Galaxian 3

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Galaxian³
Galaxian³ "Theater 6" cabinet
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Namco
Platform(s) Arcade, PlayStation
Release date April 1, 1990 (theme park attraction)
March, 1994 (arcade)
April 4, 1996 (PlayStation)
Genre(s) Shooter
Mode(s) Up to 6/28 players simultaneously
Input methods Directional Yoke with trigger and thumb buttons
Cabinet Wide
Arcade system Namco System 21 with Laser disc drive
Display Horizontal orientation, Raster

Galaxian³ (also known as Galaxian³: Project Dragoon) is an arcade game released by Namco in 1994. It is a walk-in style arcade game run on a hybrid of laserdisc and traditional arcade hardware. The arcade uses two synchronized laserdisc players to create the pre-rendered backgrounds of the game, and each player takes the role of one of six stationary gunner positions defending a spaceship against an onslaught of enemy ships. Each player shares the same life meter. It was one of only two games released for Namco's "Theater 6" arcade system, the other being its immediate sequel Attack of the Zolgear.

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[edit] Specifications

Galaxian³ controller
Galaxian³ controller

The arcade cost $150,000 (USD). Its dimensions are W: 16'7", D:16'4", H:8'.

The game was originally a theme park attraction which debuted in 1990, four years before the arcade version was released. It used a 120" wide display utilizing twin projectors and seated 28 people simultaneously in a hydraulic gaming area. There was also a simplified version of the attraction for 16 players which didn't have as many of the bells and whistles as the original 28 player version. The attraction eventually closed in 2000.

[edit] Story

Galaxian3 set in the time when humanity makes their first attempt to travel beyond their Solar System and rushes into the days of space exploration. Several of the planets, including the planet Alpha, which is located at the edge of the galaxy cut off the communications, following an observational data of uncontrollable crustal movements. As a response to this incident, the United Galaxy Space Force (UGSF) is sent to investigate, only to discover the first threat to humanity: the Unknown Intellectual Mechanized Species (UIMS), a race of machines in various sizes, comprising of inorganic substances, one is which is called "Live-Weapon". A counter measure agency is started, and the UGSF is kept up with a series of investigations relating to the UIMS. After the result in which they had kept on developing as a weapon, they became an ultimate doomsday planet-busting weapon, Cannon Seed, which could compress the planet's internal energy and discharge it to destroy an entire planet, turning it into fragments. This is the last from the UGSF supervisory satellite after giving a report about the Cannon Seed aiming at the Earth. The bravest elite gunners went on board the UGSF's most powerful spacecraft, Dragoon.

[edit] Ports

The game was ported to the Sony PlayStation in 1995 and April 4, 1996, which includes four-player support instead of the arcade's six-player support and letterboxing, as well as a bonus game called The Rising of Gourb.

[edit] The Rising of Gourb

The Rising of Gourb is a bonus game that is specifically created for the Playstation port. Its story is set some years after Project Dragoon, where humankind is again faced with a mysterious threat - a new group of fighting machines are called UIMS-δ, having traced to an evolutionary process and created by the gigantic space fortress known as Gourb, separated from that of the original UIMS. They have begun a revenge against humanity for that reason. Responding to this, the UGSF send a deployment of the improved Dragoon to destroy it.

[edit] External links

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