How to play Xevious online
- Fly the Solvalou: arrow keys. The bomb sight always sits just ahead of your ship.
- Fire: Z. One press fires both the Zapper (air targets) and the Blaster (ground targets under the sight).
- Choose one or two players: up and down on the title screen, or F2 (Select)
- Choose a skill level: left and right on the title screen (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced or Expert)
- Start a game: F3 (Reset) or Z
- Pause: F4
Gameplay
The manual’s story turns the usual invasion plot around: the Xevions were on Earth first, and now they want it back. You fly the Solvalou fighter up a scrolling landscape of forests, rivers and bases. Aircraft such as Toroid patrol ships and Zoshi death squads come at you from above, while tanks, domes and gun stations wait on the ground. The Zapper handles everything in the air. For ground targets you drop Blaster bombs on the spot marked by your sight.
Some of the best points are hidden. Your sight glows red when it passes over a buried Sol citadel. One Blaster hit raises it out of the ground and a second destroys it, for 2,000 points each. Hidden flags can be raised the same way, and flying over a raised flag earns an extra ship. Every so often the huge Andor Genesis mother ship appears. A direct hit on its central reactor disables it, but more enemies and another mother ship always follow.
You start with five ships and earn more at 20,000 points, at 60,000 points and then every 60,000 points after that.
| Target (selection) | Points |
|---|---|
| Toroid fleet ship | 30 |
| Zoshi death squad | 70–100 |
| Terrazi destructor | 700 |
| Domogram rover | 800 |
| Flag raised | 1,000 |
| Andor Genesis mother ship | 1,000–4,000 |
| Sol citadel raised / destroyed | 2,000 / 2,000 |
| Garu Derota mega-station | 2,000 |
Tips
- Keep firing. Enemies are easiest to destroy the moment they come on screen, so hold a steady stream of shots while you sweep from side to side.
- Stay out of the corners. Near the sides or the bottom of the screen, crossfire can trap you.
- Shoot the shooters first. When a wave arrives, take out whatever is firing at you, then clean up the rest for points.
- Mind the short sight. The bomb sight is closer to the ship than in the arcade, so you have to fly nearer to ground targets to hit them. Clear the air first so you can line up safely.
- Learn where the secrets are. The hidden citadels and flags sit in the same places every game, so watch for the red sight and remember the spot.
The story behind Xevious
Namco released Xevious in arcades in 1983. It was designed by Masanobu Endō with Shigeki Toyama. The 7800 version was built by General Computer Corporation, the company that also designed the 7800 hardware. Atari listed Xevious among the games announced for the console’s launch, and it arrived in November 1986, a few months after Galaga.
Reviewers have praised it as one of the most faithful arcade conversions on the 7800. An Atari Times review found only small differences: the TV picture shows less of the course ahead than the arcade’s upright screen, the bomb sight sits closer to the ship, and the title does not sparkle. Versions for the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 were also finished, with Tod Frye programming the 2600 one, but neither was released at the time.
