Xevious was an overhead, vertical scrolling shooter, featuring multiple waves of air and ground-based targets as well as a unique, adaptive logic that kept the game challenging. It was released by Namco in 1982 and licensed by Atari. It was released in an upright cabinet.

Gameplay

You begin your mission over a deserted, forested area on Earth. The major problem is that it's an Earth under occupation by a cold, calculating, tenacious alien race. They appear to know the Earth very well, as their superior use of the terrain demonstrates, and the evidence of new aerial pictographs like ones found in our ancient cultures chillingly displays that this hasn't been the first time they've conquered this planet. Flying high overhead in your Solvalou you must eradicate the alien menace from your beloved world using a lethal combination of your Zapper to destroy air targets and Blaster to eliminate ground targets.

The alien race is quick to adapt to your battle prowess. If you succeed against the fighters sent against you, you'll be met with faster and more lethal fighters which will strive to hasten your demise. Fast reflexes and a deadly aim are all that can save you.

Your eventual goal is the destruction of the network of Andor Genesis, or mother ships, which ring the planet and rule on high with a steel fist. Only when they are eliminated will the Earth have a chance for freedom. But getting to them is no easy task. They are protected by:

Air Targets:

• Toroid - This circular, spinning fighter flies toward the bottom of the screen in a straight line and veers away as you cross its path. They fly in packs and, while initially unarmed, are upgraded and begin to fire single shots at you.
• Torkan - This scout ship zooms quickly in from the top of the screen at different angles, then stops and releases a single shot before zooming even more quickly away from whence it came with a speed that outruns even your Zapper.
• Zoshi - The dreaded alien Death Squad pilots these craft. While they're not agile, they fly in an erratic pattern which is impossible to predict and can fire multiple shots. It would be a very bad idea to let one or more get behind you.
• Jarra - These spinning ships fly in a pattern similar to the Toroid, but because of their speed, they are exceedingly dangerous to attempt to intercept. These ships can also fire shots at you.
• Kapi - This oblongated diamond-shaped ship has the ability to zoom quickly in and hover in place long enough to rapidly fire shots at you before evading and escaping.
• Terrazi - These ships fly in a similar pattern to the Kapi, but are much more agile in their ability to both change course en route to releasing their deadly barrage of shots as well as away from you in its evasion route.
• Bragza - This appears to be the shot from an unknown energy weapon. Shaped as crystals, they streak directly toward you en masse.
• Zakato - Resembling a black ball, these flak bombs travel slowly down the screen in straight lines. If not quickly destroyed, they destruct and release a single shot in your direction.
• Brag Zakato - These are a bit larger than Zakato with a red dot in the center. They fly in straight, random directions. If not quickly destroyed, they destruct and release a wave of shots at you.
• Garu Zakato - These resemble the Brag Zakato, only bigger. They fly directly toward you, and if not quickly destroyed, they destruct and release shots in all directions.

On the ground is a network of storage and defense installations and vehicles just as deadly, and just as important to eradicate:

Ground Targets:

• Bara - These pyramid-shaped installations serve as energy storage stations for small regions. They have no built-in defenses.
• Garu Bara - These pyramid-shaped installations are many times the size of Bara, and serve as energy storage bases for large regions. They have no built-in defenses.
• Zolbak - These installations appear as domes with a red square on top. They contain sensitive threat detection equipment which feed your position to the enemy forces. They have no built-in defenses.
• Logram - These dome-shaped installations have no distinguishing marks. They primarily serve as ground-to-air defense stations, shooting single shots in your direction.
• Boza Logram - This installation consists of four Logram attached in the center by an additional assault weapon and advanced tracking system. Beware!
• Domogram - These appear to be Logram on a mobile, hovering platform. While their course normally follows the path of the road they're travelling upon, they can change direction unexpectedly. Allowing one to get past your defenses to attack you from behind is not a good idea.
• Derota - These octagonal installations serve as area defense stations, with the ability to quickly fire shots at you.
• Garu Derota - Many times the size of the Derota, these octagon-shaped regional defense installations have many times the firepower of their smaller counterparts.
• Grobda - These tank-like vehicles generally move only in forward and backward directions, but can detect your Blaster fire and either speed up or slow down to evade your shot.

