Galaga '88
Encyclopedia
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.
The backgrounds for Stages 15–17 (World 4) consist of the green hexagonal space stations first seen in the 1981 Namco game Bosconian
. Additionally, mines similar to those used in Bosconian are used as obliterable "bunkers" 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.
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 29 Stages distributed through eight Worlds. The starship Galaga accelerates between Stages and Worlds and even to higher dimensions (see Dimensional Travel below).
With the exception of the third and eighth, each World culminates in a Challenging Stage. There are six such Stages to engage in any full game, and each begins with the on-screen announcement "That's Galactic Dancin'!" and has its own music to which the enemy formations dance. In any given Challenging Stage, both the design of the enemies and their formations vary according to the player's current Dimension. As in Galaga, the objective is to destroy all forty enemies before they exit the screen. However, refraining completely from touching any controls for the duration of a Challenging Stage awards a "secret bonus" ranging in value from 10,000 to 25,000 points and equal to the "special bonus" which would have been awarded for destroying all forty enemy ships instead.
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.
At the start of the game, the player can select how many Galaga starships 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).
. If captured, the boss returns with Galaga in tow to the enemy formation and attacks the player. As before, it is possible to free the ship by destroying the "Boss Galaga" that captured it while it's diving. Freeing a player ship causes it to join with the current Galaga, doubling the ship's firepower.
A new feature in this game, however, allows the classic "double ship" itself to be captured, requiring a third player ship to free it, whereupon all three ships combine into a large "Triple Ship", which appears as a large single ship, has synergistically increased firepower, and cannot be subsequently captured.
In later stages, the final enemy on any screen, if destroyed, may drop one purple canister (sometimes called a "quid"), which when collected immediately upgrades a single or double ship directly to a Triple Ship, with no effect on the number of reserve ships.
Each Dimension has its own design of enemy ships, formations used in Challenging Stages, "super-boss" for Final Stage 29, and Ending Message which rolls when the player defeats that Dimension's final super-boss.
To perform an inter-Dimensional acceleration, the player must have obtained two blue cylindrical canisters (often called "tuppets") before the next Challenging Stage. The player's ship collects these canisters during play by either (1) shooting away one of the several on-screen hovering "bunkers" or (2) destroying a single large enemy (formed from the fusion of two smaller enemies together) and then catching the canister as it freefalls from the obliterated object. When caught, a canister also gives the player's ship temporary invincibility. Only one canister may drop and be collected at a time, and no more than one canister per screen may be collected by a given method, so to collect both needed canisters in a single Stage, each method of collection must be used at least once. The canisters stop appearing once the player has collected the two required.
At the end of the next Challenging Stage, any collected canisters rise to the center of the screen and detonate. If only one canister has been collected it detonates without incident, no bonus is awarded, and gameplay continues in the same Dimension. However, if the player has successfully collected both required canisters, the detonation causes a "rift" in the space-time fabric through which the ship accelerates to the next Dimension. If the player is already in Dimension Five, the normal detonation and acceleration fanfare is still shown, but no bonus is awarded.
to the NEC PC Engine (also known as the TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx), 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 PlayStation 2
, Xbox
, Nintendo GameCube
and PC platforms. The arcade version is also on Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for Xbox 360
.
The PC Engine version of Galaga '88 was released on the Wii
's Virtual Console
service in Japan on March 27, 2007 and later as the game's arcade version on June 23, 2009. In North America, Galaga '90 was released via Virtual Console on August 6, 2007, and in Europe on August 10, 2007. The game was also re-released as part of the Pac-Man's Arcade Party
arcade machine in 2010.
Galaga '88, along with Galaxian
, the original Galaga
, and Gaplus
, was "redesigned and modernized" for an iPhone app compilation called the Galaga 30th Anniversary Collection
, released in commemoration of the event by Namco Bandai
. The collection app comes with Galaxian
as a free game, with the remaining three games available in-app for $3 each or the complete set for $8. The app also features "Galaga points", collected as the games are played and used to unlock various consumable power-ups and special arcade cabinet designs, including the original art for each game.
The complete arcade series:
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
. It is the third sequel of Galaxian
Galaxian
is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
(following Galaga
Galaga
is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen...
and Gaplus
Gaplus
, far more commonly known as Galaga 3 , is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It runs on Namco Phozon hardware and was only known as Gaplus in Japan...
). 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
Namco System 1
The Namco System 1 arcade system board was first used by Namco in April 1987 and was a major enhancement to the previous Namco System 86 arcade system board. Due to its release date, it was originally called Namco System 87 according to the Namco Museum series.Yokai Douchuuki was the first game to...
hardware.
The backgrounds for Stages 15–17 (World 4) consist of the green hexagonal space stations first seen in the 1981 Namco game Bosconian
Bosconian
is a free-roaming multi-directional scrolling shooter arcade game that was developed by Namco and released in 1981. In contrast to the more linear shooter games of its time, Bosconian allows the player's ship to freely move across open space that scrolls in all directions. The game also features a...
. Additionally, mines similar to those used in Bosconian are used as obliterable "bunkers" in these stages.
The game Ridge Racer Revolution
Ridge Racer Revolution
Ridge Racer Revolution is a racing game developed by Namco for the PlayStation in 1995. It is the sequel of the inaugural game Ridge Racer. The game's covers between the Japanese version and the European & North America version are different in this game. The game's cover of the Japanese...
features Challenging Stage #2 (Dimension 1) during its loading sequence. Shooting all 40 enemies before they fly away unlocks all of the opponent cars.
