Battle Garegga

M2 rerelease's title card

**Battle Garegga** is a Shoot 'em Up game developed by Raizing and originally released in 1996 for Arcades. It was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1998 by Electronic Arts and to the PlayStation 4 and XBox ONE in 2017 by M2.

While the game never received direct sequels, it was followed by Battle Bakraid as a spiritual successor.

## Gameplay

Battle Garegga is a vertically scrolling shoot'em up, with the first button used for firing the main weapon and the second button to use smart bombs. In order to power up the main gun, the player must collect small Bullet items, which will power up the gun when picked in certain quantities. The player can also find occasional large Bullet items, which automatically power up the gun to the next level.

Bombs work differently from most shmups, in that the player will find small Bomb icons scattered around the stages, often dropped by land enemies. Picking up these will raise the player's bomb power, which is then upgraded into a full bomb after collecting a certain amount. When pressing the bomb button the player consumes an entire bomb as long as it has one in stock, otherwise it'll consume from the bomb meter for a shorter and weaker effect.

### Option Formations

By picking up a Option item the player ship is equipped with a option drone for extra firepower, for a maximum of four options. By pressing the corresponding button the player can change the formation of the ship's options, with five basic formations available normally.

* Spread: Two options on each side of the ship, one fixed by the side firing at a wide-ish angle, and one fixed near the ship's nose, firing at a tighter angle. The default formation.
* Tail: The four options point backwards in a wide fan shape.
* Front: The four options point straight forward, fixed in front of the ship's nose.
* Rotate: The four options are spaced equally in a ring around the ship, spinning and firing along with the player.
* Trace: Similar formation to Front, except the options follow the ship around the screen, firing in the opposite direction to your movements.

There are also secret formations, which are activated when the player fulfills certain requirements. These requirements are based on missing a certain number and type of item BEFORE picking up the next available Option icon.

* Search: The options are fixed in a similar formation to Spread, but they track and fire at nearby enemies. To get it, the player must miss five Option items, then pick up the next one that appears.
* Shadow: The option items trail the ship's movement, much like in Gradius. To get it, the player must miss 5 Medals, then pick up an Option item.
* Homing : The options fly right up to the nearest enemy and attack. To get it, the player must miss 5 small Weapon items, then pick up an Option item.
* Wide : The options are fixed in the same manner as the Spread formation, but have a much wider firing angle. To get it, the player must miss 5 small Shot power ups, then pick up an Option item.
* Chain: Only available in two-player mode, the options will create a chain between both ships. To get it, one player must satisfy a special formation condition, and the chances of Chain activating is 50%.

The player can also cancel a special formation by pressing the formation button. Canceling a special formation puts the player straight back into Spread options.

### Ship Variants

The game has four ship variant that affect their properties:

Type-A: No effect - Choosen by pressing button A.

Type-B: Speed up - Chosen by pressing button B.

Type-C: Smaller hitbox - Chosen by pressing button C

Type-ABC: Speed up + smaller hitbox - Chosen by pressing A, B, C, buttons simultaniously or letting the timer run out during the ship select screen.

### Rank System

Battle Garegga introduces a dynamic difficulty system known as Rank System, which would be used in all subsequent Raizing titles. Based on how well the player plays, the game automatically adjusts the difficulty, becoming tougher the better it is played. The game constantly keeps track how many items are picked, how much powered up the player's ship is and even how many shots are fired, increasing the difficulty accordingly. The only way to decrease the rank is by losing a life. Thus, the game forces conservative gameplay, not powering yourself up too much too fast, not firing when there's nothing to hit and even not destroying some enemies, as well as losing lives on purpose, all in order to keep the rank low enough to make the game's difficulty manageable.

### Scoring

Scoring is a fundamental part of the game, since a extra life is obtained every 1000000 points. In Battle Garegga the player can obtain score by destroying enemies or shooting solid objects, like the invulnerable parts of large enemies and bosses. The main method of scoring however involves the medal items: each time the player picks up a medal item the next one will come with a higher value, their value increasing for as long as the player can keep catching them, up to a maximum of 10000 points. If the player miss a medal their value is reset. Medals are occasionally dropped by destroyed enemies, but can also be found by bombing specific parts of the scenery.

The medal values are as follows:

1. 100 points
2. 200 points
3. 300 points
4. 400 points
5. 500 points
6. 600 points
7. 700 points
8. 800 points
9. 900 points
10. 1000 points
11. 2000 points
12. 3000 points
13. 4000 points
14. 5000 points
15. 6000 points
16. 7000 points
17. 8000 points
18. 9000 points
19. 10000 points

## Ports

### Sega Saturn

Battle Garegga was ported to the Sega Saturn in 1998. Due to the Saturn's lower resolution this version plays on a compressed screen by default, though the player can change the screen type on the options, allowing to set it to a shrunken mode or tilted mode. The player can also change the type of enemy bullets and unlock the Sorcer Striker ships without having to input a code, as well as pick between various difficulty modes. This version comes with a new arranged soundtrack, allowing to change between it and the original Arcade soundtracks.

### Rev. 2016 version

Battle Garegga was ported to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2016 by M2. This version, entitled **Battle Garegga Rev. 2016**, includes all options previously available in the Saturn Port. New to this version is the addition of gadgets, information panels which the player can put on the sides of the screen and customize to its liking. These allow the player to keep track of score, button configuration, ship stock, boss stamina and timer, etc. One of those gadgets allows the player to watch the game's internal rank in real time, which is displayed as a graph.

Besides the original Arcade mode, this version includes new Super Easy and Premium modes with difficulty settings adjusted for beginners and veterans respectively. This version also include options to change the color of enemy bullets, lock rank at a certain level threshold or disable it entirely. The Arcade and Saturn soundtracks are included along with a remastered Arcade score and a new remixed soundtrack with music from the Battle Garegga Complete Soundtrack album.

## Story

Mathew Wayne, a resident of a small country town, was a mechanical genius whose aptitude and skills were passed down to his sons, Brian and Jason. After gaining leadership of his automobile factory from him, the brothers' skills became renowned throughout the country. Eventually, the Federation approached the brothers with an extremely profitable contract to help produce military vehicles for it. The Wayne brothers accepted the contract, and created weapons without peer.

A short time later, the skies turned dark with the Federation's encroaching airfleet, and towns and cities everywhere were ravaged by these armies—including Brian and Jason's home town. To their horror, the Federation was using the weapons and vehicles they themselves had designed to reshape the land to their pitiless will. Taking up planes whose designs had never been submitted to the Federation, the Wayne brothers prepare to destroy the Federation's mad scheme.

## Ships

### Secret Ships

In order to unlock the Sorcer Striker ships, you must input the following sequence at the title screen after inserting a credit: Up(x2), Down(x2), Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, C, Start.

## Stages

***NOTE**: Stages 4 and 5 are reversed in the international revisions of the game.*

## Gallery

Arcade flyerSaturn coverPlayStation 4 cover
## Videos

BATTLE GAREGGA Rev.2016 Trailer『バトルガレッガ Rev.2016』 ステージ紹介 ダイジェスト
## External Links

* Official Site (Translated version)
* M2 Official Site

**♪ REBELLION**