Arcade Gears: Image Fight & X Multiply

Summary

XMultiply is a side-scrolling shooter developed by Irem, drawing stylistic inspiration from their earlier R-Type series. In 1998, it was bundled with Image Fight as a dual-title release on a single disc for PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The game follows a bizarre alien invasion on a colony planet in the year 2249—the invaders are microscopic organisms that infiltrate, take over, and destroy the colonists. In response, scientists send the microscopic fighter X-002 into the body of a woman who has been infected by the alien queen. Image Fight is a 1988 vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade title developed and published by Irem. It was later adapted for the Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine (Japan-only), Sharp X68000 (Japan-only), and FM Towns (Japan-only) in 1990. The player controls a futuristic red spacecraft. R-Type Final later identifies this ship as the OF-1 Daedalus, though it's unclear if that was its original designation. The term OF-1 does appear in the NES version's manual and in the official artwork for the sequel, Image Fight II. The game seems to take place within a holographic simulation, reminiscent of the holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the NES version, the first five levels are labeled "Combat Simulation Stages," while the final three are called "Real Combat Stages." Two distinct titles in one highly sought-after compilation for shooting game enthusiasts. X Multiply shares similarities with Gradius, featuring tight, enclosed environments and organic ship upgrades that give it a drifting, petal-like defense system. Image Fight, on the other hand, is a more robust R-Type homage, offering multidirectional firing and a classic arcade vibe. One of the rarest titles in the Arcade Gears series.

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Release dates by platform

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