is a 1993 action role-playing beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Konami. Taking place in a fantasy world, the game follows prince Gerard Himerce, joined by the half-human fairy Elaine Shee and the exiled dragon duke Galahad, seeking vengeance for destruction of his homeland against the Zar Harc empire led by the King of Darkness and prevent him from resurrecting an ancient demon. Through the journey, players explore and search for items to progress and power-ups, fighting enemies and bosses, and gaining experience points to increase their character's maximum health and level.
Gaiapolis was directed by Hiroyuki Ashida, who previously worked on Gradius II and Detana!! TwinBee. Japanese animator Shūjirō Hamakawa, who also worked on Detana!! TwinBee, acted as game and character designer. Konami Kukeiha Club members Satoko Miyawaki, Seiichi Fukami and Yuji Takenouchi produced the music and sound respectively. The game was supplemented by an album from King Records, and a manga adaptation written and illustrated by Hamakawa. It never received an official home conversion, although an unlicensed port for Famicom was developed and published by Sachen in 1994.
Gaiapolis proved popular among Japanese arcade players, earning several awards from Gamest magazine, but garnered middling response from gaming publications that regarded it as a strange game due to the mixture of action and adventure genres, feeling that its playstyle was more reserved for consoles and not suitable for arcades, with criticism being geared towards its direction and story as well as the monotonous fighting actions, but commended its multiplayer and found the addition of a password system innovative within the arcade scene. The character of Elaine Shee would later make appearances in other Konami titles. Retrospective commentary has been more positive, with some expressing disappointment and questioning for the lack of a console release.
Gameplay
Gaiapolis is an overhead fantasy action role-playing beat 'em up game that can be played by up to two players simultaneously. The plot follows Gerard Himerce, Prince of the Kingdom of Avalon, as he seeks vengeance against the Empire of Zar Harc for the destruction of his homeland. Joined by the half-human fairy Elaine, last survivor of the Shee clan, and Galahad, an exiled duke from the land of the dragons, Gerard goes on a journey to prevent his older half-brother Albert, now the leader of Zar Harc, the King of Darkness, from reviving an ancient demon. Along the way, they are guided by a mysterious spirit known as the Warrior of Fire, who tells them to seek three keys that have been scattered around the world in order to enter the floating citadel of Gaiapolis.
The objective is to fight against every enemy and eventually defeat the boss at the end of each stage before time runs out. The player can choose to play as the prince Gerard, the fairy Elaine or the dragon Galahad, with each character possessing advantages and disadvantages. Both Gerard and Galahad are swordsmen, while Elaine is a martial artist who wields twin tonfas. Along the way, players can pick up items such as food to replenish health, weapon and equipment upgrades, eggs that carry guardian beasts inside, jewels with magic powers and treasures that give out more points. An experience point system is employed, in which the player's maximum level and health are increased by defeating enemies. There are a total of 17 stages in the game, although some can be skipped depending on the course of action taken by the player.
The controls consist of an eight-way joystick for moving the character and three action buttons. The first action button serves as the primary attack button and performs consecutive attacks against enemies. Players can also hold the attack to guard against enemy attacks if the player character is in possession of a shield unless the player is controlling the Elaine, who uses her own tonfas to block enemy attacks. Rotating the joystick clockwise, or counterclockwise if the player is controlling Elaine, will cause the character to perform a spinning attack. Double-tapping the joystick at any direction enables the character to perform a running attack.