Galaga '88

n/a

PC Engine TurboGrafx-16
Galaga '88
System(s): PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, Virtual Console (Wii), PlayStation 3
Publisher: Namco NEC Home Electronics (USA)
Developer: Namco
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1988-07-15 ¥4,9004,900 NC63002 US 1989-11 TGX002218 JP ▼ 2007-03-20 600pts600 US ▼ 2007-08-06 600pts600 EU ▼ 2007-08-10 600pts600 AU ▼ 2007-08-17 600pts600 JP ▼ 2011-03-17
Non-NEC versions Arcade Game Gear X68000

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Galaga '88 (ギャラガ'88) is an entry in the Galaxian/Galaga series of shoot-'em-ups by Namco. This particular entry has seen its name change several times - it was originally released in arcades in 1988 as Galaga '88 before being brought to the PC Engine later in the year, but was later re-titled Galaga '90 when brought to the TurboGrafx-16. It was later re-released on other systems as Galaga '91.

Story

An intergalactic organization, the United Galaxy Space Force, deploys a lone starfighter to rid the galaxy of the hostile Galaga aliens, who plan to eradicate all of mankind.

Gameplay

Galaga '88 is a fixed shooter video game. The player controls a lone starfighter throughout eleven different stages, each becoming progressively difficult. Stages are indicated by small emblems located at the bottom-right of the screen. In each stage, the objective is to destroy all of the Galaga aliens, which fly into formation from the top and sides of the screen. Some enemies fire projectiles at the player, some enemies divebomb towards the player and attempt to collide with their ship, and some enemies spawn other enemies.

The player can move the ship horizontally with ← and → but cannot move vertically. The Ⅰ and Ⅱ buttons both make the ship fire; they can be held to fire continually. At the start of the game, the player can choose to start with Dual Fighters at the cost of having one less life. If a Dual Fighter is captured and then rescued, the player's ship will become a Triple Fighter.

Most stages are fixed and do not scroll. Enemies enter in formation, and all enemies must be destroyed to complete the stage. Some enemies screen-wrap to the top of the screen when they reach the bottom.

Stages 3, 7, 14, 18, 22 and 26 are bonus levels, which are indicated by the text "That Is Galactic Dancing." In these, enemies fly into the screen along pre-set paths without attacking the player. Players can shoot down the aliens to earn bonus points; destroying all enemies awards the player a large sum of points.

Some stages are vertically scrolling. Enemies fly in as before, but it is not necessary to destroy all of them to proceed. The screen continuously scrolls upwards until the end, where there is a boss fight.

Digital manuals

• 

  PC Engine mini JP manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Galaga '88/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

NEC Retro Average
Publication Score Source Complete Guide to Consoles 88 №1, p56 Computer Entertainer 94 №8.09, p11

	91
Based on 2 reviews

PC Engine version

PC Engine, JP
Cover
Card

TurboGrafx-16 version

TurboGrafx-16, US
Cover
Card Jewel Case

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 1a8393c6 MD5 6404084e36d3cc061503ee5501f79ed2 SHA-1 246079bbf7c8aca0ca66a381986785a39f39ed06	256kB		Card (JP)
✔	CRC32 2909dec6 MD5 94814db23e163dbfc7d7505170e145c2 SHA-1 ff73a144eb2da537d0e1a3c8c56ef197fd6ce1ce	256kB		Card (US)

References

Sega Retro has more information related to Galaga '91