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''Progear'' is a 2001
side-scrolling shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of character m ...
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed by
Cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...
and published by
Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...
for arcades. Set in the fictional kingdom of Parts, players assume the role of children controlling a plane equipped with the titular propelling engine to overthrow the Metoruin sages and their new world order. It was the sixth
shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...
game from CAVE, their first horizontally oriented shooter, and their eighth video game overall. Initially envisioned as a vertical-scrolling shooter and intended to be their last game, ''Progear'' was created by CAVE as a collaboration with Capcom and served as their first horizontal-scrolling shooter title, with bullet dodging and enemy destruction being the main focus while adapting the company's shoot 'em up gameplay style in a horizontal format but faced a problematic development cycle before its launch to the market. Though first released in arcades, the game was later ported to
mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
platforms, each one featuring various changes compared to the original version and has since been re-released as part of the Capcom Home Arcade plug and play game system. The game was later included in the 2021 compilation ''
Capcom Arcade Stadium ''Capcom Arcade Stadium'' is a 2021 video game compilation developed and published by Capcom. It includes 32 arcade games originally published by Capcom between 1984 and 2001; the game itself is free to download with a single free game, while the ...
''. ''Progear'' proved to be popular in arcades among Japanese players and garnered positive reception from critics since its inclusion on the Capcom Home Arcade system, with praise given to the
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
-style
steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...
visuals, gameplay and accessibility, though the music was criticized. It was CAVE's only horizontal-scrolling shooter until '' Deathsmiles'' in 2007.


Gameplay

''Progear'' is a steampunk-themed horizontally scrolling bullet hell game where players assume the role of children controlling a plane equipped with the titular propelling engine through five stages in order to overthrow the Metoruin sages and their new world order.''Progear no Arashi'' arcade flyer (Capcom, JP) At the start, players are given the option to choose between two pilots (planes) and three co-pilots (gunners), each with their own advantages and weaknesses which determines the effectiveness of their respective modes, in addition to changing character's costume and formation of gunners by performing specific button commands at the selection screen. As with previous shoot 'em up titles from CAVE, players can alternate between two shot modes:''Progear'' manual (Arcade, EU) "Pilot" mode fires a strong primary attack as the co-pilot shoots unguided projectiles, while "Gunner" mode fires a weaker primary attack and slows the plane's movement, but allows the co-pilot to lock on to enemies with increased firepower. Players are also equipped with a number of bombs capable of inflicting damage against enemies depending on the number of jewels collected, which increases its attack output. Through the stages, players can pick up
item Item may refer to: Organizations * '' Instituto del Tercer Mundo'' (ITeM), the Third World Institute * ITEM club, an economic forecasting group based in the United Kingdom Newspapers * '' The Item'', an American independent, morning newspap ...
s along the way by destroying enemy carriers such as "P" icons to increase the plane's attack power, "B" icons to increase the number of bomb stocks, a "MAX" icon that increases the plane's firepower to maximum level after losing a life and
1UP In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. Sometimes the euphemisms chance, try, rest an ...
s. By collecting another bomb stock with three bombs in reserve, several gameplay events occur. A notable gameplay aspect is the scoring system based on jewels; When an enemy is destroyed, nearby bullets are converted into rings or jewels depending on the player's current weapon mode when destruction occurs. In "Pilot" mode, only bullets nearby an enemy unit are converted into rings, while enemy bullets close to those of another enemy are converted into jewels in "Gunner" mode. When changing between shot modes, players can grab rings and jewels automatically. By having a high ring rank, players obtain jewels of high value and vice versa. The ring rank is lowered by losing a life or using a bomb. At the end of each stage, players are evaluated based on how active their gunner was and the player's overall performance.


Synopsis


Plot

The plot summary of ''Progear'' is explained through supplementary materials. Sometime in the past, people of the kingdom of Parts found a way to become immortal but only with elderly nobles. Among these elders who obtained
immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...
were Ballossum Pench, Gabriel Hammer, Jimchuck Spanner, Olsorro Slasher and Leonard Drill. They later became known as the Motoruin sages, eventually attempting to take over the Parts kingdom and began a new world order, collapsing the government and destroying villages of the country in the process. As their plans unfold, five children decided to battle the Motoruin using another new invention: the titular semi-automatic propelling engine.


