Xevious

Control a flying attack craft in this vertically scrolling shooter to destroy the Xevious trying to take over Earth. With a zapper you fire projectiles at flying enemies and with a blaster you bomb ground installations and vehicles. The game has 16 connected areas, which loop back to the first after completing them all. Areas are geographically distinct with forests, roads, rivers and mechanical structures. Once the player does well at destroying a certain enemy type, a more advanced enemy type replaces it. Destroying flashing-red radars on the ground will cause the game to go back to easier enemies. At points there's a fight against the mothership, launching an endless stream of projectiles and explosive spheres. The player can either destroy all four blaster receptacles or the core in the center to defeat it. Hidden towers which can be found by bombing specific parts of an area. Yellow Special Flags are found in a semi-random section of the area. Collecting one gives an extra life.