Xevious

Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter. The player controls a flying attack craft, the Solvalou, to destroy the Xevious forces plotting to take over Earth. The Solvalou has two weapons: a zapper that fires projectiles at flying enemies, and a blaster for bombing ground installations and vehicles. A reticle in front of the ship shows where bombs will land. The game has a total of 16 connected areas, which loop back to the first after completing them all. Dying about 70% through starts the player at the beginning of the next. Areas are geographically distinct, with features such as forests, roads, rivers, and mechanical structures. Certain areas have Nazca lines placed on the ground, some in the "condor" design. The game becomes progressively more difficult as the player becomes more skilled. Once the player does well at destroying a certain enemy type, a more advanced enemy type replaces it. Destroying flashing-red "Zolback" radars found on the ground will cause the game to switch back to easier enemies. Certain points in the game have a fight against the Andor Genesis mothership, which launch an endless stream of projectiles and explosive black spheres known as "Zakatos". The player can either destroy all four blaster receptacles or the core in the center to defeat it. Some parts of the game have hidden towers ("Sol Citadels"), which can be found by bombing specific parts of an area. The Solvalou's bomb reticle flashes red when over one. Yellow "Special Flags" from Namco's own Rally-X are found in a semi-random section of the area. Collecting one gives an extra life.