Triggerheart Exelica

Overview

Triggerheart Exelica, sometimes stylized as TriggerHeart Exelica or Trigger Heart Exelica, is a sci-fi vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up developed by Warashi and released by Sega for arcades (using their Dreamcast-based NAOMI hardware) in Japan on May 2006.

The final game from studio Warashi, Triggerheart Exelica puts players in control of one of two gynoid weapons (known as "Triggerhearts") from a galaxy far away as they defend Earth from hostile alien forces (known as the Ver'mith).

The game's main gimmick is its "Anchor Shoot" system, allowing players to grapple enemies using a dedicated button and swing them around to block enemy shots, toss them like projectiles, or make them explode. It also features score-based difficulty (known as the Variable Boss Attack System, or V.B.A.S.), where collecting more score items throughout the level increases the strength of that level's boss.

It later received three home console releases:

• It first received a Dreamcast release by Warashi on February 22, 2007, as one of the console's last official releases. This version features a new Story Mode and a harder Arrange Mode.

• It also received a digital release by Warashi for the Xbox 360 (as an Xbox Live Arcade title) worldwide on February 27, 2008, featuring high definition graphics, new background music, and online leaderboards. It is the only version of the game released outside of Japan.

• It received an enhanced port for the PlayStation 2 on March 26, 2009, known as TriggerHeart Exelica Enhanced. Published by Alchemist, it features minor antagonist Faintear as a new playable character, as well as an updated Story Mode.

Gameplay

At the beginning of the game you are given the choice of 2 characters, Excelica- She has a wider spread to her shots and slower movement, or Crueltear- Straight shots and faster movement. Both characters are also gifted with an anchor shot that enables them to catch enemy ships and use them either as a shield or battering ram against enemy combatants. The enemy shots, which appear as pink/lilac on the screen, can when swiped with anchored craft be transformed into gold collectables. To add a further element to the scoring system these golden items then swell in size an point value directly related to the length of tim they remain on screen whilst the layer is firing.

In addition to this system- Anchor a ship, swipe enemy fire to change to collectables and then fire as the items slowly scroll downward before finally collecting, the boss battles are affected by several factors. The game operates a grading system during the end of level boss battles dependent on several factors. How many gold collectables you have amassed during the previous stage AND wether or not you have lost or lose any lives before the end of the level. Each boss has several "stages" and if these factors are fulfilled then you will be able to fight the boss to the end otherwise the boss will explode after the 1st or 2nd attack pattern. In this way scores per level between players can fluctuate wildly making the game perfect for play as a score attack game.