is a 1995 vertical-scrolling shooter arcade game developed and published by

Jaleco was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being rena ...

. The game is a parody of arcade shooters in a vein similar to the ''

Parodius is a series of cute 'em ups developed and published by Konami. The games are tongue-in-cheek parodies of '' Gradius'', and also feature characters from many other Konami franchises. Video games There are six games in the Parodius series. The l ...

'' series. It was followed up with a sequel, ''Gun Bare! Game Tengoku 2''. An updated

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

of the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

version for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and Microsoft Windows, titled ''Game Tengoku CruisnMix'', was released on November 29, 2017. The official English localization was released on November 29, 2018. A port for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

was released in Japan on December 19, 2019. It was released in North America and Europe on May 28, 2020.

Gameplay

''Game Tengoku'' is a vertical-scrolling shooter similar to games like ''

'' (1987). Its plot involves a mad scientist named Genius Yamada harnessing the power of arcade cabinets to take over the Me & You video arcade. The arcade's clerk, Yuki Ito, calls upon the help of various

protagonists to stop Yamada before he takes over all of the arcades in the world. The player controls one of these Jaleco characters throughout the game's six stages, as they must destroy moving formations of enemies and avoid collision with them and their projectiles. These characters are pulled from five 1980s arcade games: ''

Exerion is a fixed shooter video game developed and published by Jaleco for arcades in September 1983, and licensed to Taito for manufacture and distribution of the game in North America. The player controls a starship and must fire at enemies on the sc ...

'' (1983), ''

Formation Z is a 1984 horizontally scrolling shooter developed and published by Jaleco. The arcade release was distributed by Williams and known as ''Aeroboto'' outside Japan. It was later ported to the MSX and to the Famicom (by Hect), the latter being ...

'' (1984), ''

Momoko 120% is a 1986 arcade game by Jaleco released in Japan. The game was originally intended to be an '' Urusei Yatsura'' game, but for an unknown reason the license was not obtained for the arcade version—while the characters were changed, " Lum's Love ...

'' (1986), '' Butasan'' (1987), and ''Plus Alpha'' (1989). Each of them possesses their own unique weapon loadout themed to their original game; some feature a faster firing rate while others have more powerful projectiles. Characters also have "superbombs" that clear the screen of enemies when deployed. Destroying red cubical enemies dispenses a

power-up In video games, a power-up is an object that adds temporary benefits or extra abilities to the player character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a permanent benefit that can be used at any time chos ...

capsule that increases the strength of the player's weapons, as well as two small ships known as "options" that provide additional firepower. Options take the form of one of the player characters and their weapons correspond to the character they are based on. The Sega Saturn version features several additions to the game, including a character from ''

Field Combat is a 1985 shooter video game developed and published by Jaleco for arcades. In ''Field Combat'', the player fights as a commanding officer in a futuristic battlefield. It was ported to the Famicom by Tose, which was later re-released for the Wii ...

'' (1985), an "Arrange" mode that implements story-driven cutscenes, and a remixed soundtrack.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Game Tengoku'' in their February 1, 1996 issue as being the sixteenth most-popular arcade game at the time.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Game Tengoku''
at

Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pl ...

{{Jaleco 1995 video games Arcade video games City Connection franchises Crossover video games Jaleco games Parody video games Sega Saturn games Vertically scrolling shooters Video games about video games Video games developed in Japan