![Aquales [アクアレス] Game Sample - X68000](/images/yt/4_/aquales-game-sample-x68000-ur4hc.jpg)
Aquales [アクアレス] Game Sample - X68000
28You gotta love those folks over at Exact; they easily released some of the best exclusives for the Sharp X68000. What's that? Who's Exact!? Why, only one of the best underground game development companies of all time!
...
Well, okay, that might be a bit of a stretch, but they're definitely one of my favorite lesser-known developers, having not released one bad game during their roughly ten year stint in the gaming world, but they were particularly proficient at tapping into the Sharp's power and always had a love affair for wireframes and polygons. They are best known for their "Jumping Flash!" series for Sony's Playstation (barring the last game, "Robbit mon Dieu", which was handed over to "Sugar & Rockets") and "Ghost in the Shell", but they were good at creating games from day one. Aquales is a crowning achievement in Sharp engineering, easily being one of the best original games on the platform along with Etoile Princess and Geograph Seal. Just think of it as "Bionic Commando" and "Cybenator / Assault Suits Valken" having an AWESOME baby, then throw in a little Anime, an aquatic theme and more robust platforming segments. Even its plot is cool, and the whole intro is in Engrish with Japanese subtitles! Actually, this game would predate Cy/ASV by more than a year, but this is to give those a good idea of what it's like overall.
As Exact's second game, and given it was released in 1991, it stands with some of the best action games of the time. In the year 2042, more than 70% of the entire Earth is covered by water due to the turmoil caused by humanity's depletion of the ozone layer and greenhouse effects, causing the polar ice caps to melt and raise the sea level by an alarming rate. With what little land remains, territories became overpopulated, and with living on other planets still being a pipe dream, they look towards the sea for answers, causing a major push into scientific research for sustaining life within the ocean. This led to the development of the "Kermadic Trench" on the Kermadic Islands off the shores of New Zealand, an initiative that would take many years to complete. By the year 2069, the Trench was still in the developmental phase, but the Earth was reaching critical mass, with more than 82% of it now covered in water, causing the United Nations to become desperate. With this in mind, someone had to be sent to the trench to figure out what was going on.
Thus, the "Elias-Rits Investigative Unit" was deployed... until its distress beacon was cut off, and no one heard of it since. Another team was sent to investigate the circumstances of the Elias-Rits' disappearance, but came up empty-handed at the preliminary level, forcing them to use their trump card -- W-ODL, a group of elite individuals who piloted the legendary Mid-Stanry submarine and it's advanced humanoid robot to the scene. The only real problem with the plot is that the game clearly left room open for a sequel, but due to poor sales, the game never got one and was doomed to remain a Sharp exclusive. This is hinted at not only in the ending but the game's system disk, which has anecdotes about the story originally planned as a 600 page manga over 13 volumes and condensed "volume 7" in video game form.
The gameplay consists of getting from point A to point B like your typical side-scrolling action game and doesn't reinvent the wheel, but everything from the graphics to the sound to the gameplay is incredibly polished and satisfying, with progressive difficulty, plenty of places to explore (which you're rewarded for doing), and even an experience system like in RPGs where defeating enemies increases your level, health and damage output. There are twelve different weapons the player can find from four different categories with different pros and cons: Wires, Blades, Guns, and Special weapons. Wires are balanced in reach and destructive ability with the AWESOME ability to rotate by rolling the d-pad around. Blades have the highest attack and slightly quicker speed, but short range (some blades are great for their ability to destroy projectiles at close range), Guns naturally have the longest range but lowest attack (except the Buster Cannon, which has a cooldown)... they're good for playing it safe, but they won't help in certain situations. Special weapons have variable stats or unique usage, such as the Napalm Launcher which is air-to-ground weapon or the Bound Launcher which ricochets.
There is also a direction indicator which points where the exit is located and some fun and challenging applications for the grappling hook on later levels, and the game is challenging in spots, but much more balanced than Naious. The most shocking part of all this is the game was primarily designed by four people! This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.
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