Software:Xain'd Sleena

From HandWiki
Xain'd Sleena
Japanese arcade flyer of Xain'd Sleena.
Developer(s)Technos
Publisher(s)Technos, Taito, Memetron (USA)
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum
Releaselate 1986[1][2]
Genre(s)Platformer, Scrolling Shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Xain'd Sleena (ザインドスリーナ) is a two genre platformer and side-scrolling arcade video game produced by Technos in 1986. It was licensed for release outside of Japan by Taito. In the USA, the game was published by Memetron, and the game was renamed to Solar Warrior. The European home computer ports renamed the game to Soldier of Light.

Gameplay

The main character, Xain, is a galactic bounty-hunter who must defeat evil forces who oppress five different planets. The player can select any order to play the various planets, so, there is no 'official' sequence of play (For the U.S. version, this game was released as 'Solar Warrior'. This version goes through a set sequence instead of having to choose planets).

Each planet is played with right horizontal and vertical scrolling, shooting enemies and dodging natural hazards. Xain can crouch, double crouch (prone), jump and double jump. In some of the planets the player will need to kill a sub-boss to resume. Certain enemies carry a powerup which changes the default laser gun into a different weapon. The different weapons which are cycled through powerups include a laser-grenade gun, a 2-way gun, a spreadfire gun and a strong bullet gun with their own respective damage and directional firing capabilities.

At the end of the planet, the player goes into battle with a boss. Once defeated, the player plants a bomb into the boss' base and has ten seconds to escape in a starship.

The next half of the planet stage is an interlude stage during which the player must battle through waves of enemy ships while heading to the next planet. After three planets there is a battle through an asteroid field and against a giant mothership.

When all five planets are liberated, the player will play the longer final stage on a gigantic metallic fortress, facing the bosses previously met on each of the five planets. Fighting bosses in this stage is optional. Halfway through the stage the player plants a bomb on the fortress core and has 60 seconds to reach the exit hangar and jump into the starship.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
ACE499 (C64)[3]
The Games Machine70% (ST)
77% (C64)
86% (ZX)[4]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Xain'd Sleena on their January 15, 1987 issue as being the twelfth most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[1]

While giving the Commodore 64 port a score of 499 points, ACE compared the game to Firebird's game Crosswize.[3] The Games Machine gave the Atari ST, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum ports scores of 70%, 77% and 86% respectively.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (Amusement Press, Inc.) (300): 21. 15 January 1987. https://archive.org/details/game-machine-magazine-19870115p/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater&q=xain. 
  2. ↑ "Solar Warrior preview article(left page, top right)". Cash Box Newspaper 27th Dec. '86. Cash Box Pub. Co.. 27 December 1986. https://archive.org/details/cashbox50unse_22/page/70/mode/2up?&view=theater. Retrieved 13 October 2022. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Frontline: The Rats". ACE (10): 68. July 1988. https://archive.org/details/ACE_Issue_10_1988-07_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n67. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Review - Version Update". The Games Machine (15): 54. February 1989. https://archive.org/details/thegamesmachine-15/page/n53. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.




Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Xain%27d_Sleena&oldid=701790"