Xevious 3D/G (Arcade) (1996)
Xevious 3D/G+ (PS) (1997)
Developer: Namco

Review by Faididi and Co.

3D Xevious action the way it's meant to be

Story: Average

When invaders come from the planet Xevious, the heroes, Mu and Eve, must pilot their Solvalou starfighter and save Earth. There is supposedly much more to the story, but if that's the case, it's not apparent here.

Gameplay: Above Average

Namco's Xevious 3D/G is yet another update of the classic space shooter, but this time it receives a full makeover, without sacrificing the simple fun of the original game. It takes the simultaneous 2-Player action from Xevious Arrangement, pairs that with the 3D graphics of Solvalou (a fighter simulator version of Xevious), and brings in a slew of other improvements. You can expect to find 7 distinct areas, new bosses, new weapons, and an improved bomb launcher that allows the heroes to fire more than one bomb onto the screen at a time. The heroes also get to continue from where they blow up if they get wasted, unlike in the earlier installments where they're forced to restart from checkpoints. Thankfully, fans of those installments won't have problems adjusting here, because several old elements are back. The Solvalou's main cannons can still hit only aerial enemies, while its bombs can still destroy only ground targets.

The new weapons are worth trying. In addition to the familiar particle beam gun, there are a plasma cannon and a homing laser weapon. The latter is particularly cool, because it fires air-to-air beams and air-to-ground beams, with the heroes having plenty of control over the balance between the types of beams to shoot.

The level and enemy designs are awesome. Mu and Eve will fight across verdant valleys, a city by the sea, temple ruins, vast deserts, arctic lakes, and a massive space station. The bad guys consist of the old drones and flying plates from before, but now they also include UFO saucers, anti-air field emitters, and other never-before-seen enemies. The bosses are big and varied, ranging from mechanical spiders to flying battleships to even a tank-generating factory.

Controls: Excellent

The Solvalou handles responsively. Moving and attacking are all easy to do.

Graphics: Above Average

Xevious 3D/G has beautiful Gouraud-shaded characters and environments, with bright colors and super smooth animations. Each area boasts its own set of looks and little details, from the valleys' classic greenery and rolling hills to the ruins' blocky motifs, and from the arctic lakes' gentle snowfall to the space station's multilayered structures and laser storms.

Audio: Above Average

While the explosions are loud, some of the gunfire effects sound rather monotonous. The Solvalou's homing laser weapon produces cheesy noises whenever it's fired. Returning to the positive side of things, the music of Xevious 3D/G retains a bit of the techno-like styles of Xevious Arrangement's music, and it also sounds much more vibrant with its energetic and upbeat tones.

Overall: Above Average

Xevious 3D/G is a cool 2-Player remake of the original space shooter, keeping the best parts of the earlier updates while expanding on the Solvalou's weaponry and adding to the level and enemy designs. Fans of the genre will certainly want to try this out.

Port: Excellent (PS)

Exceptional even by Namco's high standards in arcade-to-console conversions, Xevious 3D/G+ (note the plus) is actually a compilation of four installments, including the original Xevious, Super Xevious, Xevious Arrangement, and, of course, Xevious 3D/G. All of these ports are faithful to their arcade counterparts, right down to the gameplay, the graphics, and the audio effects. Xevious 3D/G+ also contains tons of exclusive bonuses, mainly in the form of secret characters, new prerendered movies, and alternate tunes for Xevious Arrangement and Xevious 3D/G (which, when paired with the original scores, make for about two hours of music). This is definitely one compilation that no true Xevious fan can do without.

OST: Above Average

Published by Wonder Spirits, the Xevious 3D/G+ soundtrack contains the music, both original and alternate versions, of Xevious Arrangement and Xevious 3D/G, along with the background music of the new movies. The only things missing in this set are the classic starting jingle and the twirling background noise heard in Xevious and Super Xevious. For some reason, the alternate scores are drawn out across two of the three discs, but they could've been packed onto a single disc instead to make the entire soundtrack feel more balanced. On the bright side, Heihachi and Paul's ending theme (for the secret characters) can be heard in its entirety here.