Gain Ground SX TurboGrafx-16 CD Retro Console Game Session
0Gain Ground is an action game with strategy elements released as an arcade video game in 1988. It was ported to the Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, and TurboGrafx-CD.
Gain Ground started off as an arcade game. Released in Japan, the United States and Canada in 1988, Gain Ground ran on the Sega System 24 architecture. The developers have stated that their original inspiration was Gauntlet. Gain Ground was ported to the Sega Master System in 1990 and the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. Renovation Products released the Genesis version in North America. Both conversions were handled by Sanritsu. In 1992, a PC Engine Super CD-ROM² version (Gain Ground SX) was released by NEC Avenue.
It was re-released in Radica Games' TVPlay Legends Vol. II TV Games compilation. In 2004, the game was remade for the PlayStation 2 as part of Sega's Japan-only Sega Ages 2500 series as Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 9: Gain Ground. This version has additional new levels that must be unlocked, with new music to accompany them. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was released on the European and Australian Wii Virtual Console on February 2, 2007, and was made available in North America on February 5, 2007. Gain Ground was included in Sega Genesis Collection on the PlayStation 2 and the PSP in 2006 and in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2009. On June 1, 2010, the game became available on Steam as part of Sega Mega Drive Classics Pack (Sega Genesis Classics in the United States). On May 29, 2018, it was included in the console version of the Mega Drive/Genesis Classics Pack.
As a tribute to the game, Chapter 15 and 17 of the crossover game Project X Zone are stages directly pulled from Gain Ground. Chapter 15's title is "Gain Ground System" and both stages even have the party rescuing three of their companions (two in the first and one in the second) in true fashion to the original game. Incidentally, no characters from Gain Ground actually appear in the crossover.