Galaga '88

Infobox VG
title = Galaga '88


developer = Namco
publisher = Namco / Atari Games
designer =Namco
release = 1987
genre = Fixed shooter
modes = Up to 2 players, alternating turns
cabinet = Upright
arcade system = Namco System 1
display = Vertical orientation
input = 2-way joystick, 1 button
platforms = Arcade, PC Engine, Game Gear, Virtual Console

"Galaga '88" is a 1987 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco. It is the third sequel of "Galaxian" (following "Galaga" and "Gaplus"). It features significantly improved graphics over the previous games in the series, including detailed backgrounds, larger enemies and more ship details. Although it was well received, fewer units of this game were produced than of "Galaga" and "Gaplus". "Galaga '88" runs on Namco System 1 hardware.

Gameplay

The gameplay in "Galaga '88" is built upon the same premise as that of the original "Galaga", but is in many ways more complex and more difficult. The game is divided into a series of worlds, each with three stages (except for the first world, which has only two). The player's ship warps between stages and worlds, and it has the ability to warp to alternate dimensions as well (see Dimensional Travel below).

There are six Challenging Stages in the game. Each Challenging Stage begins with the on-screen announcement "That's Galactic Dancin'", and each stage has its own music that the enemies "dance" to. The enemies and movement patterns vary depending on the stage and the current dimension. As in "Galaga", the objective is to destroy all forty enemies before they leave the playfield.

"Galaga '88" introduces a variety of new enemies and behaviors. Most special enemies score varying amounts of bonus points when destroyed. Some enemies can combine into larger enemies that take multiple hits to destroy, while others arrive in eggs, explode in a shower of fireworks, grow with multiple hits, or sport armor that makes them invincible while in formation. Certain enemies drop small formations of tiny creatures that wiggle their way down the screen, and still others act as escorts to incoming groups of enemies and then quickly dive at the player before leaving the playfield. Most stages also include various obstacles that appear once the enemy formation has been assembled.

The game also includes two sets of scrolling stages that culminate in boss battles. The latter of these battles is the last stage of the game, and defeating the boss takes the player to a brief ending (determined by which dimension the player is in), followed by the Game Over screen.

At the start of the game, the player can select how many ships to start with (one or two), affecting the number of remaining lives. The game ends after the final boss is defeated, or when the last player ship is destroyed or captured — in the latter case, the player can continue the game for an additional credit. The Game Over screen shows the player's hit-miss ratio and a visual representation of their progress. If the player reaches Stage 27, the game also shows a picture of the final boss (damaged if defeated, silhouetted if not).

Captured fighters

As in the original "Galaga", Galagans (referred to as "boss Galagas" in the original game) occasionally stop mid-dive and attempt to capture the player's ship with a tractor beam. If captured, it returns to the enemy formation and attacks the player, and as before, it is possible to free the ship by destroying the Galagan that captured it while it's diving. Freeing a player ship causes it to join with the current player ship, doubling the player's firepower.

A new feature in this game, however, allows two player ships to be captured at once, requiring a third player ship in order to free them. When both captured ships are freed, the three ships combine into a "super ship" with "triple" firepower, and this "super ship" form cannot be captured (the Galagans don't try).

In later stages, the very last enemy on the screen may attempt to escape the playfield, and if successfully destroyed, it may drop a pink item canister. Collecting this canister immediately upgrades the player's ship(s) to the "super ship" form, with no effect on remaining lives.

Dimensional travel

"Galaga '88" introduces a new gameplay element: the ability to warp between dimensions. There are a total of five dimensions in the game, and warping to a new dimension yields a substantial bonus and a significantly higher level of difficulty. Each dimension has its own unique set of enemies and an end-of-game boss (except Dimension 1, whose boss appears in Stage 10). The movement patterns in Challenging Stages also vary depending on the player's current dimension, and beating the game in a specific dimension determines which ending is shown.

To perform a dimension warp, the player must obtain two blue items, which appear as cylindrical canisters, before the next Challenging Stage. The player can hold up to two items at a time. Items are unlocked by destroying one obstacle in each stage, and by defeating a large enemy (formed by two smaller enemies combining together). It is possible to get two items in a single stage by using both methods. Items stop appearing once the player has acquired two of them.

At the end of a Challenging Stage, the player's collected item canisters rise to the center of the screen. If the player has successfully collected two items, the ship warps through a rift to the next dimension. Otherwise, the single canister simply breaks apart and the player remains in the current dimension. If the player is already in the highest dimension (Dimension 5), the normal warp sequence is still shown, but no bonus is awarded and the player remains in that dimension. Also, if the player is still in Dimension 1 at the end of Stage 10, they automatically warp to Dimension 2 with no bonus or fanfare.

Trivia

The backgrounds for Stages 15-17 (World 4) consist of the green hexagonal space stations first seen in the game "Bosconian". Additionally, mines similar to those used in "Bosconian" are used as obstacles in these stages.

The game "Ridge Racer Revolution" features Challenging Stage #2 (Dimension 1) during its loading sequence. Shooting all 40 enemies before they fly away unlocks all of the opponent cars.

Ports

"Galaga '88" was ported to the NEC PC Engine (also known as the TurboGrafx-16), but was released outside of Japan as "Galaga '90". It was also ported to the Sega Game Gear as "Galaga '91" in Japan and "Galaga 2" in Europe. In 2005, the arcade version of "Galaga '88" finally arrived on home systems as part of the "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary" compilation for the Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube and PC platforms.

The PC Engine version of "Galaga '88" was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan on March 27 2007. In North America, "Galaga '90" was released via Virtual Console on August 6 2007, and in Europe on August 10 2007.

Legacy

"Galaga '88" is the second sequel to "Galaga", and is the fourth game in the "Galaxian" series.

The complete arcade series:
# "Galaxian" (1979)
# "Galaga" (1981)
# "Gaplus" (1984)
# "Galaga '88" (1987)
# "Galaga Arrangement" (1995) - released as part of Namco Classics Collection Volume 1

External links

*KLOV game|id=7883
* [http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=galaga-'88&page=detail&id=899 Galaga '88 at ArcadeHistory]