Gameplay
With the exception of the third and eighth, each World culminates in a Challenging Stage. There are six such Stages to engage in any full game, and each begins with the on-screen announcement "That's Galactic Dancin'!" and has its own music to which the enemy formations dance. In any given Challenging Stage, both the design of the enemies and their formations vary according to the player's current Dimension. As in Galaga, the objective is to destroy all forty enemies before they exit the screen. However, refraining completely from touching any controls for the duration of a Challenging Stage awards a "secret bonus" ranging in value from 10,000 to 25,000 points and equal to the "special bonus" which would have been awarded for destroying all forty enemy ships instead.
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.
At the start of the game, the player can select how many Galaga starships 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 starships
As in the original Galaga, "Boss Galagas" occasionally stop mid-dive and attempt to capture the player's ship with a tractor beamTractor beam
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. Since the 1990s, technology and research has labored to make it a reality, mostly at microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam...
. If captured, the boss returns with Galaga in tow to the enemy formation and attacks the player. As before, it is possible to free the ship by destroying the "Boss Galaga" that captured it while it's diving. Freeing a player ship causes it to join with the current Galaga, doubling the ship's firepower.
A new feature in this game, however, allows the classic "double ship" itself to be captured, requiring a third player ship to free it, whereupon all three ships combine into a large "Triple Ship", which appears as a large single ship, has synergistically increased firepower, and cannot be subsequently captured.
In later stages, the final enemy on any screen, if destroyed, may drop one purple canister (sometimes called a "quid"), which when collected immediately upgrades a single or double ship directly to a Triple Ship, with no effect on the number of reserve ships.
Dimensional travel
Galaga '88 introduces a new gameplay element: the ability to accelerate into higher Dimensions. There are five Dimensions in the game, and accelerating to a higher Dimension yields a substantial bonus and a higher level of difficulty. Once the player's ship has reached a higher Dimension, it remains there for the rest of the game. Also important to note is that Dimension One ceases after Stage 10, so that a ship not already advanced into Dimension Two or higher will thereupon be automatically advanced, with no visual fanfare or bonus award.Each Dimension has its own design of enemy ships, formations used in Challenging Stages, "super-boss" for Final Stage 29, and Ending Message which rolls when the player defeats that Dimension's final super-boss.
To perform an inter-Dimensional acceleration, the player must have obtained two blue cylindrical canisters (often called "tuppets") before the next Challenging Stage. The player's ship collects these canisters during play by either (1) shooting away one of the several on-screen hovering "bunkers" or (2) destroying a single large enemy (formed from the fusion of two smaller enemies together) and then catching the canister as it freefalls from the obliterated object. When caught, a canister also gives the player's ship temporary invincibility. Only one canister may drop and be collected at a time, and no more than one canister per screen may be collected by a given method, so to collect both needed canisters in a single Stage, each method of collection must be used at least once. The canisters stop appearing once the player has collected the two required.
At the end of the next Challenging Stage, any collected canisters rise to the center of the screen and detonate. If only one canister has been collected it detonates without incident, no bonus is awarded, and gameplay continues in the same Dimension. However, if the player has successfully collected both required canisters, the detonation causes a "rift" in the space-time fabric through which the ship accelerates to the next Dimension. If the player is already in Dimension Five, the normal detonation and acceleration fanfare is still shown, but no bonus is awarded.
Ports
Galaga '88 was portedPorting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to the NEC PC Engine (also known as the TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx), but was released outside of Japan as Galaga '90. It was also ported to the Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
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 PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
and PC platforms. The arcade version is also on Namco Museum Virtual Arcade for Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
.
The PC Engine version of Galaga '88 was released on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service in Japan on March 27, 2007 and later as the game's arcade version on June 23, 2009. In North America, Galaga '90 was released via Virtual Console on August 6, 2007, and in Europe on August 10, 2007. The game was also re-released as part of the Pac-Man's Arcade Party
Pac-Man Anniversary Arcade Machines
On special anniversaries for Pac-Man and/or Ms. Pac-Man . Namco has released compilations of their classic arcade games as arcade machines....
arcade machine in 2010.
Galaga '88, along with Galaxian
Galaxian
is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
, the original Galaga
Galaga
is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen...
, and Gaplus
Gaplus
, far more commonly known as Galaga 3 , is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It runs on Namco Phozon hardware and was only known as Gaplus in Japan...
, was "redesigned and modernized" for an iPhone app compilation called the Galaga 30th Anniversary Collection
Galaga 30th Collection
Galaga 30th Collection is an iOS application by Namco Bandai made to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Galaga arcade game. The application allows you to play remakes of the games in the Galaga series. The application is downloaded for free and comes with Galaga's prequel Galaxian...
, released in commemoration of the event by Namco Bandai
Namco Bandai
, also known as the Bandai Namco Group, is a Japanese holding company formed from the merger of Namco and Bandai. It has interests in toys, video games and arcades, anime, and amusement parks. The new entity was founded on September 29, 2005...
. The collection app comes with Galaxian
Galaxian
is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
as a free game, with the remaining three games available in-app for $3 each or the complete set for $8. The app also features "Galaga points", collected as the games are played and used to unlock various consumable power-ups and special arcade cabinet designs, including the original art for each game.
Legacy
Galaga '88 is the second sequel to Galaga, and is the fourth game in the Galaxian series.The complete arcade series:
- GalaxianGalaxianis an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed...
(1979) - GalagaGalagais a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen...
(1981) - GaplusGaplus, far more commonly known as Galaga 3 , is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It runs on Namco Phozon hardware and was only known as Gaplus in Japan...
(1984) - Galaga '88 (1987)
- Galaga Arrangement (1995) - released as part of Namco Classics Collection Volume 1Namco Classics Collection Volume 1Namco Classic Collection Volume 1 is a compilation arcade game that was released by Namco in 1995. It is a collection of three popular Namco arcade games - Galaga , Xevious and Mappy . In addition to the original games, there are "Arrangement" versions that are essentially sequels to the original...