Xevious - Fardraut Saga for PCE

Image: MobyGames

Xevious - Fardraut Saga

Aged like fine milk

Genre: shooter - vertical

Publisher: Namco

Year: 1990

System: PCE

Gameplay Score: 1

Gameplay Notes:

First, the negatives: Slow movement, peashooter, no powerups or pickups, dumb bomb, tiny hitboxes, and enemies that zip around and take too much damage to be killed. The positives: uhh It's really the slow movement that kills this game. You can only move at the speed that the screen is scrolling, so unless you hit your ground targets first try there's no backind up to line up another try.

Level Design Score: 3

Level Design Notes:

Props for creating a decent bullet hell experience. Enemies are so hard to kill and fire so many bullets that you mostly need to watch your ship rather than your targets. Archaic design, of course, but it's not just a bunch of repeating waves.

Theme Score: 2

Theme Notes:

Set the template for terrestrial based sci-fi shooters. It's clearly a 1982 arcade game, so presentation is severly lacking. The inclusion of some artwork and Japanese text between stages adds a tiny bit of aura.

Art Style Score: 1

Art Style Notes:

Looks like an ancient arcade game.

Audio Score: 1

Audio Notes:

Horrible sound effects! There's a bit of light music but it's completely drowned out by the tinny Ping Ping Ping sound effects.

Overall Score: 31

Review ID: 8151