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Xexex (ゼクセクス Zekusekusu?), released in North America as Orius, is a 1991 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game by Konami. It draws on both R-Type and Gradius, adding tentacle mechanics. It was included in the Salamander Portable compilation pack for the PSP released in January 25, 2007, and included as part of Arcade Archives on December 23, 2021 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

Plot[]

Flintlock and R9

The Flintlock feels almost like a souped up R-9 due to the Flint pod and its wide variety of weapons available.

Once again, space-bound humanity finds itself in trouble. Princess Irene La Tias of Planet E-Square has been kidnapped by the flamboyant and androgynous evil galactic overlord Klaus Pachel Bell, and the last hope in rescuing her and pushing back his army of bio-cybernetic war machines lies in the experimental fighter Flintlock, a spacecraft developed from a recently discovered, mysterious life form, the Flint.

In the ending, the Flintlock sends the orb back through the atmosphere of the planet, where it morphs into a fairy, and saves planet E-Square.

Gameplay[]

The game is unusual for different gameplay mechanics between the original Japanese and the overseas releases.

Xexex plays almost like R-Type in the sense that you have many enemies attempting to destroy you and you need to properly use the "Flint" in order to survive. The Flint is not like the Force, though, as you cannot connect it to the rear of the Flintlock. Instead, upon releasing it, the Flint will slowly home in on the closest enemy and attempt to connect to it upon it, damaging it. The Flint will also unleash its tentacles, which will block enemy fire.

Weapons[]

Note: These weapons are not present in the overseas versions. The name of the current weapon is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Xexex Weapons
  • Proton Laser: Your initial weapon. Picking up one of six powerups gives you the following:
  • Homing Laser: A 3-way laser with weak "bending" homing for top and bottom lasers.
  • Shadow Laser: A thin, laser beam. The strongest weapon (similar to the R-13 Cerberus laser, Shade Alpha).
  • Round Laser: An unusual spread shot (different from the overseas version's main weapon).
  • Spiral Laser: A spiral laser (similar to the Gradius Ripple Laser). Second strongest weapon.
  • Search Laser: A laser with strong homing that travels in square trajectories.
  • Ground Laser: Your main gun is changed to an upgraded Proton Laser while a laser beam travels across the floor (similar to the R-Type Air-to-Ground Laser).

Regional differences[]

Orius

The overseas version, Orius.

  • The Flint is slightly smaller (and blue).
  • The weapons have been changed completely. There are only two available, a spread shot which looks similar to the Photon Shot and homing missiles. Both are upgradable.
  • Some of the bosses have been modified, the most notable being the Stage 5 and 6 bosses. For the Stage 5 boss, it is now very difficult to get past its defenses. For the Stage 6 boss, there are now two satellites as opposed to one.
  • The ship now has a energy bar as opposed to being a one-hit wonder, with energy recharge power-ups available. However, there are no lives so one bar is one credit.
  • Upon dying, the player starts where they died instead of going back to a checkpoint.
  • The game is now two-player simultaneous. The second player's ship is a modified version of the Flintlock.
  • The stage intros display different planet names instead of saying "Charge the enemy".
  • All text is in English as opposed to just the ship's stats screens.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Promotional artwork[]

Miscellaneous[]

Trivia[]

  • Konami released two Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, Flint and Flint Lock, as a reference to this game.
  • In another Konami game, Ganbare Goemon 2, a minigame of Stage 2 can be played for 100 gold, similar to how Gradius could be played in The Legend of the Mystical Ninja.
  • In Otomedius Gorgeous, Diol Twee's ship is the Serenity Viper, which is based on the Flintlock. Also, Twee's DLC BGMs are remixed themes of Xexex, including "Breeze", "Battle Cry" and "Happy Daymare".
  • The Flintlock also reappears in Airforce Delta Strike, along with other famous Konami fighters.

References[]

  1. @peachflavor3d (Pedro Soares) at X (November 26, 2023).

External links[]

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