Apidya
Encyclopedia
Apidya is a horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up computer game developed by Kaiko and released by Play Byte in 1992 for the Amiga
An unofficial GBA
Apidya technical demo followed years later and an unofficial Windows remake of the first level was released in 2002 but both were never completed.
The name Apidya appears to be styled after Japanese
. The four katakana
characters on the title screen, アビヂャ , might be an attempted transliteration of the Latin Apidae
, which is the name of the taxonomic
family to which the honey bee belongs.
The game uses the power-up bar system pioneered by Gradius
. Destroyed enemies sometimes leave behind a power-up in the form of a red-and-yellow flower
. The player may collect these flowers and activate new weapons and enhancements using the power-up bar at the bottom of the screen.
The game also uses a 'build-up' weapon very similar in operation to the 'beam' weapon in R-Type
. If the fire button is held down for a second or two, the player's bee makes a hissing noise. Releasing the fire button will then cause the bee to fire a large, organic rocket
which can wipe out waves of small enemies, or damage larger ones.
The game consists of five levels: a meadow, a pond, a sewer pipe filled with mutated enemies, a bio-technological machine, and a final level where the player must battle five final bosses, and each level is divided up into a number of stages (usually three). There are also a number of secret bonus levels. In the first two levels, nearly all the enemies are real insect
s and animal
s that can be found in a meadow or pond. During Techno Party, the bee morphs into a more mechanised form for the duration of that level.
When the difficulty is set to "Easy", the game skips the last level and the ending sequence, and goes straight to the end credits.
. It was released as a CD album in 1992. The soundtrack of level 4 features several samples from L.A. Style
's James Brown Is Dead
.
An Apidya suite was performed live by a full symphonic orchestra in 2003 at the Symphonic Game Music Concert
-series in Leipzig, Germany. Music from Apidya was also part of the 2006 PLAY! A Video Game Symphony concert in Stockholm, Sweden. A new version was also recorded for the CD 'Symphonic Shades' which features other music by Hulsbeck
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
An unofficial GBA
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
Apidya technical demo followed years later and an unofficial Windows remake of the first level was released in 2002 but both were never completed.
The name Apidya appears to be styled after Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. The four katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
characters on the title screen, アビヂャ , might be an attempted transliteration of the Latin Apidae
Apidae
The Apidae are a large family of bees, comprising the common honey bees, stingless bees , carpenter bees, orchid bees, cuckoo bees, bumblebees, and various other less well-known groups...
, which is the name of the taxonomic
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
family to which the honey bee belongs.
Gameplay
The gameplay is standard for a horizontally-scrolling shooter, with some elements borrowed from early, classic shoot 'em ups. The player controls a magical honeybee that can spit damaging energy projectiles.The game uses the power-up bar system pioneered by Gradius
Gradius
The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...
. Destroyed enemies sometimes leave behind a power-up in the form of a red-and-yellow flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
. The player may collect these flowers and activate new weapons and enhancements using the power-up bar at the bottom of the screen.
The game also uses a 'build-up' weapon very similar in operation to the 'beam' weapon in R-Type
R-Type
is a side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. The player controls a space fighter named R-9a "Arrowhead" to defend humanity against a mysterious but powerful alien life-form known as "Bydo", which was later discovered to be not entirely alien in origin...
. If the fire button is held down for a second or two, the player's bee makes a hissing noise. Releasing the fire button will then cause the bee to fire a large, organic rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
which can wipe out waves of small enemies, or damage larger ones.
The game consists of five levels: a meadow, a pond, a sewer pipe filled with mutated enemies, a bio-technological machine, and a final level where the player must battle five final bosses, and each level is divided up into a number of stages (usually three). There are also a number of secret bonus levels. In the first two levels, nearly all the enemies are real insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s that can be found in a meadow or pond. During Techno Party, the bee morphs into a more mechanised form for the duration of that level.
When the difficulty is set to "Easy", the game skips the last level and the ending sequence, and goes straight to the end credits.
Music
The musical soundtrack to the game was composed by game musician Chris HülsbeckChris Hülsbeck
Chris Hülsbeck is a video game music composer from Germany.He has written soundtracks for more than 70 titles, the latest being Star Wars: Rebel Strike for Nintendo GameCube. Many of his scores for the Commodore 64 are regarded as classics among enthusiasts today, most notably The Great Giana...
. It was released as a CD album in 1992. The soundtrack of level 4 features several samples from L.A. Style
L.A. Style
L.A. Style was a Dutch electronic dance music duo, founded and produced by radio host Wessel van Diepen, who also created Nakatomi and the very successful Vengaboys, also produced by Fonny de Wulf, Michiel van der Kuiy [aka Denzil Slamming] & FX.The group was fronted by Rapper/Singer/Songwriter &...
's James Brown Is Dead
James Brown Is Dead
"James Brown Is Dead" and "James Brown Is Still Alive" are two of the earliest and best known of a series of electronic dance music references to iconic American entertainer James Brown. One basis for these lyrics is the widespread sampling of Brown's music, particularly the rhythmic breaks in...
.
An Apidya suite was performed live by a full symphonic orchestra in 2003 at the Symphonic Game Music Concert
Symphonic Game Music Concert
The Symphonic Game Music Concerts are a series of award-winning, annual German video game music concerts initiated in 2003, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside of Japan...
-series in Leipzig, Germany. Music from Apidya was also part of the 2006 PLAY! A Video Game Symphony concert in Stockholm, Sweden. A new version was also recorded for the CD 'Symphonic Shades' which features other music by Hulsbeck