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Gaplus
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Bally Midway
Platform(s)	Arcade, Commodore 64, Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	1984 Virtual Console JP March 26, 2009 NA March 25, 2009 PAL March 25, 2009
Genre(s)	Fixed shooter
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Rating(s)	ESRB: E PEGI: 3+
Input methods	8-way Joystick, 1 button
Cabinet	Standard, cocktail, cabaret
Arcade system	Namco Phozon
Display	Raster

Gaplus​ (ギャプラス ^?) , far more commonly known as Galaga 3 (although the game was released under both titles in North America), is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It runs on Namco Phozon hardware and was only known as Gaplus in Japan. A modification kit was distributed later that changed the title screen to Galaga 3​ (ギャラガ3 ^?) to increase recognition among fans of the Galaga series and boost sales.

Finding this game for home video game consoles is very difficult. It appears on some multi-game cartridges, which were released long after its arcade release. The reason it didn't have a home conversion for so long is due to the Video Game Crash of 1983. It was released on the PlayStation in 1996 as one of the games featured in Namco Museum Volume 2, using its original name "Gaplus." It was released on mobile phones with its "Galaga 3" title. It is part of Namco Museum Remix for the Wii, which was released in 2007. The original version was re-released under its original name, for the Wii Virtual Console Arcade in March 25, 2009, at a cost of 500 Wii Points.

Gameplay

Gaplus is a sequel to Galaga and has similar gameplay. However, it has a much steeper learning curve and much deeper gameplay in later levels. The player controls a spaceship, that can now move vertically (limited to halfway up the screen) as well as horizontally, and shoots at swarms of incoming insect-like aliens which fly in formation above it and swoop down to bomb it in a kamikaze-like dive. In this sequel, the level starts over if the player is killed before all the enemies have come in. When all enemies are destroyed, the player moves on to the next level. By obtaining certain power-ups, it is possible to shoot 60 bullets per screen; the most any Galaga related game has.

The game differs from its predecessor in several ways:

• By shooting at a shooting star that occasionally appears, the player can get a ship with new graphics that can have three shots on screen instead of two. After this, shooting the star will make a special flag appear from the Namco game Rally-X that awards an extra life when collected. Also, a glitch was found: at the start of Parsec 1, the player can move the ship up the screen until it stops and let the ship sit there without shooting anything until the enemies have all come in. After the shooting star passes by, the player can shoot the second Gaplus from the left in the bottom row of the formation without hitting other enemies. The Special Flag then appears, and when the Queen Gaplus flies down, the player can run into her (but not into the powerup)and the regular fighter will turn into another ship that fires 1 shot on screen when it is supposed to fire three.
• There are two special types of stages besides the normal levels called parsecs. These are levels where the starfield reverses and enemies come in waves, and then leave. After this, a small force comes in like a normal stage. The challenging stages are very different from the original. Enemies are juggled by shots, each hit slowly spelling out "Bonus", "Gaplus", "Double" or "Triple" for a bonus and additional hits scoring 200 points each. It is most effective to use the red and blue powerups to repeatedly hit them.
• The Queen Gaplus sometimes drops one of several types of powerups when destroyed. She is the most colorful of the aliens and flies to the top of the alien formation. The red powerup captures enemies with a tractor beam where each one provides another shot. The blue powerup gives wider and faster shots. The green powerup captures enemies in a tractor beam that can then be shot for bonus points. The purple powerup changes the screen to a vertical orientation. All of these powerups may be stacked on top of one another, greatly increasing the player's maximum firepower, compared to the dual ship configuration of Galaga, which is absent in this game. Also, it may also carry a third of a ship that will be kept track of at the lower-right of the screen between games. An extra life is awarded when all three are collected.

After Parsec 10, the enemies become green-and-blue colored and look like Galaxians. When destroyed, they each drop a bluish particle that kills the player's ship if it hits it.

Gaplus can be played by a single player or by two players alternating turns. The factory settings start the player out with three lives, a bonus life at 30,000 points, 70,000 points, and every 70,000 thereafter on the easiest level of play. These settings can be changed via DIP switches on the game's motherboard.

Trivia

• It is assumed that the name Gaplus is short for Galaga Plus. Oddly enough, while Gaplus is also known as Galaga 3, there was no official "Galaga 2". (Compare Rambo III). While the Galaga 3 modification changed the game's title, one of the challenging stages still spells out "GAPLUS." Also the marquee on the arcade cabinet has been changed to Galaga 3. The marquee looks a lot like the original Galaga logo but now with a big red 3 beside it.
• As previously noted, each third of a bonus ship captured is displayed in the bottom right portion of the screen. Interestingly, as long as the machine is not turned off, any remaining parts will persist between games. This was a somewhat unprecedented feature that could possibly give some repeat players an advantage over those who only played once when competing for the high score.
• If exactly 110 credits are put in, the game will display "COIN JAMMED", and that there are either 9 or, more rarely, -0 credits inserted. After that the game cannot be started, so it must be reset. This only happens on some early revisions of Gaplus, since all other Gaplus and Galaga 3 machines have a 9 credit coin lock.

External links

• Gaplus at the Killer List of Videogames
• A site with in-depth details on Gaplus (Japanese)

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Gaplus
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco (Japan), Midway Games (US)
Japanese title	ギャプラス
Release date(s)	1984
Genre(s)	Fixed shooter
System(s)	Arcade, Virtual Console
Players	1-2

Wikipedia has an article about:

Gaplus

Gaplus is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It is the third title in the Galaxian series and was only known by its original name in Japan. When Midway Games released it in the United States, the name was changed to Galaga 3, possibly to increase recognition among fans of the series and boost sales. The bonus stages were also very different - they involved firing at the enemies and keeping them in the air in order to spell out words. In order, these were "BONUS", "GAPLUS" (even in the US version), "DOUBLE", "TRIPLE", "GOOD!!", "LUCKY", "BYEBYE" and "EXTEND".

Table of Contents

• Controls and Characters

From Wikia Gaming, your source for walkthroughs, games, guides, and more!

Gaplus is an arcade game released in 1984. It is a sequel to both Galaxian and Galaga, and was also released as Galaga 3.

Gameplay

Gameplay is similar to Galaga and Galaxian, with the player blasting away at an armada of bugs floating around at the top of the screen. Some new differences that appear in this game include:

• The player now has greater mobility, being able to move around vertically and horizontally in the bottom half of the screen.
• The Queen Gaplus (its version of the Galaxian flagship) drops a power-up when it is shot, that the player must capture. One of its power-ups allows his ship to project a tractor beam that can capture alien bugs and add them as escorts to increase both firepower and range.
• The bonus stages have a few aliens that appear in three groups. When the player hits one of the aliens with a shot, it bounces up and around. The object in the bonus stages is to hit the same aliens as many times as you can before they disappear off the screen.
• Some levels have the starfield reverse direction, while the enemies come in waves and then leave instead of entering into formation.