Characters

* Ring Reed: 14 years old pilot of the Gambler biplane. * Bolt Boyer: 15 years old pilot of the Militant plane. * Chain Chairot: 14 years old gunner of Alpha and a childhood friend of Ring. * Nail Nera Nerouz: 12 years old gunner of Beta and is a last surviving member (princess) of Parts' royal family. * Rivet Rivera: 17 years old gunner of Gamma and is a governess to Nail.


Development

''Progear'' was a collaboration effort with Capcom by most of the same team that worked on previous projects at Cave, a team formed by alumni of
Toaplan was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo. It was best known for its catalogue of scrolling shooters and other arcade video games. The company was founded in 1979 but its gaming division was established in 1984 by former Orca and Crux ...
, serving as their first horizontally scrolling shooter game, in addition to being the six shoot 'em up title from the company and their eight video game overall. Kenichi Takano served as producer with
director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
Junya Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is also known by the name ''Joker Jun''. In 1991 he replied to a recruitment ad for Toaplan. Along with some other staff Inoue was transferred to Gazelle (software company), Gazelle before he left to join Cave (com ...
.
Translation
by Shmuplations. ).
Tsuneki Ikeda served as chief
programmer A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...
alongside Satoshi Kōyama and Takashi Ichimura.
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by Shmuplations. ).
Akira Wakabayashi, Fusayuki Watariguchi, Hiroyuki Tanaka and Kengo Arai acted as
designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
s.
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by Shmuplations. ).

Translation
by Shmuplations. ).

Translation
by Shmuplations. ).
The
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
was composed by Yukinori Kikuchi, with Ryūichi Yabuki creating the
sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...
. The project originally went under the working title ''Propeller Wars'' early in development, before being renamed as ''Garden of Progear'' and was first envisioned as a vertical-scrolling shooter but Capcom remarked that the name was "too highbrow" and one of the higher-ups at CAVE told the team during their presentation pitch that the project should be a horizontal-scrolling shooter instead, with Ikeda revealing in a 2010 interview that the project was also intended to be their last release as the company was considering leaving the arcade market due to several factors at the time.
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by Gamengai. ).

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by Gamengai.

by Gaijin Punch. ).

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by Shmuplations. ).

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by Gaming.moe. ).
The team decided to make bullet dodging and enemy destruction its main focus, while adapting the company's shoot 'em up gameplay style in a horizontal format but the project would go through a problematic development cycle until it was released.
Transcription and translation
y CanalBlog. ).

Translation
by Shmuplations. ).
Both Ikeda and Inoue stated that working with the CP System II platform, which marked the second time CAVE made use of an external arcade board, proved to be difficult as the hardware was underpowered compared to the previous board used for ''
Guwange is a Shoot 'em up#Scrolling shooters, vertical scrolling shooter developed by Cave (company), Cave and published by Atlus in 1999. Gameplay ''Guwange''s gameplay contains elements that are unique or uncommon in the vertically scrolling shootin ...
'', with designers using a limited number of colors to remake drawings created in
Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editin ...
. Inoue stated that the main characters were named after mechanical parts, while the reason having children as lead characters was both from an idea intended for a scrapped adventure game and due to his fascination of kids fighting against evil. Ikeda revealed that the team intended to feature four playable ships but the idea was scrapped due to time constrains, while Inoue also stated that the gender-based firepower pairing mechanic was a repurposed idea originally intended for a sequel to ''
Batsugun is a 1993 vertically scrolling shooter bullet hell arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe by Taito, as well as Korea by Unite Trading. The last shoot 'em up created by Toaplan, the title takes place on a distan ...
''.


