Line #31 VideoGame/BattleGaregga


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garegga2016_3.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''The reality of war unfolded right before the brothers' eyes, forcing them to face the truth, and their own naivety.'']]
3
4	-> ''"They created the ultimate weapon...and now, it has become their ultimate enemy."''
5	--> -- TagLine, Limited Run Games edition
6
7	''Battle Garegga'' is a vertically scrolling ShootEmUp arcade game released by [[Creator/EightingRaizing 8ing/Raizing]] in 1996.
8
9	Mathew Wayne, a great mechanical engineer, lived in a small country town where he owned a small automobile factory. His young sons, Brian and Jason, were influenced by his work. The sons were taught by his father every trick of the trade of becoming a mechanical engineer as great as he was. A few years later as their father retired, Brian and Jason took over the operation of the factory. As years rolled by, words of their vehicle designs and high technical capabilities passed from one town to another until it reached the ears of the federal government. After talks with the managers of the federal weapons development, the Wayne brothers accepted a large contract to develop a new line of military vehicles and weapons for them. Their creations were years ahead of anything else like them in the world.
10
11	One morning, the sky turned dark by the oncoming fleet of planes and the echoes can be heard from a far distance. The weapons and the vehicles that the Wayne brothers originally developed for the federation destroyed every town and city in their way - including their own. Seeing that their weapons had enabled the federation to expand through conquest and had claimed many victims in the process, Brian and Jason complete four powerful prototype planes whose designs they never submitted and set off to destroy the weapons they helped create.
12
13	On the surface, ''Battle Garegga'' seems like an ordinary military-themed shooter. You pilot one of four different ships, shoot down enemies, upgrade your main shot with items, and have up to four {{Attack Drone}}s that fire alongside of ship and which can be configured into multiple formation types. However, the main highlight of this game amogst shmup enthusiasts is its [[DynamicDifficulty "rank"]] system. As you play, the game's rank increases, and the game gets more difficult, with enemies firing faster and denser attacks and items dropping faster. Furthermore, nearly every single action by the player influences the rank, mainly firing their weapons and collecting items, and the only way to reduce rank is to die. Without managing rank deliberately and carefully, ''Garegga'' easily becomes one of the hardest shmups in arcades. On top of that, the game's scoring system is more in-depth than it seems; certain bosses and their parts award more points if defeated with certain types of weapons, collecting medals without missing them awards increasing points making them one of the main sources of score, and firing {{Smart Bomb}}s at the scenery can uncover treasure troves of items. Scoring well in this game is necessary, as [[Every10000Points points award extra lives]]...so that the player can [[ViolationOfCommonSense suicide them to keep the game's rank at a level managable to them]]. Finally, the game is known for its gritty, low-contrast color style, being [[RealIsBrown realistically brown]], with even the bullets often being low-brightness gray or olive-colored. Because of all this, ''Garegga'' has been called a masterpiece of shmup design, a heaping pile of FakeDifficulty, and everything in between.
14
15	This game marks Creator/ManabuNamiki's debut as a video game soundtrack composer.
16
17	A Platform/SegaSaturn port was released exclusively in Japan in 1998, which adds a few new features. An UpdatedRerelease by Creator/{{M2}} as part of the ''M2 [=ShotTriggers=]'' series of ports and in celebration of the game's 20th anniversary, ''Battle Garegga Rev.2016'', was released on December 15, 2016 on Platform/PlayStation4 in Japan and on October 4, 2017 in the rest of the world, and globally on Platform/XboxOne on September 29, 2017.
18
19	See also ''VideoGame/ArmedPoliceBatrider'', and ''VideoGame/BattleBakraid'', the {{Spiritual Successor}}s to this game.
20	----
21	!!Tropes used in Battle Garegga
22	* AllThereInTheManual: All of the story comes from the promotional flyers for the game. Also, the game itself never mentions anything about why you're in a plane shooting other planes at any point.
