Arcade Gears: Image Fight & X Multiply

"XMultiply is a side-scrolling shooter published by Irem, and similar in style to their earlier R-Type."

Irem·Xing Entertainment· March 19, 1998· Bundle

XMultiply is a side-scrolling shooter published by Irem, and similar in style to their earlier R-Type. In 1998, the game was released with Image Fight as a one-disc doublebill on PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The game centers around an unusual alien invasion against a colony planet in the year 2249—the aliens themselves are microscopic creatures that invade, infect, and kill the colonists. Scientists have deployed the microscopic fighter X-002 into the body of the hapless woman whose body has been invaded by the alien queen. Image Fight is a 1988 vertically scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Irem. The arcade game was also ported for the Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine (Japan-only), Sharp X68000 (Japan-only), and FM Towns (Japan-only) in 1990. The player flies a futuristic red ship. R-Type Final identifies this ship as the OF-1 Daedalus, but it is not known if that was the ship's original name. However, the term OF-1 does appear in the NES version's instruction manual, as well as in the official artwork for the sequel, Image Fight II. The game appears to be set inside a holographic simulator, like the holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the NES version of the game, the first 5 missions are called "Combat Simulation Stages" and the last 3 missions are called "Real Combat Stages". Two separate titles on one very collectable compilation for the shooter fan. X Multiply is similar to Gradius with claustrophobic confines and organic add ons to the ship giving it floaty, stamen like guards. Image Fight is more a chunky R Type tribute with nice multi directional shots and an old school feel. The rarest of the Arcade Gears series.

Released 19 March 1998 for Sega Saturn and PlayStation by Irem, published by Xing Entertainment. Rated E by ESRB.