Gaiares
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese style side-scrolling space shooter
released in 1990 by Telenet Japan
for the Sega Mega Drive
System and subsequently for its American
counterpart, the Sega Genesis.
Gaiares came into the video game scene at a time when this genre was immensely popular; competition was fierce with franchised games like Thunder Force II
, R-Type
and Gradius
, so it had to distinguish itself with a unique weapon system. The name is supposedly a combination of Gaia
(mother Earth) and a shortened form/abbreviation of the word "rescue" (Res), which is the main objective of the battle taking place within the storyline (to save planet Earth from a highly polluted state caused by the humanity); it may be also a pun on Ares
, the god of war.
has become a toxic dump ravaged by careless humans, leaving an uninhabitable, polluted wasteland. The space pirate
s Gulfer, led by the evil Queen ZZ Badnusty, plan to harvest the pollution to create weapons of mass destruction. The United Star Cluster of Leezaluth sent a warning to the Earth about their plans, stating that if they could not stop them, they would be forced to supernova
Earth's sun to do so themselves; but if they succeeded, Leezaluth would give them a new world to migrate to. Dan Dare
(Diaz in the Japanese original), a young pilot from Earth was chosen to be the pilot of a new fighter ship to combat the Gulfer. The ship is armed with a powerful experimental weapon from Leezaluth called the TOZ System, which would be operated by Alexis, the emissary from Leezaluth.
system in the shooters genre to date. The TOZ System device can be fired out like the R-Type capsule, except each time it comes in contact with the enemy, it would inherit and learn that weapon; repeatedly the player can steal from the same enemy until the weapon is maxed-out in strength. In total there are 18 weapons to be captured and the appearance of each weapon varies depending on the strength meter.
The stage designs were heavily influenced by Macross
, Gradius, and Valis
, though some deviation is apparent with bosses like Death Ghetto and Mermaid. Gaiares graphics are packed with parallax
, wave, and warping effects making it one of the 16-bit platform's premiere shooters. It was one of the first 8MB cartridge games on the Sega Genesis. The bosses are mostly screen-sized and push the Sega hardware to the limit across all 8 stages. The game is notorious for its high level of difficulty.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese style side-scrolling space shooter
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
released in 1990 by Telenet Japan
Telenet Japan
was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company was also known as Nippon Telenet . The company was best known for the Valis series as well as its Wolfteam & RiOT divisions...
for the Sega Mega Drive
Sega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
System and subsequently for its American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
counterpart, the Sega Genesis.
Gaiares came into the video game scene at a time when this genre was immensely popular; competition was fierce with franchised games like Thunder Force II
Thunder Force II
Thunder Force II is a scrolling shooter developed by Technosoft. It was first released in Japan in 1988 for the Sharp X68000 computer. A year later, it was ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game console and released in Japan , Europe, and the United States...
, R-Type
R-Type
is a side scrolling shoot-em-up arcade game produced by Irem in 1987. The player controls a space fighter named R-9a "Arrowhead" to defend humanity against a mysterious but powerful alien life-form known as "Bydo", which was later discovered to be not entirely alien in origin...
and Gradius
Gradius
The Gradius games, first introduced in 1985, make up a series of scrolling shooter video games published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper...
, so it had to distinguish itself with a unique weapon system. The name is supposedly a combination of Gaia
Gaia (mythology)
Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...
(mother Earth) and a shortened form/abbreviation of the word "rescue" (Res), which is the main objective of the battle taking place within the storyline (to save planet Earth from a highly polluted state caused by the humanity); it may be also a pun on Ares
Ares
Ares is the Greek god of war. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, he often represents the physical or violent aspect of war, in contrast to the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of intelligence include military strategy and...
, the god of war.
Story
In the year 3000 the EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
has become a toxic dump ravaged by careless humans, leaving an uninhabitable, polluted wasteland. The space pirate
Space pirate
Space pirates are a type of stock characters from science fiction. They operate as pirates in outer space and travel by spacecraft; as opposed to the more traditional pirates on the high seas of Earth, who travel by boat...
s Gulfer, led by the evil Queen ZZ Badnusty, plan to harvest the pollution to create weapons of mass destruction. The United Star Cluster of Leezaluth sent a warning to the Earth about their plans, stating that if they could not stop them, they would be forced to supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
Earth's sun to do so themselves; but if they succeeded, Leezaluth would give them a new world to migrate to. Dan Dare
Dan Dare
Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories, that is, the Venus and Red Moon stories, and a complete storyline for Operation Saturn...
