Side-scrolling games are the best, aren’t they? If you agree with the statement I just made, then you’ll likely enjoy playing Xevious. Created in the year 1983, Xevious is fashioned after (and made for) those individuals who enjoy a space-themed video game. The entire purpose of the game is to successfully navigate your trip (the Solvalou) through the Xevious forces (the enemy of the game). I have to say, the designers, Masanobu Endo, Shigeki Toyama, and Hiroshi Ono did a great job with this one.
Video of Xevious gameplay
History
I kind of hinted at it in the previous section but, the creators of the game, Masanobu Endo, Shigeki Toyama, and Hiroshi Ono all did a wonderful job creating what we know today as Xevious. The funny thing about them is that they weren’t always the team we knew them to be. For starters, Endo, came to Namco after it had already created and released their Rally-X game. The only reason Xevious was created in the first place was that Namco, the company, had recently released a wildly popular game, Scramble. After they (the company) saw that they had a hit in the game Scramble, they decided that they would create another game (Xevious, though at the time it was only an idea) and assign the 3 creators I mentioned above to work on it.
At first, the idea for the game was that it would be called Cheyenne (since it was supposed to take place during the Vietnam war). For some reason, a vast majority of members of the staff decided to leave the project which kind of forced Endo to become the head (the funny thing is that because of this he also had to learn to programme while the game was being created).
Ono, the second person noted as being a major player in the game’s creation was the person put in charge of designing both the sprite (Solvalou) and the background visuals. The last person mentioned as being a major player Shigeki, was the person who was given the responsibility of creating the vast majority of the characters in the game. (the cool thing about him is that his background was in Robotics (since he was in charge of what Namco once considered their robotics division). This basically meant that this was one of the first actual video game projects he’s ever touched.
Gameplay
The short story is that Xevious is a side-scrolling game that requires players to control their own Starship (aptly titled the Solvalou) in an effort to destroy and navigate through Xevious forces (the enemy in the game) who have the sole purpose of conquering the planet.
To that end the designers of the game equipped your ship with weapons that are capable of taking out the enemy’s ships.
Weapons on the Solvalou (your ship):
- Air Zapper: Shoots out projectiles at airborne enemies
- Blaster Bomb: Destroying enemies on the ground
- Blaster Receptacle: Decides where to send bombs for ground enemies
Besides the weapons, keep in mind that you’ll also have to occasionally fight enemies the giant Andor Genesis mothership. This ship is known for its ability to shoot explosive black spheres (Zakatos) as well as an almost endless number of missiles. To destroy the mothership you have the option of either shooting out the center(core) or destroying the equipped blaster points. In certain areas, you will also find SOl Citadels, which you will be made aware of via the red flash that your ship’s receptacles have. You’ll also occasionally be able to find special flags (yellow flags) from the Rally-X game in random areas that basically give you an extra life.
There are, in total, 16 stages/areas in the game. After the entire game is complete you’ll find that you’ll always loop back around to area 1 and start over.
Things to note about the areas/stages in the game:
- If you just so happen to die when you’ve made it 70% through a stage will basically make you respawn at the beginning of the subsequent area.
- Areas are designed to have a variety of different features (meaning that they’re designed to mimic places from rivers, forests, sandy areas etc.
- As you move (and get better at a game) you’ll find that the game will become more of a challenge.
- As you get good at beating certain types of enemies, the game will figure that out and replace them with other, more challenging enemies.
- To get the easier enemies back you have to destroy the Zolback radars which can be found on the ground.
Play Xevious below
Fun facts about Xevious
- The name of the game, Xevious was actually called Zevious originally
- The inspiration for the Solvalou ship actually came from the Nostromo ship in the movie Alien
- Due to the roundness of the original Andor Genesis mothership, it was given the name Gofuru (after Gofuru cookies)
- The X in Xevious was only added to give it an exotic flair
- A number of the enemies in the game were given the names they had to “give respect” to the well-known sci-fi films of the time
Conclusion
There it is, everything you need to know about Xevious. For more information, check out the resources listed below. Let’s also not forget that you always have the option of adding in bits and pieces that you feel will be helpful or add value to the article. Just shoot us a comment and we’ll see to it that it gets added.
This information was taken from Wikipedia
Resources:
https://www.ait-pro.com/aitpro-blog/tag/arcade-video-games-history-and-facts/
https://www.destructoid.com/review-3d-classics-xevious-207522.phtml
https://www.giantbomb.com/namco/3010-7420/forums/namcompendium-14-xevious-1860913/
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