By Nicholas “SmugeeBear” McDonald

Gaiares is a scrolling shoot ’em-up game that was originally developed and released by Telenet Japan under their Renovation Game/Renovation Products label. The game also saw a release in America where it gained a reputation over its advertising rather than the game itself.

In 2021 Edia Co.,Ltd licenced Retro-Bit to re-release the game, the re-release came in a collectors edition with a variety of features including an embellished slipcover. It has a space design and artwork of a character from the game and a spaceship with some nice embossing, on the back are embossed screenshots from the game and cutscenes. The game case also includes a reversible cover which you can switch from the orange design of the Sega Genesis release in America or the red Japanese cover for the Mega Drive’s original release.

The collectors bundle also includes a colour manual, a printed interview with James Bunker who was on the advertising for the game during its original American release, and a certificate of authenticity which has a nice gold embossed design element to it. The game comes on a translucent tektite, which has the design of the slipcase design for the cartridge sticker. On the back, you can see the Japanese name for Gaiares and a sticker with the ship design on the as well.

The final item in the collectors edition is a commemorative t-shirt which is a reproduction of the t-shirts given away in a promotion for its American release. With the Infamous can you say “Guy Are Us” catchphrase? Finally, a note on the cartridge is that it seems to be a Western-style Mega Drive cartridge. However, where as other releases for the console would have a cut out for the Japanese cartridge lock system these do not.

The premise of the game is that it’s set in the future where the earth has been ruined by pollution. This brings a new meaning to the game’s title as it was supposed to be Gaialess, as in Earth-less. Someone has taken plans for a weapon system called TOZ and brought it to Earth and the space empire it belonged to basically gives Earth an ultimatum. Fight against the space pirates who plan to use the pollution on Earth to create weapons of mass destruction. If humans don’t then Earth is destroyed. If they do and somehow succeed then Earth will be restored to its natural state.

The game has several missions which take place in a variety of locales, from asteroid belts in space to secret bases to a variety of different planets. The graphics are interesting with some really cool design choices but some things tend to look out of place. The TOZ is a device that follows the ship and shoots a weapon. When you press the C button it launches at enemies and if it latches off then you can copy the enemy weapon. You can then launch it back to more enemies of the same type and the TOZ will increase the weapon power.

It all means there is a variety of weapons but it also introduces a risk vs reward element in the gameplay. There is a slight delay as the TOZ copies the weapon which leaves you defenceless. The bosses have some really interesting designs along with the levels some nice effects graphically and some nice uses of colour.

The gameplay is rather difficult as during original development the game was made more towards a Western audience so the difficulty was ramped up. But it’s one of those games where it’s frustrating but also fun as well. There are quite a few cutscenes which explain the story with some really interesting character plots. But a few bosses have basically been recoloured which was a shame. The music has some really interesting tracks that I like. This game has been criminally overlooked especially as there was no official release in Europe.

I suggest if you can find it and you want to try something different or you like the more punishing type of shoot ’em-ups from back in the day then give it a go. I found this edition more reasonably priced than what some of the original copies go for. I’m also digging the T-shirt for it as well.