Solvalou

Solvalou is a first-person shooter video game set in the Xevious universe. Its plot takes place in the year 2015, following a war between humans and androids named the GAMP. The humans launch the titular starship to destroy the GAMP and its mothership before they wipe out the rest of humanity. The Solvalou is restricted to a pre-determined flight path, though players can move it around to avoid projectiles and obstacles that approach it.

The game is divided into six levels that gradually increase in difficulty. In each of these, the Solvalou must make it to the end while destroying moving formations of enemies. The Solvalou has two weapons at its disposal: an "air zapper" that is used for destroying aerial enemies, and a "blaster bomb" that is used for destroying ground-stationed enemies. A maximum of five bombs can be launched at once, and the player needs to wait for them to regenerate before firing again.

Solvalou was released for arcades by Namco in Japan in December 1991. It was the fifth title from them to run on the Namco System 21 arcade board, previously used in titles such as Starblade and Galaxian3: Project Dragoon. Much like those games, it was advertised as a "Hyper-Entertainment Machine" by Namco for its cabinet design and 3D shooting gameplay. The game is named after the ship the player controls in the Xevious franchise.

A home conversion for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was announced by Gamefan magazine in June 1994, however such a port was never released. It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in Japan on March 26, 2009, which supported the Wii Remote's pointer to recreate the original arcade controls.

Solvalou was well received at launch for its gameplay and hardware capabilities, though it has been perceived as a commercial failure despite Game Machine claiming it was the third-most-popular arcade game of February 1992 in Japan. Critics focused largely on the game's 3D graphics; Gamest awarded the game with the "3rd Best Graphic Award" at the annual Gamest Awards. A Gamest reviewer believed it was proof that Namco had perfected its 3D computer graphics technology, and another felt it provided the game with a proper sense of immersion. A Leisure Line writer stated that, with its impressive visuals and attractive sit-down arcade machine, Solvalou could fit well in line with Namco's other 3D arcade releases.

, a writer for Micromanía, considered the graphics to be the game's high point. Multiple critics believed Solvalou was an improvement over Namco's other 3D arcade releases, such as Starblade.