NebulasRay

NebulasRay[lower-alpha 1] is a 1994 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. The plot follows an ongoing war between two factions of humans, the Resistance and the Master Force, who compete for control of the Austrial star system. When the Master Force destroy the homeworld of the Resistance and launch a full-scale attack, the Resistance deploy the Fighting Ray starship to destroy the Master Force and salvage what is left of humanity. Gameplay revolves around shooting enemies, collecting power-up items, and defeating each end-stage boss. It runs on the Namco NB-1 arcade system.

NebulasRay
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Namco
Designer(s)Hajime Nakatani
Composer(s)Masahiro Fukuzawa
Takayuki Ishikawa
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
  • JP: March 1994
  • NA: 1994
Genre(s)Vertical-scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNamco NB-1

Designed by Hajima Nakatani, NebulasRay was part of Namco's experimentation with 3D video games during the 1990s. The game does not use 3D graphics, but instead 3D models that are pre-rendered as 2D sprites, creating a sense of depth. It pays homage to Namco's previous shooters, such as the Galaxian series, Xevious, and Starblade. NebulasRay is credited as being the first shooter to incorporate enemy artificial intelligence (A.I.). Prior to this, similar games used predictable enemy movements or pre-determined flight patterns. The soundtrack was composed by both Masahiro Fukuzawa and Takayuki Ishikawa.

NebulasRay became the second best-selling arcade game of the year, behind Super Street Fighter II Turbo. The game received positive reviews, with critics praising its gameplay, graphics, and technological accomplishments. One critic described it as being a welcomed addition to Namco's 3D arcade game lineup, and one that didn't put visuals over gameplay. Victor Entertainment released the soundtrack on an album for their Namco Game Sound Express series. NebulasRay has been recognized for its usage of enemy A.I., which has become staple in most mainstream games since.

Gameplay
In-game screenshot

NebulasRay is a vertical-scrolling shooter. The plot follows an ongoing war between two factions of humans, the Resistance and the Master Force, competing for control over the Austrial star system. After a battle that leaves the planet Marinarc, the main base of operations of the Resistance, in ruins, the Master Force plan an all-out attack to wipe out the entirety of the Resistance and assume control of the entire galaxy. In a last-stitch effort, the Resistance deploys a prototype starfighter named the Fighting Ray to destroy the Master Force and salvage what is left of humanity.[1] The Fighting Rays are tasked with completing each of the game's six areas — Exeo, Everglenes, Lost Marinarc, Sandvurn, Stream Dive, and Master Fortress — and destroying the boss at the end of them. After completing the six areas, a seventh "challenging" stage is playable, which is a repeat of Exeo with faster enemies and projectiles.

Each level revolves around destroying enemies and avoiding their projectiles.[2] Enemies don't use pre-set flight patterns, and are programmed to give direct chase and corner the players. Moving towards the edge of the screen allows the player to view additional parts of the level, such as enemies hiding out of view. The players have a limited stock of screen-clearing bombs that destroy all on-screen enemies when deployed. Destroying large cylindrical enemies causes a random power-up to be released, which provide different abilities for the player. These include a boost in speed, a four-way shot, a pulse laser, a wide shot, and a protective shield.[1]

Development and release

During the 1990s, Japanese game developer Namco began experimenting with 3D technology to create unique and immersive video game experiences.[2] The first of these was Galaxian3: Project Dragoon, a 1990 rail shooter that saw success at Expo '90 and later the Namco Wonder Eggs amusement park. It was Ridge Racer, released in 1993, that saw the biggest success, becoming a best-seller and being heavily-praised for its gameplay and technological-accomplishments. For their next title, Namco decided to experiment with ray-tracing and using pre-rendered visuals.[2][3] They first used this in Xevious back in 1983, which allowed sprites to have multiple metallic-colored shades to create the illusion of depth.[4][5] Namco also chose to make it a shoot'em up. The genre was dying down in popularity by the mid-1990s, so Namco's plan was to make one that revived interest in it.[3]

NebulasRay was programmed for the Namco NB-1 arcade system board,[6] and was designed by Hajime Nakatani, whose works include Pac-Land, Starblade, and Galaxian3.[7] The game does not use 3D graphics but instead 2D sprites that are pre-rendered 3D models, making a 3D effect possible.[8] Models were created on a computer and then transferred into pixel form via a custom-built conversion software.[3] NebulasRay pays homage to other Namco shooters, such as the Galaxian series, Xevious, and Starblade.[3] The majority of the enemies have German names, as one of the developers thought it would make it stand out from shooters that simply had enemies named after generic terms like "bug" or "insect".[3] NebulasRay is credited as the first shoot 'em up to have enemies with artificial intelligence (A.I.). Prior to this, games of its kind used pre-set flight patterns or predictable enemy movements.[9] The soundtrack was composed by Masahiro Fukuzawa and Takayuki Ishikawa.[3]

Namco demonstrated NebulasRay at the 1994 Amusement Operator's Union exposition in Japan, shown alongside Tinkle Pit, Final Lap R, and Godzilla Wars.[10] The game's pre-rendered visuals, which impressed show-goers,[11] was heavily used in marketing.[12] Namco released the game in Japan in March,[13] although Edge claimed that it was actually released in February.[14] NebulasRay was also demonstrated at the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) in Illinois the same year.[11] Original arcade boards are considered prized collector's items.[15] Victor Entertainment released the soundtrack on an album the same year, being the thirteenth volume of their Namco Game Sound Express series.[3] NebulasRay appears throughout the Ridge Racer series as a fictional car sponsor, beginning with the 1995 PlayStation conversion of the original Ridge Racer.[16]