23	* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
24	** The Saturn port introduces several:
25	*** You no longer need to reset the game or let the attract demo repeat to reset starting rank; instead, you just open the options menu.
26	*** In the arcade version, the ''VideoGame/MahouDaisakusen'' characters require inputting a code (specifically, a variation of the KonamiCode) at the title screen to unlock. In the Saturn port, they're toggled with a setting in the options menu that is available without needing a code.
27	*** One of the commands you can assign to a button is a "press shot, bomb, and option simultaneously" command, used for selecting the ship variation that is chosen by pressing all three of those buttons at once.
28	*** One of the options changes colors of some bullets to glowing red bullets, helping alleviate some of the FakeDifficulty caused by the realistic-looking bullets.
29	** ''Rev. 2016'' provides more:
30	*** All of the features from the Saturn version above are available. Resetting rank for the next game is even more simple, you just have to choose "reset game" from tha pause menu, and the bullet color option now has more settings, such as normal bullets with brighter colors or other neon colors.
31	*** In the Premium Arrange mode in ''Rev. 2016'', an auto-bomb feature is available. However, since [[ViolationOfCommonSense dying on purpose]] remains a core mechanic, auto-bomb will only activate if you are firing when you get hit. If you aren't firing, the game will assume you meant to die and will not fire a bomb for you.
32	* ArbitraryWeaponRange: Many enemies have a minimum range at which they will fire at you. Exploiting this trope is quietly discouraged, as "sealing" enemy bullets is one of many ways to raise the game's [[DynamicDifficulty rank]].
33	* ArrangeMode: The M2 Shottriggers UpdatedRerelease ''Rev. 2016'' has the Premium arrange, which swaps stages 2 and 3, includes an auto-bomb feature, and a new max rank mode. This new max rank mode is entered by having at least 2000 point medals, and not dying, auto-bombing, or missing a medal, and, once entered, raises the rank to 100%, increases item drop rate, magnetizes all medals to your ship, raises score constantly throughout the stage, occasionally floods the stage with enemies, and, if the ship is at max shot or option power, drops a medal where shot and option power-ups would be. Rank is locked to a fixed amount per stage and rapid fire is locked at 15 Hz. The same port also has a custom mode that lets you tweak various game parameters, including adjusting the fine details of the rank system, making it a fixed amount per stage like in Premium Arrange, adjusting the rate at which it increases, [[NintendoHard fixing the rank to 100%]], or turning it off completely like in Super Easy.
34	* AttackDrone: Your ship can have up to four Options that follow your ship and fire in sync with your shots. They can be configured to a variety of different formations with the press of the Option button.
35	* AttackItsWeakPoint: Most bosses must be hit in their centers in order to damage it. However, hitting everything else on it will still give you points. It's often a good idea to prolong a boss fight this way to get you close to or even get an extra life, depending on your skill and your current rank.
36	* BattleshipRaid: Sometimes a gigantic airplane raid as well.
37	* BossRush: The second half of Stage 5. You fight improved versions of Nose Laughin and Mad Ball (the first two bosses in the game), followed by the huge Slayer gunship you saw under construction in stage 3, culminating with the endboss Black Heart.
38	* BulletHell: A milder example (except on MAX Rank).
39	* {{Cap}}: Averted; the score display has 7 digits, but exceeding 9,999,990 will simply make the millions digit start using letters instead of numbers. The world record is in the range of "K million" (i.e. 20 million) points.
40	* ClimaxBoss:
41	** Black Heart, the last boss you face before entering the enemy base. Also the longest for many players.
42	** The Stage 6 midboss, Fortress, from a purely gameplay standpoint. Whether the player will be able to defeat it hinges not only on their skills but whether they effectively managed rank in the first five stages.
43	* CoresAndTurretsBoss: Fortress, the midboss of Stage 6, is an arrangement of turrets guarding a central core. It is notably the only time in the game where the scrolling stops completely.
