Gaplus
| Gaplus | |
|---|---|
 North American arcade flyer |
|
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Commodore 64, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii, Virtual Console |
| Release date(s) | Arcade 1984 Commodore 64 1988 Virtual Console
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| Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Rating(s) | |
| Cabinet | Standard, cocktail, cabaret |
| Arcade system | Namco Phozon |
| Display | Raster |
Gaplus (ギャプラス Gyapurasu) , far more commonly known as Galaga 3 (although the game was released under both titles in North America), 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. A modification kit was distributed later that changed the title screen to Galaga 3 (ギャラガ3 Gyaraga San) to increase recognition among fans of the Galaga series and boost sales.
Finding this game for home video game consoles is very difficult. It appears on some multi-game cartridges, which were released long after its arcade release. The reason it didn't have a home conversion for so long is due to the Video Game Crash of 1983. It was released on the PlayStation in 1996 as one of the games featured in Namco Museum Volume 2, using its original name "Gaplus." It was released on mobile phones with its "Galaga 3" title. It is part of Namco Museum Remix for the Wii, which was released in 2007. The original version was re-released under its original name, for the Wii Virtual Console Arcade on March 25, 2009, at a cost of 500 Wii Points.
Along with Galaxian, Galaga, and Galaga '88, Galpus was "redesigned and modernized"[1] for an iPhone app compilation called the Galaga 30th Anniversary Collection, released in commemoration of the event by Namco Bandai.
[edit] Gameplay
Gaplus is a sequel to Galaga and has similar gameplay. However, it has a much steeper[citation needed] learning curve and much deeper[citation needed] gameplay in later levels. The player controls a spaceship, that can now move vertically (limited to halfway up the screen) as well as horizontally, and shoots at swarms of incoming insect-like aliens which fly in formation above it and swoop down to bomb it in a kamikaze-like dive. In this sequel, the level starts over if the player is killed before all the enemies have come in. When all enemies are destroyed, the player moves on to the next level. By obtaining certain power-ups, it is possible to shoot 60 bullets per screen, the most any Galaga related game has.
The game differs from its predecessor in several ways:
- By shooting at a shooting star that occasionally appears, the player can get a ship with new graphics that can have three shots on screen instead of two. After this, shooting the star will make a special flag appear from the Namco game Rally-X that awards an extra life when collected.
- On certain levels (referred to as parsecs in the game), the motion of the starfield reverses. This is accompanied by and enemies attacking in waves, leaving the playfield if not shot. After this, a small force appears in formation as in a normal stage.
- The challenging stages are very different from those in Galaga. Enemies are juggled by shooting them, each hit slowly spelling out (in order as the game progresses) "Bonus", "Gaplus", "Double", "Triple", "Good!!", "Lucky", "Bye Bye", and "Extend"; shots that hit enemies after the word has been spelled out each award an extra 200 points. It is most effective to use the red and blue powerups to repeatedly hit them.
- Some challenging stages have an additional bonus awarded after the word has been spelled and the bonus calculated. For example, on a challenging stage where 'Gaplus' is spelled out, the player is instructed to press the fire button for an additional bonus; the award is between 10,000 and 50,000 points in multiples of 10,000. On the level where 'Lucky" is spelled, another bonus ship piece is awarded; on the 'Bye Bye' level, a bonus ship piece is taken away.
- The Queen Gaplus sometimes drops one of several types of powerups when destroyed. She is the most colorful of the aliens and flies to the top of the alien formation. The red powerup captures enemies with a tractor beam where each one provides another shot. The blue powerup gives wider and faster shots. The green powerup captures enemies in a tractor beam that can then be shot for bonus points. The purple powerup changes the screen to a vertical orientation. All of these powerups may be stacked on top of one another, greatly increasing the player's maximum firepower, compared to the dual ship configuration of Galaga, which is absent in this game. Also, it may also carry a third of a ship that will be kept track of at the lower-right of the screen between games. An extra life is awarded when all three are collected.
Gaplus can be played by a single player or by two players alternating turns. The factory settings start the player out with three lives, a bonus life at 30,000 points, 70,000 points, and every 70,000 thereafter on the easiest level of play. These settings can be changed via DIP switches on the game's motherboard.
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[edit] External links
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