Arcade Archives Plus Alpha Brings a Classic Jaleco Shmup Into Battle

This week, Arcade Archives is releasing one of Jaleco’s classic arcade titles with Plus Alpha, a shoot ’em up that began service in arcades in 1989. In this particular game, players take on the role of Selia, a female warrior who sets out on a mission to liberate seven kingdoms that have been taken over. Selia fights enemies while flying in one of three aircraft, each of which have their own strengths and attacks. Players will need to swap between the aircraft depending on the upcoming situation. If you’ve seen Selia and her ship befolre, this is likely because the character was also a playable character in Game Tengoku, the Parodius-esque mashup of various other iconic Jaleco series characters. Even now, Plus Alpha is seen as a classic game in the genre in Japan, and a forerunner in the “cute ’em up” sub-genre. Check out some screenshots of the game below:

Apart from Plus Alpha, Hamster is also working on porting various other shoot ’em ups, such as Gemini Wings, which was confirmed for rerelease. However, due to CERO being suspended for a month due to COVID-19, later releases may be delayed, though thankfully this game was spared. You can read more about it in our previous report here. Arcade Archives Plus Alpha is available on the Nintendo Switch via the Japanese Switch eShop.