[12] Later in that month it was released in North America and the following year in Europe.

Having traversed the cloud covered Cumuluses, the space colony Tralieb, the largely populated Urbanite, the watery Cavern, and Sector 3 Lava Planet, the Axelay D117B fighter makes its way to the fortress of Armada of Annihilation and completes its mission. North American box art. Both IGN and GameSpot gave the Virtual Console re-release of Axelay a 7.5 out of 10. Get the best gaming deals, reviews, product advice, competitions, unmissable gaming news and more! [52] Nintendo Power scored Axelay 3.75 out of 5, praising its graphics but noting that its head-on perspective takes some getting used to. Song Name: Unkai (Level 1). ", "Lo Más Nuevo - Super Nintendo: Axelay - Exótico Axelay", "Super Famicom - Axelay: Je Vous L'ai Toujours Dit: Il Faut Toujours Axelay-rer! NA: September 1992 JP: September 11, 1992 EU: September 30, 1993

This song is from the second stage, where you're flying through a space colony that's orbiting your home planet. Axelay[a] is a 1992 scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. [48] The website ScrewAttack called it the #6 best 2D shooter. 25 Best Nintendo Switch games you can play right now, The 20 best PS4 exclusives that you need to play. [2] Similar to Life Force, levels transition between vertical and horizontal scrolling layouts, forcing the player to select weapons that will be most effective for each level. GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. In 2007 it was released on the Virtual Console. 02 was remixed by Masanori "M.C." Tsunenari "Boncharu" Yada and "Furiten" Nagisa Tsuchiya acted as designers with Toshiharu Furukawa and M. "Kagenin Sasaki" Suzuki gave additional support during development, while artist Kazuhiro "PD."

The title uses various visual effects in both the top-down and side-scrolling stages. Song: Colony. Visit our corporate site. [49] Nintendo Power magazine later called it the #18 best game on the SNES. 01(Rerel.) In the top-down stages, enemies and objects are warped as they come into view to produce a pseudo-3D effect, in addition of parallax scrolling effects.[2][3].

Getting hit by enemy fire or colliding against solid stage obstacles will result in losing a live and once all lives are lost, the game is over though players have the option to continue playing via a limited number of credits. [47] The following year, it was listed as number 91 on Electronic Gaming Monthly's 100 best games of all time in their 100th issue, which cited its Mode 7 effects, the boss visuals, and the strategy involved in choosing the weapons loadout before each level. Just FYI, this game happens to be one of my favorite games on the Snes (I thank my cousin for introducing me to this game back when I was 6 or 7 years old). Sustaining a second hit while using a weakened weapon will destroy the player's ship. Axelay uses a respawn system where their ship immediately starts at the location they died at. Super Play listed it number 36 on its list of the top 100 SNES games of all time in 1996. [51], GamePro praised the game's inventive weapons, range of challenge for players of differing abilities, and the fact that the player starts the game already with three fully charged weapons. Credits • Gallery • Cheats • Videos • Soundtrack.

Namba created the pixel art. Instrument: Acoustic Guitar. © Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors?

[9][10][11] The game was originally intended to be a Japanese exclusive but was given an international release in response to numerous letters from consumers and critics.

Above: Also consider the game's opening cutscene, which puts a rather personal spin on the "one ship versus a million" game. New York, Set in the fictional solar system Illis where an alien empire known as "Armada of Annihilation" invades its planets including the Earth-like Corliss (Mother), players take control of the titular D117B space fighter craft as a last resort to stop the alien invasion by recovering its lost weaponry. [50] Axelay was included as one of the titles in the 2010 book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.

[19], After finishing Axelay two times consecutively on the highest difficulty level, a message promising Axelay 2 appeared but the planned sequel never materialized due to low sales of the first game.

Once a peaceful system, it was invaded by an alien empire known as the Armada of Annihilation, taking over the planets of the Illis system including the Earth-like Corliss (Mother in the Japanese version). Super Nintendo Entertainment System Motivating stuff for sure. Recall: The definitive guide to Nintendo games (and what we think of them) - Super NES -- Axelay", "Test: Weltraumschlacht - Axelay (Super Nintendo)", "The Super Play All-time top 100 SNES games", "Axelay Review - Axelay is short and has a few small but noticeable flaws, yet it's memorable, inventive, and reminds you what "cutting-edge" was like in the 16-bit era", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Axelay&oldid=982700911, Super Nintendo Entertainment System games, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters, Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Articles using Video game reviews template in single platform mode, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 9 October 2020, at 19:48. Though first launched for the Super NES, the game has since been re-released through download services for Nintendo consoles.

[42], Axelay is considered by some publications as a classic of its genre. Super Nintendo Entertainment System stubs, Super Nintendo Entertainment System games, https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Axelay?oldid=561724.

Namba created the pixel art. ", "French Collection (Super Nintendo) - Axelay: Axelay, Une Fois! Game Name: Axelay. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. The gameplay mainly consist of both vertical-scrolling and horizonal-scrolling stages in the same vein as Konami's own Life Force, with players choosing three different weapon-types that increase in number as they progress through the game. There was a problem. Release Date(s) Above: Colony from Axelay.

