Gaiares

Gaiares is a horizontally scrolling shooter for the Mega Drive from 1990, developed by Telenet Japan and published by Renovation. It was one of the first 8 megabit cartridge games on the system, which at the time meant it could afford more art and a longer running time than its competition.

The name is a pun: Gaia plus the suffix -less, because in the story the Earth has been destroyed by pollution and humanity is literally Earthless. The opening sequence is unusually long and cinematic for 1990 and is still one of the things people remember about the game.

Mechanically Gaiares rests on a single excellent idea — the TOZ system. Instead of collecting power-ups from nowhere, you fire a small module at an enemy; it attaches, copies that enemy's weapon and returns to you. That means your arsenal is assembled out of whatever is currently shooting at you, and it pays to watch which enemy carries something worth having. The module doubles as a mobile shield, so you are constantly deciding whether to keep it home for defence or send it away for a new gun. That one mechanic gives the game a tactical layer most shooters of the era lacked.

The weakness is difficulty. Gaiares is punishing even by genre standards — the bullet count is high, the ship's hitbox is not small, and some sections demand memorised routes. Without practice you will not get past the middle stages.

Visually and sonically it is one of the better titles on its console: large backdrops, striking bosses and an energetic soundtrack. Anyone who likes Japanese 16-bit shooters gets one of the most ambitious examples here. Anyone looking for a relaxed half hour should look elsewhere — Gaiares expects to be taken seriously.