Solvalou

Solvalou[lower-alpha 1] is a 1991 first-person rail shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. The sixth entry in the Xevious series, the player takes control of the Solvalou starship from a first-person perspective as it must destroy the Xevious forces before they take control of Earth. The Solvalou has two weapon types: an air zapper to destroy air-based enemies, and a blaster bomb to destroy ground-stationed enemies. It ran on the Namco System 21 arcade board.

Solvalou
Promotional sales flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco
Composer(s)Hiroyuki Kawada
SeriesXevious
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
  • JP: December 1991
Genre(s)First-person rail shooter
Mode(s)Single-player
CabinetSit-down
Arcade systemNamco System 21

Solvalou was advertised as a "hyper-entertainment machine" for its sit-down cabinet design and 3D shooting gameplay. The game is named after the starship the player controls in the series. Although it proved to be a commercial failure, Solvalou was well-received by critics for its realism, 3D graphics and impressive hardware capabilities, with some finding it to be better than Namco's previous 3D arcade titles. It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2009 as one of the first titles under the Virtual Console Arcade brand. A home port for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was announced in 1994 but never released.

Gameplay
In-game screenshot.

The gameplay is much like that of Xevious and Super Xevious, except this time the game is in three dimensions (and has a first-person viewpoint); the Solvalou's vertical movement is also "reversed" as pushing the joystick up causes it to dive and pushing it down causes it to rise. It can also now take six hits before dying - however, after the fourth hit, the text "SHIELD POWER DOWN!" starts flashing up on the screen, and after the fifth one, the text "SHIELD SYSTEM DOWN!" starts flashing up on it.[1] The only way for the player to replenish the Solvalou's shields is to clear an area, and there are a total of three in the game; they will also receive bonus points at the end of it, based on how many enemies (most of which are new, as only a handful from the first two Xevious games come back for this one) they shot down. The text "WARNING!" also starts flashing on the screen when the Andor Genesis mothership (which is one of the enemies from the first two games that came back) appears approximately halfway through the first area, and remain there until the player either destroys all four of its checkered-ball-firing cannons (as checkered balls are now the enemies' main shot) or it retreats. This was also the only game in the Xevious series that rated the player with a percentage of their accuracy on its high-score table.

Development and release

Solvalou was released for arcades by Namco in Japan in December 1991.[2] It was the fifth title from them to run on the Namco System 21 "Polygonizer" arcade board, previously used in titles such as Starblade and Galaxian3: Project Dragoon. Much like those games, it was advertised as a "Hyper-Entertainment Machine" by Namco for its cabinet design and 3D shooting gameplay. The game is named after the ship the player controls in the Xevious franchise.[3] A home conversion for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was announced by Gamefan magazine in June 1994, however such a port was never released.[4] It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in Japan on March 26, 2009, which supported the Wii Remote's pointer to recreate the original arcade controls.[5]

Reception
Reception
Award
PublicationAward
GamestBest Graphic Award 3rd[6]

Despite being a commercial failure,[3] Solvalou was well-received by critics for its impressive visuals and faithfulness to the original. In 1992, Japanese publication Gamest awarded it the third "Best Graphic Award" based on reader vote, citing its impressive 3D visuals and fast-paced gameplay.[6] GamePro magazine labeled it a "must play" for its realistic combat scenarios and "pulse-pounding" shooting gameplay, alongside its impressive visual effects.[7] GamePro also compared the game favorably to Namco's own Starblade, as well as its clever mixture of the core Xevious gameplay with that of the rail-shooter genre of games.[7] Gamefan magazine said that its 3D polygonal graphics and surreal environments made Solvalou worth a trip to Japan to play it, expressing hope that it be ported to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer console in the future.[8] Leisure Line praised its impressive graphics and attractive cabinet design,[9] while Spanish publication Micromania Segunda Epoca applauded its layer of strategy and technological accomplishments.[10] Retro Gamer magazine ranked it among the "great lost coin-ops" for its faithfulness to the Xevious series in its gameplay, finding it to be superior than Namco's own Starblade and Galaxian3: Project Dragoon.[3] In a brief 2014 retrospective review, Hardcore Gaming 101 liked the game's 3D models for being simplistic yet keeping the same look and feel as the original.[11]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ソルバルウ Hepburn: Sorubarū
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References
  1. Yanma (March 1992). "NEW VIDEO GAME - ソルバルウ". Micom BASIC (in Japanese). No. 117. Dempa Shimbunsha. p. 215.
  2. Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) (First ed.). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 53. ISBN 978-4990251215. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  3. Campbell, Stuart (1 February 2007). "The Definitive Xevious" (34). Imagine Publishing. Retro Gamer. pp. 64–69. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  4. "The Game Fan 32Bit System Shoot Out - Who Will Lead Us Into The Next Generation?". GameFan. Vol. 2 no. 7. DieHard Gamers Club. June 1994. pp. 146–147.
  5. Saeki, Kenji (6 April 2009). "バンダイナムコ、Wii「バーチャルコンソールアーケード」 プロモーション映像を公開". GAME Watch. Impress Group. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  6. GAMEST MOOK Vol.112 ザ・ベストゲーム2 アーケードビデオゲーム26年の歴史 (Vol. 5, No. 4 ed.). Shinseisha. 17 January 1998. pp. 14–15. ISBN 9784881994290.
  7. Hack'n Slash (July 1992). "Hot At The Arcades - Solvalou (Namco)" (36). GamePro. p. 18. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  8. "Quarter Munchers - Solvalou" (Vol. 1, Issue 7). DieHard Gamers Club. Gamefan. June 1993. p. 95. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  9. "Japanese Jamma Show". Leisure & Allied Industries. Leisure Line. November 1991. pp. 5–6. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  10. S.E.A. (1992). "Solvalou" (in Spanish) (52). Micromania Segunda Epoca. p. 88. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  11. Savorelli, Carlo (10 December 2013). "Solvalou". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 26 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
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