March 2020 Shmup Club - Gaiares

[MetalFRO]

[img width=426 height=600]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzAkvytWQAAvLdq.jpg[/img]

When it comes to shooting games on the Sega Genesis, one company that comes to mind in the West is Renovation. They published several games in the genre, such as Arrow Flash and Whip Rush on the Genesis, and Sol-Deace on the Sega CD. As the North American arm of Telenet Japan, they brought a number of games to the Western audience, from a variety of genres, and shooters were well represented in that category. What might not be as well known, however, is that, of all the shoot-em-up games they published, only one of them was their own creation. That honor went to their flagship shooting game, Gaiares. Gaiares is perhaps as famous for its ad campaign in North American game magazines and comic books, as it is for its gameplay, since Renovation heavily saturated publications with ads, which featured professional gamer Jamie Bunker, touting the game's perfect score in GamePro magazine.

In the year 3000, Earth has become a toxic dump ravaged by careless humans, leaving an uninhabitable, polluted wasteland. The space pirates 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 use their technology to restore the Earth to its former beauty. Dan Dare, 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, an emissary from Leezaluth. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in March 2020, to take to the skies, and deploy the TOZ System, as we play Gaiares!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
SaturdayDevelopment
steveovig
Gamer707b
Dingo
FauxMacho


High Score:
1. MetalFRO - 1,409,550
2. FauxMacho - 486,848
3.


Original hint:

[img width=405 height=355]https://i.ibb.co/D5NmPDF/professional.jpg[/img]

[EZ Racer]

Grin Seeker?

[zoydo]

Deathsmiles?🤔

[SaturdayDevelopment]

I'd recognize that mustache anywhere...

[zoydo]

Dude! Nice work! 😄👍🏻

[MetalFRO]

Haha, nicely done, SaturdayDevelopment!

[zoydo]

Unfortunately i don't own a copy, so i'm out. 😐

[SaturdayDevelopment]

Just got my copy today.  Count me in.

[MetalFRO]

Awesome! Jealous of that box, I only have a cartridge copy

Unfortunately i don't own a copy, so i'm out. 😐

Yeah, unfortunately, it's become a fairly expensive game, too, at least here in the US. Not sure about Europe, I imagine it's not cheap there, either.

[zoydo]

There was no european release of Gaiares, so importing is the only option and yeah.... you know the prices of the us and jp releases...😅

[MetalFRO]

There was no european release of Gaiares, so importing is the only option and yeah.... you know the prices of the us and jp releases...😅

That's unfortunate - you'd think, with how well Sega was received during the previous generation, something like this might have easily come out in Europe. Keep in mind, you could still emulate, if you want to join in. That's not off the table.

[steveovig]

Can we use the Genesis Mini to play it?

Nevermind, I see the above post.  Count me in, even though I probably won't do well

[MetalFRO]

Can we use the Genesis Mini to play it?

Nevermind, I see the above post.  Count me in, even though I probably won't do well

Absolutely, the Genesis Mini would be a fine way to play it, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on how well it plays, as I haven't picked one of those up yet. Also, welcome to RF Generation!

[Gamer707b]

 Count me in!! Love this game. Still have my copy. BAck in the day, I remember seeing the ads for this game and thinking it reminded me of another beloved Genesis series. Phantasy Star. the theme and overall style was very similar. So how does this work. Play it for a month and take pictures of high scores? Or who can do a 1cc?

[SaturdayDevelopment]

Count me in!! Love this game. Still have my copy. BAck in the day, I remember seeing the ads for this game and thinking it reminded me of another beloved Genesis series. Phantasy Star. the theme and overall style was very similar. So how does this work. Play it for a month and take pictures of high scores? Or who can do a 1cc?

We just go for high score during the month.  Getting a 1CC certainly would help!