Reception

NebulasRay was met with positive reviews, and saw some success in arcades. In Japan, Game Machine listed it on their May 1, 1994 issue as being the eighth most-popular arcade game at the time, outperforming titles such as RayForce.[17] According to the July 1994 issue of Edge magazine, it was the second best-selling PCB arcade game of the year, behind Capcom's Super Street Fighter II Turbo.[18] By September the game dropped to third place, behind Capcom's arcade adaptation of Alien vs. Predator.[19]

Critics focused primarily on the gameplay and pre-rendered visuals. A reviewer for Electronic Gaming Monthly claimed that it had some of the best graphics for any shooter, noting of its technological accomplishments and impressive sprite-layering effects.[11] The reviewer stated that NebulasRay made for one of the best shooters available, and described it as being "a force to be reckoned with in the arcade scene".[11] A reviewer for the French publication Consoles+ commended the game's visuals for being unlike any other shooter available on the market.[2] They commended Namco's efforts at reviving a dying genre with fun gameplay and beautiful pre-rendered visuals, and also praised its power-ups for being interesting and useful. The reviewer argued that while it became overly difficult towards the end, NebulasRay represented Namco's method of incorporating 3D into their games through interesting and clever ideas, and that the game had a good balance between impressive visuals and good gameplay.[2] The staff at Edge described NebulasRay as being "a welcome return to the dated but enjoyable vertical shoot 'em up, boosted in this case by some exquisite graphics."[14]

In 2006, Retro magazine listed NebulasRay among the top shooters of all time. They cited its pre-rendered graphics, intense gameplay, and technological capabilities as being the reason for its inclusion, writing that it stands among the most graphically-impressive games of its.[15] Publications have shown interest in a modern re-release of the game. Darran Jones of GamesTM hoped that the game would see release on services like Xbox Live Arcade,[20] while Nintendo Life's Damien McFerran wanted it to be featured in the Namco Museum series.[21] Retro Gamer magazine briefly touched on NebulasRay in a 2015 retrospective on games mentioned in the original Ridge Racer. They said it was a gorgeous-looking shooter and one that fans of the genre should definitely investigate, but warned readers of it being particularly difficult to emulate.[8] Luke McMillan, an author at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, noted of NebulasRay's unique concepts and importance for the genre. While he felt its mechanics seemed problematic for a shooter, Luke claimed that NebulasRay helped pioneer the idea of giving enemies and opponents artificial intelligence, something that has since become a staple in mainstream games. Luke said that: "Perhaps unsurprisingly, NebulasRay was a one off in Shmup development. Despite the focus on realism, the concept never took off within the Shmup genre, but became an essential element in many other games to come."[9]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ネビュラスレイ, Hepburn: NebyurasuRei

References
  1. "NebulasRay promotional sales flyer". Namco. March 1994. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. "Japon En Direct - NebulasRay" (in French) (31). Consoles+. April 1994. pp. 16–17. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. Fukuzawa, Masahiro; Ishikawa, Takayuki (21 July 1994). Namco Game Sound Express Vol. 13: NebulasRay - Linear Notes (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment.
  4. "Top 100 Games of All Time". Next Generation. No. 21. Imagine Media. September 1996. p. 39.
  5. "Xevious - Developer Interview Collection". Shmuplations. 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  6. "Nebulasray - Videogame by Namco". Killer List of Videogames. The International Arcade Museum. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  7. Davies, Jonti (October 2009). "The Making of Starblade" (68). Retro Gamer. p. 44. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  8. The Drift King - The Games of Ridge Racer. United Kingdom: Retro Gamer. 20 August 2015. p. 173. ISBN 1785461060. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  9. McMillan, Luke (2011). All of Your Base are Belong to Us? Shmups as a Source for Better Game Design. Australia: Griffith University. pp. 249–250. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. "Coin-opposition: the 50th ATEI" (7). Future plc. Edge. April 1994. pp. 8–11. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  11. "Arcade Action - NEBULARSRAY by Namco" (59). EGM Media, LLC. Electronic Gaming Monthly. June 1994. p. 72. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  12. "スーパーリアル! ハイブリッドシューティング ここに登場!!" (PDF) (in Japanese) (467). Amusement Press, Inc. Game Machine. 1 March 1994. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  13. 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.
  14. "Namco: Leader of the Pac" (8). United Kingdom: Future plc. Edge. May 1994. pp. 60-61. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  15. "Shmup Family Tree" (Volume 2). United Kingdom: GamesTM. Retro. 2006. pp. 66–67. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  16. Rijji Rēsā Reboryūshon (Pureisutēshon hisshouhou supesharu) リッジレーサーレボリューション （プレイステーション必勝法スペシャル） [Ridge Racer Revolution (PlayStation winning strategy special)] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Keibunsha. 1996. p. 94. ISBN 978-4-7669-2427-5.
  17. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 471. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 May 1994. p. 25. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2020.
  18. "Charts - Arcade: PCBs" (10). United Kingdom: Future plc. Edge. July 1994. p. 85. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  19. "Charts - Arcade: PCBs" (12). United Kingdom: Future plc. Edge. September 1994. p. 83. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  20. Jones, Darran (2007). "Arcade Going Live" (45). Imagine Publishing. GamesTM. pp. 142-143. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  21. McFerran, Damien (28 July 2017). "Namco Museum Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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