is a manic shooter by Cave

Cave (company)

Cave Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game company, known primarily for its manic shoot 'em ups. Cave remains one of the most active makers of arcade shoot-'em-ups in the Japanese market...

, released in 2003

2003 in video gaming

-Events:*February 27 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Yu Suzuki of Sega to the AIAS Hall of Fame....

. It is the spiritual prequel to the company's renowned ESP Ra.De.

ESP Ra.De.

is a vertically scrolling manic shooter arcade game developed by Cave and published by Atlus in 1998. Unlike most other shmups, ESP Ra. De. has a somewhat involved story and setting. The Game received 2 prequels in the form of Espgaluda and Espgaluda II....

 and is followed by Espgaluda II

Espgaluda II

Espgaluda II is a manic shooter by Cave, sequel to Espgaluda, which was the prequel released after ESP Ra.De.. An Xbox 360 release, titled Espgaluda II Black Label, was released on February 25, 2010 in Japan.-Story:...

.

Playstation 2 version

It included arcade mode, simulation mode, gallery mode, and a walkthrough DVD video featuring replays by Clover-TAC and KTL-NAL.

Arcade mode

Player can configure screen orientation, wallpaper, stage map display, controller vibration.

Simulation mode

It simulates an arcade mode stage. Player can configure death, rank, guard barrier gauge, kakusei over start/level, power level, seireiseki counts, gold ingot counts.

In addition, player can also save or load a replay.

Arrange mode

It is a feature added to Playstation 2 version of the game. Following changes are made:

• Redesigned stages.
• The fighters available to player are Black and Chihiro.
• Player gains extra life at 80 and 280 million points.
• Arranged BGM remixed by Super Sweep was played.
• Game difficulty is same as 2nd loop.
• Continue and mid-game joining are disabled.
• Reversed button layout for shot and guard barrier button.

Espgaluda DX

It is a version for mobile platforms. The 2-part mobile game was merged into a single game, with enhanced graphics and special mode.

i-mode version was designed for FOMA 900, 901 series.

Yahoo version was designed for 256K models (SH53, V601SH, V602SH, V603SH).

Control

Tap A to fire shots, hold A to fire a stronger but narrower beam. B button toggles between normal and kakusei (awakening) mode. Hold C button to use the guard barrier.

Arcade board operators can also enable the D button for autofire.

Kakusei (or Awakening) mode

In this mode, the game movement is slowed, as indicated by purple bullets. When an enemy is destroyed, its bullets are turned into gold, with each destroyed bullet carrying a multipler, which increases for up to x100. The kakusei counter is decreased by time and destroyed enemy (as indicated by the red ring surrounding player's fighter). When using awaken mode without kakusei counter, enemy bullets travel faster than normal (as indicated by red bullets). During kakusei phase, if player's fighter is hit by bullet, guard barrier is automatically activated, which consumes guard barrier gauge.

Guard barrier

When using guard barrier, player becomes invulnerable at the expense of guard barrier gauge. During guard barrier, guard barrier attack is fired when guard barrier button is released or when guard barrier gauge is emptied. The strength of guard barrier attack depends on the time guard barrier is activated, with maximum strength of x5.

Items

• Seireiseki (green stone): Recovers kakusei counter. When kakusei counter is empty, destroying enemies causes this item to appear.
• P: Increases shot and beam power by 1.
• MP: Increases shot and rapier power to maximum. It appears when player loses all lives.
• E: Increases guard barrier gauge by 50%.
• L: Restores one of the player's life.
• Gold ingot: Increases player's score.

Extra lives

Player gains extra lives at 4 and 14 million points, or obtaining the "L" extend item.

Miscellaneous commands

Holding A and B buttons for over 0.5 seconds when pressing START reverses the full-auto button setting.

Holding C and D buttons for over 0.5 seconds when pressing START swaps the functions of C and D buttons.

Both commands affect Players 1 and 2, and only affect the current game credit. If both players try to use a command, both commands are accepted.

Fighters

• Ageha: Concentrated forward shots. In kakusei mode, the fighter moves faster with reduced horizontal sway when firing shot, slower when firing the beam.
• Tateha: Wide angle forward shots. In kakusei mode, the fighter moves faster when firing shots, slower when firing the beam.
• Chihiro: Arrange mode fighter, Playstation 2 only. It is basically Irori Mimasaka from ESP Ra.De.
• Black: Arrange mode fighter, Playstation 2 only. It is basically JB-5th from ESP Ra.De.

In kakusei mode, the fighter's gender is altered. Chihiro and Black retain their shot modes and cannot enter kakusei.

Marketing

When using the Arcadia password provided by Cave's mobile game, player can hear the voices from the game characters.

External links

• Cave page
• Arika page
• Cave mobile page: i-mode, EzWeb, Yahoo mobile
• Mobygames Page