A series of vertical Shoot 'Em Up (employing a titled Pinball-esque playfield) by Game Arts. The games were noted for their cinematic bent, embracing new technologies for a more elaborate and dramatic presentation than most shmups.
In 3032, humanity discovers an abandoned alien spaceship outside Pluto. Efforts to reverse-engineer it lead to significant technological progress and the colonization of outer space, but the fledgling United Force struggles to maintain social cohesion in the face of rapid development. Tragedy strikes when terrorist leader Xacalite captures the United fleet's new flagship, Gloire, and raids a stockpile of planet buster missiles. Having no time to regroup the fleet, the UUF computer Yggdrassil orders to deploy the advanced Silpheed Super Dogfighter prototype and wage a guerrilla war on Xacalite's forces before he conquers the universe.
Originally released in 1986 for PC88, Silpheed: Super Dogfighter's success would see it get ported to a variety of computer platform and get localized by Sierra as part of the publisher's effort to introduce Japanese computer games to American consumers. The game would prove to be a tremendous stylistic inspiration for future shooters.For instance…
A Remake would be released for the Sega CD in 1993. In this version of the story, Xacalite hacks the Grayzon System responsible for managing the Galaxy Union's unmanned defense fleet in 3076, launching vicious strikes on the colonies. Some 64 light-years away, the survivors of the defense fleet regroup to strike back at Xacalite. As a pilot of the advanced SA-77 Silpheed fighter, you stand as Earth's last hope. The game was a major showcase for the Sega CD's Full Motion Video capabilities, using a combination of simple real-time rendered polygonal models overlaid on streamed FMV backgrounds.
A 2001 sequel would be released for the Playstation 2. Co-developed with Treasure, Silpheed: The Lost Planet takes place 31 years after the events of the first game, where the deep-space colony of Solont makes first-contact with an alien race. The aliens, dubbed Quasi-Biological Interstellar Entity of a Hostile Nature, are immediately hostile and quickly take over Solont. As the sole survivors of their homeworld, the Solont Defense Fleet must race back to Earth before the QBs do.
Game Arts would later produce the 2007 3D space combat game Project Sylpheed for the Xbox 360, although the game shares no relation to the series beyond the name.
The series provides examples of:
- All Up to You: The original game's Attract Mode notes Silpheed models 2-6 won't be completed in time to intercept Xacalite. Averted in the following games, which show you operating as part of a large fleet.
- Boss Rush: The final level of the original game, level 5 of the Sega CD game and level 4 of The Lost Planet have you fight through a number of previous bosses and midbosses. In the latter two games, they are bridged by short enemy waves.
- Bowdlerise: The western versions of the Sega CD game removes a voice clip at the start of the first stage of an allied pilot saying "Goddamn sightseers! Time to go back to hell!"
- Darker and Edgier: The Lost Planet, which goes from a simple terrorist plot to a massive alien invasion, with Solont being corrupted into the aliens' headquarters and everything going From Bad to Worse. It also has a T rating.
- Drought Level of Doom: The "Above Planet" levels of the original game and stage 5 of the Sega CD remake have no power ups.
- Dwindling Party: In The Lost Planet, many of your fellow pilots, the squad leader, and your original support vehicle pilot bite it throughout the course of the plot.
- Evil Gloating: Xacalite pop ups at the very beginning of the original game to taunt the player.I am Xacalite, emperor of the universe. You can never defeat me as long as I have Gloire!
- The Eeyore: One of your wingmate in The Lost Planet is a dour, nasally-voiced fellow eager to remind everyone else of how impossible their odds are.Squadron leader: Watch out, they're attacking us in subspace.Pilot: We can't possibly make it back to Earth if we dogfight in subspace!Squadron leader: Shut your mouth!
- Fatal Family Photo: Your support vehicle pilot in The Lost Planet muses she'll have to tell her daughter of how the player saved her life. Her craft gets assimilated immediately after.
- From Bad to Worse: The plot of The Lost Planet. The aliens easily overpower the SDF and take over Solont. Then, while the Federal assembly drag its feet regarding the crisis, the Solont survivors stage a rescue operation, only to find the planet corrupted and everyone dead. Then when the senate does call in for an IPBM strike, the aliens fortified Solont so heavily they No-Sell the weapon. The survivors head to the nearest military station, only for the QBs to assault it and assimilate the Federation starchart, giving them the location of every human settlements. It's only at the very end they find victory.
- Have a Nice Death: In v3.2 of the original game, getting a Game Over will have Xacalite taunt you with, "What a pity. Is that the best you can do?"
- Legacy Boss Battle: The final boss of The Lost Planet takes on the appearance of Gloire for its first phase, prompting confused and disgusted reactions from your fellow pilots.
- One Hitpoint Wonder: A notable Shoot 'Em Up aversion. You have a shield that protects you from 5 (original game), 6 (Sega CD) or 7 (The Lost Planet) hits and you can recharge it by collecting items or, in The Lost Planet's case, docking with the support vehicle at pre-determined points. In the first two games, you can also survive additional hits after the shield has expired though doing so incurs Subsystem Damage
- Regional Bonus: Working Designs release of The Lost Planet adds analog stick controls and remove slowdown, while being free of the studio's often controversial script rewrites and difficulty adjustments.
- Spell My Name With An S: The antagonist of the first game has been romanized as Xacalite, Zakalite and Zakarite.
- Shout-Out:
- Super Dogfighter's intro quotes the line " How many ages hence Shall this our lofty scene be acted over In states unborn and accents yet unknown?" from Shakespeare's " Julius Caesar''.
- In the Sega CD game, allied pilots can be heard saying "Look at the size of that thing!" and "There's too many of them!"
- Subsystem Damage; In the first two games, taking damage after your shield has been depleted will randomly disable one of your engine (slower movement), disable either of your left/right weapon or remove autofire capability (Super Dogfighter only). A third hit will destroy the ship.
- The End... Or Is It?: You have just defeated Xacalite and Gloire. Now the Galaxy is filled with great peace. The PC-88 version follows said victory screen with Xacalite speaking, but the speech is missing from the DOS version (which simply cuts to credits). No subtitles either.
- Time-Limit Boss: Most end-stage bosses retreat if enough time passes (about one cycle of the boss theme music).
- Updated Re-release: Sierra rereleased the original game with compatibility for the sound card of the obscure IBM PS/1 home computer, allowing for better audio and PCM playback.