44	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: You can adjust the autofire pattern and speed by manually tapping the fire button for two seconds, and can raise the rate of autofire this way. However, raising the autofire rate will ''multiply'' the rate at which rank increases and do so ''for the rest of the game'', meaning that raising the autofire rate too high in the early game can spell disaster later on.
45	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: In addition to the standard of creating a Shot Power-Up and Option icon when you die, small enemies are destroyed, big enemies and bosses take damage, all enemy bullets are cleared from the screen, and most importantly, Rank is alleviated.
46	* DeathIsTheOnlyOption: Dying is the only way to lower the [[DynamicDifficulty rank]], and doing so multple times over the first five stages is necessary to keep the game from becoming UnintentionallyUnwinnable in Stage 6.
47	* DeathOrGloryAttack: Normally, the big bomb pickup (which grants a full bomb instead of 1/40 of it) is meant to be used as an incentive to continue. However, if you're close enough to the next [[Every10000Points point-based 1-up]], you can [[ViolationOfCommonSense deliberately]] [[SuicideAttack burn your last life]] and use the sharpnel or a pre-deployed Gain or Bornham bomb to destroy enemies before the continue prompt (or GameOver, if continues are turned off) shows up to propel yourself past the extra life threshold and use your newly-earned life to pick up the bomb item on the same credit. This ''is'' a [[DifficultButAwesome very difficult]] technique however.
48	* DieselPunk: The technology looks like it would have been around UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo level if it were not for the brothers' inventions.
49	* DifficultButAwesome: [[VideoGame/MahouDaisakusen Gain]]. His fast speed makes him a liability in thicker bullet patterns and his swords don't fire in the same way that other characters'/ships' option shots do. However, he has one of the best {{Smart Bomb}}s in the game for utilizing scoring tricks (such as milking Stage 2's Flamingoes and Black Heart Mk. II's bombs) and his high speed also makes him an asset in that he's one of the best characters for chasing down medals.
50	* DifficultyByRegion: In addition to the larger number of points required to [[Every10000Points extend]], [[DynamicDifficulty rank]] (see below) increases at different rates depending on the region as well as the difficulty setting (U.S. "hard" is harder than Japan's "very hard", by the way). However, turning the extends off (which isn't possible in the Japan revision) will clamp rank to "manageable" and won't raise very much even if you collect everything and max out the autofire rate. Averted in ''Rev.2016'', which is standardized across all regions to be based on the Japanese version.
51	* DoWellButNotPerfect: You need to die every now and then to lower the DynamicDifficulty and prevent it from spiking to impossible levels in the later stages.
52	* DynamicDifficulty:
53	** The Rank system determines how hard the game is. Firing and powering up the main weapon, as well as picking up various items, will increase your rank. The only way to decrease your rank is by dying. Thus, players are "forced" to keep themselves powered down, conserve shots, and die on purpose in order to keep the last few stages of the game playable. Notably, the variable used for rank in this game actually ''decreases'' in value as the game gets ''harder''. \
54	[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQrd53Q9oRw Here's]] what it looks like when you effectively manage your rank. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7xcIN91Sig Here's]] what it looks like when you don't. \
55	\
56	The ''Rev.2016'' ports allow the player to, as part of custom game modes, shut off the rank, fix it to stage-specific amounts, or, [[NintendoHard if you are near-inhumanly good or you hate yourself]], lock it at 100%.
57	** Done differently in Premium Arrange in ''Rev.2016''. Rank is fixed for each stage, so none of the rank control methods are relevant here. However, should the conditions be met, the game will enter a max rank state, generating a ton more medals for the player in exchange for dramatically increased difficulty.
58	* EasierThanEasy: ''Rev.2016'' has the "Super Easy" mode, which sets the in-game difficulty to the easiest ''and'' turns off some of the more challenge-contributing features of the game, most notably the [[DynamicDifficulty rank]].
59	* EternalEngine: Stages 3 and 4.
60	* Every10000Points: By default, you get an extra life every one million points.
61	* ExcusePlot: While the plot has a bit more depth to it than just "two lone pilots go up against an entire military", it's never mentioned within the game itself, not even in the AttractMode.
