Arcade Longplay #69: Espgaluda II
13Espgaluda II (エスプガルーダII) is a manic shooter originally released by Cave in the arcades in 2005 as a sequel to Espgaluda. An Xbox 360 release, titled Espgaluda II Black Label, was released in 2010 in Japan.
Instead of having to repeatedly tap the shot button for rapid fire, the feature is on by default. In most of Cave's other manic shooter games, rapid fire is usually an option that must be enabled through the game's BIOS by an arcade operator.
The game still utilizes the Kakusei, or Awakening, mode from the first game, where enemies and bullets are slowed down at the cost of collectible green gems, or Seireiseki. In this mode, any enemies that are defeated have their remaining bullets on screen transformed into gold ingots that can be collected to boost the player's score. However, Espgaluda II also adds the ability for enemies to release yet another set of shots when they are defeated. These bullets are destroyed when destroying another enemy, which in turn creates another wave of bullets. During that attack phase, the score multiplier for destroyed bullets can be raised up to 500. Another returning feature from the first game is the Guard Barrier, which absorbs enemy attacks at the expense of a Guard Barrier Gauge. When the player is hit by an enemy bullet, the Guard Barrier is automatically activated. However, in this game, the Guard Barrier is always used until its gauge is depleted. Players can gain extra lives after earning 15 million and 35 million points, or by obtaining the life extend item in stage 3.
The Xbox 360 version features online leaderboards, redrawn HD graphics, the ability to save replays, and has the following modes: Arcade Mode, Xbox 360 Mode (identical to arcade but with HD graphics), Novice Mode, Black Label Novice Mode (Seseri is playable), Black Label (Seseri is playable), Arrange Mode, Omake Mode (unlocked after beating any mode on any settings).
The iOS/Android versions feature controls unique to the iPhone/iPod touch, allowing players to unleash an Awakening Pulse against the enemy by touching parts of the screen. Using this attack in conjunction with the high risk, high return scoring system allows the player to maximize his or her high score. The game also features the classic Arcade mode, three difficulty settings and three control settings.