Aquales

Aquales
Developer(s)Exact
Publisher(s)Exact
Designer(s)Hiroyuki Saegusa
Programmer(s)Kazuki Toyota
Artist(s)Toshimitsu Ōdaira
Composer(s)Hiroshi Yamamoto
Platform(s)X68000
Release
  • JP: 12 September 1991
Genre(s)Action role-playing, run and gun
Mode(s)Single-player

Aquales[a] is an action role-playing run and gun video game developed and published by Exact exclusively for the X68000 in Japan on September 12, 1991.[1][2] The second title to be created and released by Exact for the X68000 platform, the game takes place in the dystopian future of 2069 where the British Elias-Rits Investigative Unit ship went missing during a reconnaissance operation at the Kermadec Islands, as players assume the role of American pilot Fredric von Nyuya from the elite World-Ocean Development League squad taking control of a mecha in an attempt to unveil the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of the Elias-Rits embarkation during their operation. Its gameplay mainly consists of action and shooting mixed with mission-based exploration, as well as role-playing elements, using a main two-button configuration.

Created by most of the same staff who previously worked on Naious, Aquales and its plotline were initially envisioned as a manga series of 600 pages spanning over 13 volumes, but the storyline for the seventh volume was condensed into the game project.[2][3] Though it was initially launched by Exact on retail stores, the game would later be distributed through the Takeru software vending machines, which allowed users to write games on blank floppy disks.[1][4]

Aquales became another popular title among the X68000 userbase from Exact and received praise for the graphics, music and gameplay that would eventually lead it to being nominated for a "Game of the Year" award by Japanese magazine Oh!X under its genre.[5] Commercially however, it did not sell well when it was initially released. Despite being exclusive to Japan, it has been retrospectively referred by publications such as Retro Gamer to be one of the best titles for the system.[6][7] After its initial release, Exact would go on to develop their third title for the X68000, Étoile Princesse, which was released two years later to a similarly positive critical and audience response.


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  1. ^ a b Tsuyāpu (January 1993). "Computer Entertainment Side - 現行ゲームソフト・カタログ・シリーズ 第1回 X68000シリーズ: エグザクト - アクアレス". Micom BASIC Magazine (in Japanese). No. 127. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation. p. 215.
  2. ^ a b Gyusyabu 2001 (2019). "アクアレス for SHARP X68000" (in Japanese). Retro PC Game Music Streaming Radio. Archived from the original on 2019-03-03. Retrieved 2019-06-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Exact (September 12, 1991). Aquales (Sharp X68000) (in Japanese). Exact. Level/area: System Disk.
  4. ^ Minato, Kazuhisa (August 4, 2016). "Soft Vendor TAKERU: The world's first App Store". A Game Programer in Japan. WordPress.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  5. ^ "The Softouch Special - 1991年度Oh!X Game of the Year". Oh!X (in Japanese). No. 119. SoftBank Creative. February 1992. pp. 22–27.
  6. ^ Szczepaniak, John (March 2010). "Import Only: Aquales". Retro Gamer. No. 74. Imagine Publishing. pp. 64–65.
  7. ^ Szczepaniak, John (August 7, 2017). "Aquales". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 2019-06-22.