Xevious is a franchise of shoot 'em up video games published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. Xevious, the first title in the franchise, was released for arcades in January 1983 in Japan and a month later in North America by Atari, Inc. It was created by Masanobu Endō, who also designed The Tower of Druaga.[1] The game has received many sequels, spin-offs, and re-imaginings, the most recent being Xevious Resurrection in 2009. Xevious games have been ported to many platforms and compiled into several Namco compilations. The franchise contains twelve games—seven mainline entries and five spin-offs—soundtrack albums, pachinko machines, and an animated feature film produced by Groove Corporation.
| Xevious | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre(s) | Vertical-scrolling shooter |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| Creator(s) | Masanobu Endo |
| Platform(s) | |
| First release | Xevious December 10, 1982 |
| Latest release | Xevious Resurrection January 29, 2009 |
Gameplay in the series consists of controlling a spaceship named the Solvalou throughout a series of levels, shooting at enemies and avoiding their projectiles.[1][2] The Solvalou has two weapons, an air zapper that destroys air-based enemies and a blaster bomb that destroys ground-based enemies. Later games introduce mechanics such as additional playable ships, power-ups, protective shields, and two-player co-operative play. Critics have labeled Xevious as one of the most important games of its kind.[1][2] It is one of the first vertically scrolling shooters and among the first video games to implement bosses,[2] pre-rendered visuals,[3] and a cohesive world and storyline.[2] Xevious inspired games such as Gradius,[4] TwinBee,[2] Zanac,[5] and RayForce.[6] It has had an influence on game designers such as Satoshi Tajiri and musicians like Haruomi Hosono.[7][8]
Video games
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
Original release date(s):[2][9] | Release years by system: 1983 – Arcade 1984 – Family Computer,[10] Apple II[11] 1985 – PC-88[12] 1986 – Atari 7800[13] 1987 – Commodore 64,[14] Atari ST,[15] Amstrad CPC,[16] ZX Spectrum[14] 1988 – Nintendo Entertainment System[17] 1990 – Famicom Disk System[10] 2001 – Windows,[18] Sharp Zaurus[2] 2002 – Mobile phone (i-Appli),[19] Java[2] 2004 – Game Boy Advance[20] 2007 – Xbox 360[21] 2009 – Wii Virtual Console[22] 2010 – Mobile phone (i-Mode)[23] 2011 – Nintendo 3DS[24] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[9]
| Release years by system: 1984 – Arcade 1987 – X68000[32] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[9] | Release years by system: 1984 – Arcade 1985 – PC-8801[32] 1986 – Sharp X1[32] 2009 – Wii Virtual Console[36] |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[40]
| Release years by system: 1986 – Family Computer, arcade |
Notes:
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Original release date(s):[43]
| Release years by system: 1988 – MSX2 1990 – PC Engine[44] |
| Notes: | |
XVM Original release date(s):[47]
| Release years by system: 1990 – MSX2 |
| Notes: | |
Original release date(s):[9]
| Release years by system: 1991 – Arcade 2009 – Wii Virtual Console[49] |
Notes:
| |
Original release date(s):[9] | Release years by system: 1995 – Arcade |
Notes:
| |
Original release date(s):[55][56] | Release years by system: 1996 – Arcade 1997 – PlayStation[57] 2015 – PlayStation Network[58] |
Notes:
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3D Machiuke Appli: Xevious Original release date(s):[64]
| Release years by system: 2001 – Mobile phone |
| Notes: | |
Original release date(s):[66]
| Release years by system: 2006 – Plug'n play |
Notes:
| |
Original release date(s):[67][68][69] | Release years by system: 2009 – PlayStation 3 |
Notes:
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Other media
| Title | Release date | Media type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fardraut | 1991[8] | Novel | |
| Notes: | |||
| Xevious | August 10, 2002[75] | Feature film | |
| Notes: | |||
| CR Xevious WZ CR Xevious X CR Xevious Y | May 6, 2003[77] | Pachinko | |
| Notes: | |||
| DOORS Xevious | April 5, 2009[79] | Game show | |
| Notes: | |||
| Memorial Game Collection Series - Solvalou | April 2013[80] | Model kit | |
| Notes: | |||
Soundtracks
| Title | Release date | Length | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video Game Music | April 23, 1984[81] | 30:13 | LDK Studio | |
Notes:
| ||||
| Super Xevious | Aug 29, 1984[83] | 15:44 | Alfa Records | |
Notes:
| ||||
| Xevious 3D/G+ Techno Maniax | October 1997[85] | 76:46 | Pony Canyon | |
| Notes: | ||||
| Namco Sounds - Xevious | September 2, 2009[86] | Namco Sounds | ||
| Notes: | ||||
| Xevious 30th Anniversary Tribute | January 29, 2013[87] | Namco Sounds | ||
| Notes: | ||||