(Diaz in the Japanese original), a young pilot from Earth was chosen to be the pilot of a new fighter ship to combat the Gulfer. The ship is armed with a powerful experimental weapon from Leezaluth called the TOZ System, which would be operated by Alexis, the emissary from Leezaluth.
Gameplay
Most horizontal shooters require the player's ship to come in contact with a capsule to gain weapons. Gaiares design was different, and featured one of the most original and unique weapon power-upPower-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
system in the shooters genre to date. The TOZ System device can be fired out like the R-Type capsule, except each time it comes in contact with the enemy, it would inherit and learn that weapon; repeatedly the player can steal from the same enemy until the weapon is maxed-out in strength. In total there are 18 weapons to be captured and the appearance of each weapon varies depending on the strength meter.
The stage designs were heavily influenced by Macross
Macross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
, Gradius, and Valis
Valis (video game)
was the first video game in the Valis series. Telenet Japan originally developed and published Valis in 1986 for the MSX and PC-88 home computers. Tokuma Shoten would later release a version for the Famicom in 1987. In 1991, additional publishers Riot and Renovation released versions for the Sega...
, though some deviation is apparent with bosses like Death Ghetto and Mermaid. Gaiares graphics are packed with parallax
Parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. The term is derived from the Greek παράλλαξις , meaning "alteration"...
, wave, and warping effects making it one of the 16-bit platform's premiere shooters. It was one of the first 8MB cartridge games on the Sega Genesis. The bosses are mostly screen-sized and push the Sega hardware to the limit across all 8 stages. The game is notorious for its high level of difficulty.
Levels
- Stage 1 is a "training stage" which starts out with the (player non-controllable) sequence of the ship launching from a space station into a blue star field; shortly after the player must fight and navigate through an asteroid field. Soon after defeating the miniboss (Three warships which circle, then interconnect) the player must either fly over or under 'the floating continent'. The boss for this level is a female robot, which resembles a blue mechanical angelAngelAngels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
.
- Stage 2 starts out with the player's ship descending through a planet's atmosphere, before levelling out above the snowy, icy surface. The miniboss is a snake that appears at the same time as the northern lights. After this is a submerged cave where the player fights a mermaidMermaidA mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
boss simply named "Mermaid".
- Stage 3 begins with another non-controllable sequence of the player's ship ascending from a planet and entering hyperspace. After defeating an enemy similar to the levels miniboss, the player emerges in a region of space with a purple nebula in the background (that resembles a hamburger), during which the player must safely navigate a series of black holes. Later, the nebula gives way to a space castle, which to enter the player must first survive the miniboss - an armoured humanoid being who first fires upon and then charges at the player. The interior of the castle is characterised by mechanical hazards such as swinging wrecking balls, stabbing harpoons, collapsing bricks and a series of falling guillotineGuillotineThe guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
s, which the player must race through. The boss for this level is Death Ghetto, a huge boss resembling the grim reaper.
- Stage 4 initially sees the player fighting through a junk-filled debris field and then shortly after enters a large metallic structure, where the player must decide whether to proceed via the top or bottom route. Taking the upper route results in the player's ship flying upwards between two rising platforms, before exiting the metallic structure and ascending towards an upside-down city skyline. Taking the lower route produces different enemies and inverts the afore-mentioned directions. The level concludes with a battle against several flying, angel-like guardians and stationary gun emplacements on a slope as a miniboss, which is shortly followed by a strange cavern with a warping background, containing the end of level bosses. These include a worm-like enemy which traverses two of the four lines in a particularly claustrophobic X-shaped part of the cavern, and an oval-shaped contra-rotating structure, which swoops around the screen and fires large yellow discs at the player's ship.
- Stage 5 has a dualistic theme of fire and ice, and represents a significant increase in difficulty. The player's ship drifts upwards and downwards between an icy crystalline upper-surface - where ice fragments continually break off and must be dodged by the player - and down again to the surface of an orange star - which spews fireballs at the player - all while fighting enemies. The miniboss is a vertically oscillating spaceship, which the player must fight while the icy upper and fiery lower surfaces are close enough to be on the same screen and thus must endure the dangers of both in addition to the miniboss. The end of level boss is a large, heavily armed space dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
.
- Stage 6 is what appears to be a Gulfer base filled with minibosses from stages 1, 4, and 5 respectively. The stage boss resembles a giant female warrior with shield and sword.
- Stage 7 is further in the Gulfer base but with all level bosses the player have encountered so far. This stage's boss is what appears to be a giant weapons platform that has three firing ports.
- Stage 8 is the last stage with the boss using an advanced version of the TOZ system. It will replicate any normal weapon the player uses. It is possible, however, replicate the boss and receive a random weapon.The robot here is piloted by Queen Zz Badnusty herself.