All these intricate forces are deployed masterfully to thwart your reaching:

• Andor Genesis - These enormous ships serve as regional command posts. They're protected by multiple cannons which shoot multiple shots at you. In addition, they are given air cover from flak bombs, usually Zakato. Only a precise Blaster shot to the center can stop these mechanical behemoths.

Technical Specifications

The upright cabinet contains either a Matsushita 19" Color Raster-Scan display (part# 139003-1004) or an Electrohome 19" Color Raster-Scan display (part# 92-049). The control panel contains a four-way leaf switch joystick, four leaf switch buttons (Zapper and Blaster buttons on either side of the joystick to accommodate both left and right-handed players), and two LED switch buttons used as 1 or 2 player start buttons. The main and video PCBs are located inside an EMI cage bolted to the right-hand side of the cabinet (as facing the machine from the rear). These PCBs come in two flavors: those designed by Namco and those designed by Atari. The Atari PCBs are identifiable by being so large that they take up the entire EMI cage. In addition, the two banks of DIP switches are arranged in a vertical column. The Namco PCBs are less than half the size and their DIP switch banks are arranged in a horizontal row. Below the EMI cage is the regulator and Audio II PCB. Located behind the coin door is an operator control panel featuring coin counter, self-test switch, auxiliary coin switch and volume control knob.

Switch Settings

The first bank of DIP switches is the topmost bank on the Atari PCB (10D), and the leftmost bank on the Namco PCB (7D):

Left Coin Mechanism Settings

Switch 1	Switch 2	Option
Off	Off	1 Coin/1 Credit*
On	Off	1 Coin/2 Credits
Off	On	2 Coins/1 Credit
On	On	2 Coins/3 Credits

Use the table below if the settings on switches 6 and 7 allow for 1 through 3 Solvalous:

Bonus Solvalous Awarded at Following Values

Switch 3	Switch 4	Switch 5	Option
Off	Off	Off	20k and every 60k*
On	Off	Off	10k and every 40k
Off	On	Off	10k and every 50k
On	On	Off	20k and every 50k
Off	Off	On	20k and every 70k
On	Off	On	20k and every 80k
Off	On	On	20k; 2nd at 60k
On	On	On	No bonus

Use the table below if the settings on switches 6 and 7 allow for 5 Solvalous:

Bonus Solvalous Awarded at Following Values

Switch 3	Switch 4	Switch 5	Option
Off	Off	Off	20k and every 70k*
On	Off	Off	10k and every 50k
Off	On	Off	20k and every 50k
On	On	Off	20k and every 60k
Off	Off	On	20k and every 80k
On	Off	On	30k and every 100k
Off	On	On	20k; 2nd at 80k
On	On	On	No Bonus

Number of Solvalous at Game Start

Switch 6	Switch 7	Option
Off	Off	3*
On	Off	1
Off	On	2
On	On	5

Switch 8

• Off - Use both left and right coin counters
• On - Use left coin counter only

*NOTE: Asterisk (*) indicates Manufacturer's Recommended Setting

The second bank of DIP switches is the bottom bank on the Atari PCB (10B), and the rightmost bank on the Namco PCB (8D):

Switch 1

• Off - Must be off or Blaster fires continuously*

Switch 2

• Off - Must remain off

Right Coin Mechanism Settings

Switch 3	Switch 4	Option
Off	Off	1 Coin/1 Credit*
On	Off	1 Coin/2 Credits
Off	On	2 Coins/1 Credit
On	On	2 Coins/3 Credits

Switch 5

• Off - Must remain off

Game Difficulty Settings

Switch 6	Switch 7	Option
Off	Off	Standard
On	Off	Easy
Off	On	Hard*
On	On	Very Hard

Switch 8

• Off - Must remain off

*NOTE: Asterisk (*) indicates Manufacturer's Recommended Setting

Other Things of Interest

Xevious is, in many ways, the grandfather of the overhead vertical shooter/bomber game, of which dozens were made afterward, from World War I motifs like Sky Sharks, to World War II environments like 1942, to futuristic games like Raiden.

Xevious featured a jaunty little tune for background music that was so quick to get under your skin that people either loved it because they couldn't get it out of their head, or hated it because they couldn't get it out of their head. :-)