Espgaluda is a vertical arcade shmup that was ported to the PlayStation 2. This game follows the Cave tradition of giving the player large quantities of bullets to dodge. This is the sequel to Esp.Ra.De.
The PlayStation 2 version features an arrange mode with the following changes:
- Enemies fire many more bullets (approx. 3x)
- Different characters are selectable
- The button configuration is different
- The character's firing/scoring methods are more similar to those found in Esp.Ra.De
- The guard barrier converts enemy bullets into gems
- Automatic guard barrier uses all of the guard barrier gauge (instead of half)
- Continues are not usable - loss of all lives is an automatic game over
Characters[ | ]
In arcade mode the characters are:
- Ageha
- Tateha
In arrange mode the characters are:
- Black
- Chihiro
Story[ | ]
In an otherwise peaceful world, the Shinra Empire began conquering nearby nations one by one. Meanwhile, in the Shinra weapons lab, the Espgaluda project produced two successful prototypes: Agaha and Tateha. Fearing for their future, the project's head scientist, Hidoushi, escaped with the two prototypes to a nearby kingdom, but they were found by Shinra's troops...
Gameplay Features[ | ]
The main feature of this game is Kakusei mode (triggerable at will) that causes enemy bullets to turn purple and slow down, and gives the player an auto-guard-barrier that activates whenever the character is hit (at twice normal cost). While this mode is active, if any enemies are destroyed, any bullets they fired that are still on the screen turn into gold and are auto-collected.
This mode costs gems (obtained by destroying enemies while in normal mode) to activate in this way. If the player's gem stock runs out, the bullets turn red and start moving faster than they would in normal mode. However, there is a gauge that fills up during this time that might affect the scoring multiplier somehow.
The player also has a (very-limited use) guard-barrier shot that clears bullets and causes substantial damage to (almost) everything it hits.
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