Super Xevious: Ganpu no Nazo is a vertical scrolling shooter, much like the original Xevious, developed for the Famicom by Namco in 1986. Unlike the original Xevious, this version was not designed by Masanobu Endoh, who left Namco. Endoh opposed the idea of creating a sequel to Xevious, as he felt it was unnecessary. Namco was hungry to cash in on the success of Xevious, so they created this version, which has been criticized by fans of the original. The technical abilities of the Famicom did not allow the game to match the quality of the arcade game, and the game Gradius had surpassed Xevious in terms of popularity.
Ganpu no Nazo contains some key differences from the original. The game contains discreet stages which are not composed of vertical strips of the same basic terrain. The title of the game translates to "the Riddle of Gamp" and each stage contains a "riddle" that the player must solve in order to advance to the next stage. These solutions may include flying into a certain portion of the screen, collecting a particular power-up, or destroying a particular target. If these objectives are not met, the game repeats the same level at an increased difficulty. The power-ups provided by the game are also new, and include rear gun, shields, and a larger ground target.
In addition to being released on the Famicom, the game was also converted for play in arcades using the Nintendo Vs. arcade system hardware. This version was known as Vs. Super Xevious, which is not to be confused with the enhanced version of the original which is simply known as Super Xevious. A sequel to this game was developed and released for the Japanese MSX2 home computer, entitled Xevious: Fardraut Saga.
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