Please refresh the page and try again. Receive news and offers from our other brands? Each selectable weapon in Axelay also operate like shields. [5] Tsunenari "Boncharu" Yada and "Furiten" Nagisa Tsuchiya acted as designers with Toshiharu Furukawa and M. "Kagenin Sasaki" Suzuki gave additional support during development, while artist Kazuhiro "PD." 02 Axelay is a SNES video game released in 1992 by Konami.

ESRB [1][2][3] Rather than colleting weapon power-up items from defeated enemies in order to obtain more advanced weapons, players earns new weapons as they advance in the game instead. Rating(s) [5] Former Konami Kukeiha Club composer Taro Kudo scored the soundtrack, however the music for the second stage boss ("Cosmic Dance!") Platform: SNES. You will receive a verification email shortly. Virtual Console (Wii)

Konami The title became popular and regarded by publications as a classic of the shoot 'em up genre, garnering praise for its visuals, music and an advanced selection of weapons available at the time.

They gave it a 4.5 out of 5 for control and fun factor and a perfect 5.0 for graphics and sound. [18][19][citation needed] It has since been re-released for the Wii U's eShop service across all regions in 2015. Length: 3 Minutes 37 Seconds. [53], Retrospective reviewers praised the game as well. [1][3] Players may freely switch between each of these weapon types during a level.

Once upon a time, 2D shooters were the ultimate show of force for videogame consoles. Commercial (CD) published by KONAMI on Oct 21, 1992 containing original soundtrack, arrangement from Axelay with compositions by Taro Kudo, … NY 10036. [5][6][7] Other people also collaborated in its development. USK Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer.

Thank you for signing up to GamesRadar+. [18][55] Nintendo Life gave the game a score of 80 out of 100. Adachi and the ending music was composed by Akira "AKI" Souji, though Souji is not credited as such in the game. Axelay is a scrolling shooter game similar to Konami's own Life Force where players take control of the titular D117B space fighter craft as a last resort to stop the Armada of Annihilation by recovering its lost weaponry through six stages, each with a boss at the end that must be fought before progressing any further. [1], Axelay was designed by a group of Konami employees that would later go on to found Treasure, the creators of Gunstar Heroes. [6][7][16][17] The title was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in Australia and North America in 2007 and later in Japan in 2008. [1][3] Examples of weapons include multiple-way shot, vulkan cannon, and spread bombs. A sequel, Axelay 2, was planned but never materialized due to low sales of the first game. Composer: Akiropito, Adachi and Kudou.

ACB

[1][3] At the end of each level, a new choice of one of these types of weapons is added to the ship's armory and players are given the ability to modify their fighter to suit the needs of the next level. [56], 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, "SF Kosmo: Quantity Over Quality - Axelay", "Super Soft Hot Information - Super Famicom (スーパーファミコン): SFCの可能性を感じさせるシユーテイング", "Super Soft Hot Information - Super Famicom (スーパーファミコン): アクスレイ", "Wizard News - The Inside Scoop on the World of Comics: Konami Hears the Cries of the Consumers", "Perfect Selection Konami Shooting Battle II", "Axelay Review - Scrolling on up, and to the side", "Axelay Review (SNES) - Who said the SNES couldn't handle shmups? [15] The soundtrack was released on a single 22-song disc published by King Records on 21 October 1992, while the tracks "Unkai" and "Colony" were included on the Konami All Stars 1993 and the Perfect Selection Konami Shooting Battle II compilation discs respectively. As a last resort against the alien forces, the titular D117B fighter is sent out to recover its lost weaponry and put a stop to the invasion. [4][5] Kazumi "Mr." Kitaue served as producer with Hideo "Dreamer" Ueda, S. Tamate and Kazuhiko "König" Ishida serving as programmers. Former Ko… [2][48][citation needed] The Axelay D117B fighter makes an appearance in Konami's Airforce Delta Strike as an unlockable aircraft. There was no shortage of shooters in the early '90s. [20], The game's visual effects combined with what was then seen as an advanced selection of weapons available, as well as the music score, made Axelay into a popular shooter for the SNES console.

[5] Ueda stated that one of the enemies in the last stage previously appeared in other shoot 'em up games by Konami such as Life Force and Flak Attack, as his then-president at Konami liked the enemy's attack. The plot summary of Axelay varies between regions.

Axelay Above: Mother is a totally bizarre song - the opening sounds like it's going to lead into a '40s brass number, then it goes all '90s funk on us, Above: A fantastically shredding version of the Axelay theme from OverClocked ReMix. Axelay came around about a year into the SNES' existence, and hoo boy, it ticked all the boxes: amazing visuals, titanic bosses, avaried, and a varied, robust soundtrack thatstill stands as one of the system's best. Headed by Super Castlevania IV producer Kazumi Kitaue, Axelay was developed by most of the same team that would later go on to form Treasure, the creators of Gunstar Heroes. 01