Release

''Progear'' was first released in arcades by Capcom in 2001, using the CP System II board. The English version removes all of the voice acting from characters. On 26 September 2003, an album containing music from the game was published exclusively in Japan by
Suleputer Suleputer (セルピュータ) is a record label the Japanese game development company Capcom uses for its releases. Its name derives from the full name of Capcom: "(CAP)(''SULE'') (COM)(''PUTER'')(S)". Select discography *Biohazard 2 ReMIX ~met@m ...
. On 20 March 2014, another album was released by SuperSweep in Japan, featuring the original uncompressed music as well as a collection of official artwork. In 2004, the title was later ported to mobile phone platforms such as
EZweb au, or au by KDDI, is a Japanese mobile phone operator. au is a brand marketed by KDDI in the main islands of Japan and by Okinawa Cellular in Okinawa for their mobile cellular services. au is the second-largest wireless carrier in Japan, w ...
,
i-mode i-mode (, ) is a Japanese mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service operated by NTT DoCoMo. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and ...
and
Yahoo Mobile Yahoo Mobile (stylized as yahoo''!'' mobile) was an all-digital wireless carrier in the United States, owned and operated wholly by Verizon Media. It offered unlimited text, talk, data, and hotspot, on Verizon's 4G LTE and 5G Networks. Yahoo M ...
. Both the i-mode and EzWeb versions were split into two separate releases, while another version titled ''Progear DX'' for Yahoo Mobile phones contains all five stages. In 2019, it was re-released as part of the Capcom Home Arcade plug and play game system. In February 2021, it was included as part of pack 3 in the ''
Capcom Arcade Stadium ''Capcom Arcade Stadium'' is a 2021 video game compilation developed and published by Capcom. It includes 32 arcade games originally published by Capcom between 1984 and 2001; the game itself is free to download with a single free game, while the ...
'' compilation.


Reception and legacy

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Progear'' on their 1 June 2001 issue as being the fourth most-popular arcade game at the time.
Rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...
s Thomas Bey and William Bailey noted its steampunk-style visuals. The game has been met with positive reception from critics since its inclusion on the Capcom Home Arcade plug and play system. Pete Brown of ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' noted it to be "a standout side-scrolling shooter with beautiful 2D graphics and a reasonable difficulty curve, the latter of which is somewhat rare for the genre". Damien McFerran of ''
Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' gave positive remarks to the graphics and steampunk design. Carlos Leiva of Spanish website ''Vandal'' gave positive comments to the game's action, bosses, gameplay and original steampunk setting. David Jenkins of ''
Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
'' praised its anime-style steampunk artwork design and accessibility, regarding it as "one of CAVE's best". oliveroidubocal of '' Jeuxvideo.com'' praised its visuals. ''Hardcore Gaming 101'' remarked the music to be "the most lackluster thing" from the game. ''Nintendo Life''s Will Freeman regarded it as a standout shooter within the ''Capcom Arcade Stadium'' compilation due to its depth, visuals and replay value. ''Progear'' was featured in the
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the song "Ikaruga" by the band
Discordance Axis Discordance Axis was an American grindcore band formed in 1991 in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Their songs employed themes of inner struggles, science fiction, comic books, anime, and literature. History Discordance Axis was originally formed ...
. According to
Digital Reality Digital Reality Software Kft. (formerly Amnesty Design) was a Hungarian video game developer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was founded in 1991 as Amnesty Design, and started to work on their upcoming title, ''Reunion (video game), Reunion'', ...
director Theodore Reiker, the game served as one of the influences for '' Sine Mora''. Likewise, the title also served as influence for '' Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony'', according to Final Form Games' Mike Ambrogi. Ring's Gambler plane with Chain's Alpha gunner appears as part of a Capcom-themed DLC for '' Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours''.


Notes


References


External links

*
''Progear''
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''Progear''
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''Progear''
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Killer List of Videogames Museum of the Game, which includes the 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 h ...

''Progear''
at
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Progear 2001 video games Arcade video games Capcom games Cave (company) games Cooperative video games CP System II games Horizontally scrolling shooters I-mode games Multiplayer and single-player video games Scrolling shooters Side-scrolling video games Steampunk video games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists