Xevious

Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter. The player controls a flying attack craft, the Solvalou, to destroy the Xevious forces plotting to take over Earth. The Solvalou has two weapons: a zapper that fires projectiles at flying enemies, and a blaster for bombing ground installations and vehicles. A reticle in front of the ship shows where bombs will land.

The game has a total of 16 connected areas, which loop back to the first after completing them all. Dying about 70% through starts the player at the beginning of the next. Areas are geographically distinct, with features such as forests, roads, rivers, and mechanical structures. Certain areas have Nazca lines placed on the ground, some in the "condor" design.

Xevious was designed by Masanobu Endō, who joined Namco in April 1981 as a planner. He and a small team were assigned by Namco's marketing department to create a two-button scrolling shooter that could rival the success of Konami's arcade game Scramble (1981). Early versions of the game were named Cheyenne and took place during the Vietnam War, with the player controlling a helicopter to shoot down enemies. (The original name may refer to the Vietnam-era Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne advanced attack helicopter project.)

After the development team was reshuffled and the project planner quit altogether, Endō became the head designer for the game. He learned programming on the job during production.

The arcade game received positive reviews upon release. Computer & Video Games magazine praised the game's thrilling action and impressive graphics, recommending it to players fond of titles such as Zaxxon and Scramble, while Electronic Games found that the realistic graphics and intense action made Xevious an easy recommendation to fans of the genre. Joystik stated that the game was superior to titles Zaxxon and Tron, specifically in its graphics and gameplay.

Amusement Life praised its detailed backgrounds, fast-paced gameplay and sense of mystery, labeling it a masterpiece and one of the best games of 1983. In 1998, Allgame called it one of the more "polite" shoot'em ups for its detailed visuals, challenge and unique enemy designs, finding it to have a "charm" unmatched by other games of the genre.

Bubble Bobble creator Fukio Mitsuji and Rez producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi cite Xevious as having a profound influence on their careers.

Xevious is credited as one of the first video games to have a boss fight, pre-rendered graphics and a storyline. In 1985, Roger C. Sharpe of Play Meter magazine stated that the "dimensionalized, overhead perspective of modern, detailed graphics was launched with Xevious."