Battlantis (バトランティス Batorantisu?) is a fixed vertical shooter game developed and published by Konami for arcade platforms released in 1987.
Plot[]
In 777X, the sacred island of Battlantis was in the verge of destruction. The incarnation of evil, Asmodeus, resurrected from the darkness, led his unholy army, doing everything in his power to destroy it. However, there was a man who stood up against this invasion. His name was the young king Cripeus.
Gameplay[]
The game follows a Bronze Age thematic with fantasy elements. The player takes the role of Cripeus, the young king of Battlantis, who must fight against hordes of enemies that are attempting to invade the sacred island. For this end, Cripeus counts with his trusty crossbow to repel the constant enemy raids. Invading enemy units are usually conformed by armored warriors of diverse designs that shoot projectiles as they charge forward. The colors of their armors indicate their resilience, with some soldiers requiring more shots to go down than others. Enemies start appearing in different formations as the game progresses, and so also differ their ways of approaching the rampart. If an enemy manages to reach the rampart (bottom of the screen), they will start climbing it and, if they succeed, they'll then rush at the player, which almost ensures the loss of a life. New enemies will start appearing as the game progresses, many being monsters of fantastic nature, with some even having the ability to fly.
Every few waves, a beefy miniboss commander carrying a large shield will appear. The player must shoot him several times in order to wear down the shield until it breaks apart, at which point the warrior will become vulnerable and go down with just a few more hits. After successfully fending off a determined number of enemy waves, a main boss encounter will take place. This is usually a fight against a gigantic monster displaying advanced attack patterns and enhanced speed.
An enemy pulling a carriage will occasionally appear crossing the battlefield from one end to the other; if shot, it will release a power-up that will then fly all the way to the rampart where Cripeus is standing his ground. Collecting it will grant the young king a temporary power-up, which can range between automatic rapid fire, harpoons that can pierce through entire enemy lines, invisibility, throwing bombs, temporarily stopping time, and the ability to shoot sideways to fend off any enemies that manage to climb the rampart. When a power-up is collected, a counter will appear at the bottom of the screen showing how much time is left before its effect ends.
The game can be played by two players in an alternate way.
Gameplay is notably reminiscent of Space Invaders (Midway, 1978) in various aspects. Some of these similarities include:
- The game plays from a fixed perspective, where the player controls their character at the bottom of the screen and can only move sideways while shooting upward.
- The player has to destroy waves of enemy formations. The entire main troop of enemy soldiers during each raid will usually move from side to side on the battlefield, initially at a slow pace. Whenever one of the formation's side lines reaches the edge of the screen (even if it only has one soldier left), the whole formation will give one step forward (move down) and start marching the opposite way, using this method to slowly approach the rampart where the player is located. As more enemies from the formation are eliminated, the remaining units will increase their speed, up until the point that the last enemy will move at an insane pace.
- The platform where Cripeus stands has a rampart design. The higher parts of it basically play the same role as the shields from Space Invaders; and likewise, they slowly get destroyed as they receive shots, whether they are from the enemies or from Cripeus himself. Like in Space Invaders, this can be used strategically by the player by shooting a hole though the rampart, from where they can shoot through while being protected by its still standing segments.
- The carriage that appears on the battlefield behaves similarly to the UFO from Space Invaders, with the main differences being that it drops a power-up if shot, and that it can appear at different distances (unlike the UFO, which only appears at the top of the screen).
Gallery[]
Packaging artwork[]
Screenshots[]
Promotional artwork[]
(front)
(back)
Trivia[]
- The final boss of the game, Asmodeus, was probably the inspiration for Gava, one of the main antagonists in the Contra series, although this is just speculation.
- Gattlantis, the main antagonist of the game Moero TwinBee: Cinnamon-hakase o Sukue!, has a very similar name and could be a reference to this game, although this is unconfirmed.
External links[]
- Battlantis at Gaming History
- GameFAQs
- MobyGames