62	* FakeDifficulty: RealIsBrown is applied not only to the enemies and backdrops, but the ''bullets'' as well, which can make the bullets difficult to see. The Saturn version does have a "Red Ball" toggle to make some bullets glow brightly and make them more visible, and some regional builds of the game have this by default. ''Rev. 2016'' has more options for bullet colors.
63	* TheFederation: [[SubvertedTrope Only in name, however.]] It's more of TheEmpire than anything.
64	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The title of the Stage 1 music is "Fly to the Leaden Sky". Stage 5 is the leaden sky being referred to.
65	* GameMod: One of the most common ROM hacks involves displaying a [[DynamicDifficulty rank]] counter below player 1's HUD.
66	* GatlingGood: The Grasshopper's secondary weapon. The spent casings of the Vulcan will also damage anything behind it
67	* GottaCatchThemAll: Miss a medal on accident, thus screwing up the chain and losing oh so many potential points? Many ManlyTears were had this way before. Restarting a chain ends up jacking up rank more than maintaining it on top of it.
68	* GuestFighter: The four main characters from ''VideoGame/MahouDaisakusen'' are in the game.
69	* GuideDangIt: The exact workings of the rank system, the 'hidden' level of shot power (Get to the normal max, skip 5 small power ups, then get one), and the hidden option formations. [[http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=351 this Thread]] mentions the details of all these things. The [=PS4=] port has real-time widgets that alleviate the "how do I do these things" element of many of these mechanics.
70	* {{Homage}}: The soundtrack is like a tribute to 90s techno music. For instance, listen to the Stage 2 music, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kcTXUwViWM "Underwater Rampart"]]; it sounds like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQv3dCkY2Tk "Jupiter Jazz"]] by Underground Resistance. The Stage 5 music, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDdPz_itl-0 "Subversive Awareness"]], is inspired by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBe7T4olpv4 "Subconscious Awareness"]] by Dan Curtin.
71	* KaizoTrap: Glow Squid's final phase.
72	* MacrossMissileMassacre: The Flying Baron's secondary weapon.
73	* MercyMode: The game's [[DynamicDifficulty rank]] drops when -- and ''only'' when -- you die. As such, it is very important to [[ScoringPoints score]] well to [[Every10000Points earn those extra lives]], as you need them to keep the rank from reaching monstrous levels.
74	* MoreDakka: Again, the Grasshopper's secondary weapon.
75	* NintendoHard: The DynamicDifficulty that requires [[ViolationOfCommonSense dying on purpose]] to reduce, the [[RealIsBrown realistically-colored bullets]], and many ways that enemy fire can corner you contribute to a very challenging game that can take months or even years to clear without continues.
76	* NumberOfTheBeast: Black Heart's identification number is G-616.
77	* PaletteSwap: Averted. Not only does pressing certain buttons or combining A+B+C together give you different colored planes, but they also get name changes and enhanced stats. For B it's an increase in speed, while C decreases the size of your hitbox. [[GameBreaker Pressing A+B+C gives you both.]]
78	* PlayingWithFire: The Silver Sword and Wild Snail use a napalm and fire secondary weapon, respectively.
79	* RealIsBrown: A lot of the backgrounds are like this, which can be aggravating because of the gray bullets that you might not see until it's too late. Did we say gray bullets? There are also brown bullets. And lots and lots of shrapnel. They all look like each other (same color, y'see). The bullets are what'll kill you, though. Happy dodging!
80	** (Note: there was, however, ''Battle Garegga - Type 2'' version, which replaced a good many -- but not all -- of the "bullet" bullets with the more typical yellow circles).
81	* RegionalBonus: Only the South Korean version of ''Rev.2016'' [[http://bbs.ruliweb.com/news/read/101494 has a physical release]]; all other regions have to make do with digital versions.
82	* RewardingVandalism: Bombing certain background objects will reveal score medals needed to raise your score and earn more lives.
