programmers choreographed the enemy movement to his music. Since ''Galaga 88'' utilized the System 1 hardware, Kawada was able to experiment with the board's sound channels: "I loved bringing together the richness of the timbres in FM synthesis, the wave table synthesis that played a crucial role in the Namco sound, and the PCM synthesis that was indispensable for those low resolution real sound effects. When they were all combined and their distinctive colors were used to the fullest, it was possible to create a wealth of musical variety to complement the classic traditional sounds of the ''Galaga'' series."


Release

A prototype of ''Galaga 88'' was demonstrated at the
Japan Amusement Machine The (formerly the , abbreviated JAMMA) is a Japanese trade association headquartered in Tokyo. JAMMA is run by representatives from various arcade video game manufacturers, including Bandai Namco, Sega, Taito, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, and Konami ...
(JAMMA) trade show in October 1987, presented alongside '' Pac-Mania'',
Bravoman is a 1988 beat'em up arcade video game developed and published in Japan by Namco. Described as a "comical action game", the player controls the titular character, a bionic superhero with telescopic limbs, as he must defeat the villainous Dr. Bo ...
, and ''
Assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
''. Namco released the game in Japan in December 1987. In Europe, the game made its debut at London's Amusement Trades Exhibition International (ATEI) in January 1988. The game was released in April 1988 in North America, and was published by
Atari Games Atari Games Corporation, known as Midway Games West Inc. after 1999, was an American producer of Arcade game, arcade Video game, games. It was formed in 1985 when the coin-operated Arcade game, arcade game division of Atari, Inc. was transfered ...
in North America and Europe as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. A home conversion of ''Galaga 88'' was released for the PC Engine in Japan on July 5, 1988. It was published by NEC for the console's North American counterpart, the TurboGrafx-16, a year later under the name ''Galaga 90''. Dempa released a version of ''Galaga 88'' for the Sharp X68000 computer the same year. In addition to including a port of the original arcade game, the X68000 version features an additional gamemode that replaces the Galaga aliens with characters from other classic Namco video games – this version has been retroactively named ''Galaga 88 Arrangement.'' In 2007,
Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
digitally re-released the TurboGrafx version through the Wii Virtual Console, followed by the arcade version in Japan in 2009. Two Japanese mobile phone ports were produced; the first was for i-Mode in 2007 and the second for EZweb in 2008. The PC Engine version was re-released for the
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
in Japan in 2011 under the ''Game Archives'' series. ''Galaga 88'' is included in the arcade compilations ''
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, '' Namco Museum Vol. 1'', was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series ...
'' (2005), ''
Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is a video game compilation developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America in 2008 and in Europe and Japan in 2009. Part of its ''Namco Museum'' series, ''Virtual Arcade'' includes 34 titles; nine ...
'' (2008), and '' Namco Museum Switch'' (2017). The 2011 iOS compilation ''
Galaga 30th Collection is a 2011 video game compilation published for iOS devices by Namco Bandai Games. It was created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ''Galaga''. It allows users to play remakes of the games in the ''Galaxian'' series. It is free to download an ...
'' includes remakes of ''88'' and its three arcade predecessors, utilizing enhanced visuals and audio, achievements, and support for Game Center. ''88'' is also featured in the arcade games ''Pac-Man’s Arcade Party'' (2010) and ''Pac-Man’s Pixel Bash'' (2019). The TurboGrafx-16 version is one of the included titles in the TurboGrafx-16 Mini by Konami.


Reception

''Galaga '88'' proved successful in Japan, remaining in the top earning charts throughout most of the year. It was Japan's sixth highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1988. The game's simplicity and additions to the gameplay of its predecessors are cited as the reasons for its success and appeal in the country. It was largely unsuccessful in North America by comparison, with Atari having only sold a combined 986 arcade units and boards by the end of the year. The game was well received by critics. '' Computer + Video Games'' liked its cute visuals and new additions to the core '' Galaga'' gameplay, while '' The Games Machine'' applauded its addictiveness, soundtrack and replay value. '' Your Sinclair'' labeled it "one of the most enjoyable machines on offer this month". '' Advanced Computer Entertainment'' was more negative towards the game for being "nothing more than a prettified version of the original", although they praised its colorful, detailed visuals and soundtrack. '' Gamest'' magazine awarded it the 28th "Annual Hit Game" award in 1998 based on reader vote, citing that its addictive nature, colorful visuals and catchy music made ''Galaga '88'' stand out among other games at the time. In a 1998 retrospective review, '' Allgame'' was positive towards the game's graphics, branching level paths and overall improvements made over its predecessor. They also found the TurboGrafx-16 conversion to be a "killer port" for keeping the spirit of the original, going on to call it the best shooter released for the system. Reviewing the Wii Virtual Console digital re-release of the TurboGrafx port, '' Eurogamer'' found it to be a "pitch perfect dose of frenetic arcade blasting" for its triple fighter mechanic and branching stages, saying that it sets a good example for how to successfully remake a classic arcade game.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Galaxian 1987 video games Arcade video games Atari arcade games Fixed shooters Galaxian Game Gear games Namco arcade games Sharp X68000 games TurboGrafx-16 games Video game sequels Virtual Console games Video games developed in Japan