83	* ScienceIsBad: The brothers ponder this in their endings in ''VideoGame/ArmedPoliceBatrider''.
84	* SecretCharacter: The four character from ''VideoGame/MahouDaisakusen'' -- Gain, Chitta, Miyamoto, and Bornham -- are available when you use the KonamiCode at the title screen (except you press A, B, C before START). In the Saturn port, you simply enable them in the options menu without having to enter a code.
85	* SmartBomb: Instead of collecting one bomb icon for one bomb, you need to collect 40 icons to use a bomb at full power. Also, collecting at least one icon will let you use it, but it will only last for a very short time compared to the full power bomb, depending on how many icons were collected when used. Bombs are the only way to destroy non-enemy ground objects, many of which hide items including the ever-crucial medals.
86	* SpentShellsShower: And it ''causes damage.''
87	* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Battle Bakraid'' and ''VideoGame/ArmedPoliceBatrider'' are this to Battle Garegga. Which itself was inspired by Taito's ''VideoGame/GunFrontier''; the RealIsBrown-style palette, realistic-style bullets, and mini-bomb power-ups were all drawn from there. ''Gun Frontier'' also had a rank system, but it was strictly based on how much you shot (the idea was to discourage firing when you had no reason to believe you'd hit something), and did ''not'' require getting yourself shot down if you wanted to 1CC the game. The rank system's true origins lie in ''VideoGame/{{Zanac}}'', which involved DynamicDifficulty much more prominently than ''Gun Frontier''. The programmer, Shinobu Yagawa, would go on to do ''VideoGame/{{Ibara}}'' much later on.
88	* SublimeRhyme: The name of the sixth boss, Junky Monkey.
89	* SuperPrototype: The four available planes.
90	* TakingYouWithMe: Upon dying, your ship explodes into shrapnel that can damage enemies. It is [[DifficultButAwesome difficult, but very much possible]], to lose your last life and immediately get an extra life if you're close enough to a OneUp threshold; in fact, suiciding your last life only to get it back provides more [[DynamicDifficulty rank]] decrease than dying with lives to spare.
91	* UpdatedRerelease: ''Rev.2016'' is a port that adds a slew of new features not found in the arcade version or even the earlier Saturn port, and with four different soundtracks[[note]]the arcade original, the Saturn arrange, a remastered version of the arcade original, and a new remix soundtrack[[/note]].
92	* UnwittingPawn: The Wayne brothers were tricked into producing deadly military machines for the [[TheEmpire empire]]-in-all-but-name Federation to wage war with, which sets the stage for the game.
93	* VictoryFakeout: Just when you think [[FinalBoss Glow Squid]] is defeated, complete with the background music fading out amidst the destruction, the cockpit detaches itself from the fuselage and starts to chaotically bounce all over the screen while spewing projectiles everywhere in a last-ditch attempt to stop you, while the music starts back up. It repeats this same feat when fought in ''VideoGame/ArmedPoliceBatrider''.
94	* ViolationOfCommonSense: Overlaps with DynamicDifficulty. You ''have'' to die in order to keep the game to a manageable level, otherwise the last two stages turn into sheer bullet vomit. In other words, you ''die regularly so you don't die too much later''. Not just that, you're encouraged to keep your life count low, as the rank decrease is greater if you die with fewer lives. On a smaller scale, you also need to skip powerup items routinely to avoid spiking the rank too much.
95	* WeaponizedExhaust: Black Heart can use its twin engines' exhaust to trap or kill you.
96	* AWinnerIsYou: Upon completing the game, you get a "COMPLETED!" message and you get a cutscene of the pilots flying home while the credits roll, but not really any closure to the game's plot.
97	* WraparoundBackground: Par for the course when it comes to midboss and endboss fights, but of note is Stage 7, which is set on an airport runway. It just keeps going on as you proceed through the main body of the stage and fight Black Heart mk2, only ending when you defeat it, almost as if you're not really on a runway so much as an urban-scale freeway.
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Context VideoGame / BattleGaregga