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ESP Ra.De.
ESP Ra.De.
Developer(s)	Cave
Publisher(s)	Atlus ; Nihon System
Designer(s)	Akira Wakabayashi; Atsushi Aburano; Riichiro Nitta; Yūko Nakamura
Programmer(s)	Ryuichi Yabuki; Satoshi Kōyama; Tsuneki Ikeda
Artist(s)	Junya Inoue
Composer(s)	Masahiro Kusunoki
Platform(s)	Arcade, EZweb, i-mode, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Release	JP: April 1998;
Genre(s)	Bullet hell
Mode(s)	Single-player, co-op

ESP Ra.De.^[a] is a 1998 vertical-scrolling bullet hell arcade game originally developed by Cave and co-published by Atlus and Nihon System in Japan. Set in the year 2018, players assume the role from one of the three ESPers to overthrow Lady Garra and her Yaska syndicate from taking over Tokyo.

Developed in conjunction with Dangun Feveron (1998), ESP Ra.De. began production immediately after completion of DoDonPachi (1997). It was the first project by Junya Inoue as art director at Cave, who wanted it to be a visually attractive shoot 'em up for players taking place in a realistic setting with humans as characters. The game did not see any contemporary home ports due to rights and publishing issues with Atlus until it was re-released as ESP Ra.De. Psi for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2019 by M2.

ESP Ra.De. proved popular among Japanese arcade players and critics praised its unique power gauge mechanic, stylistic presentation, Inoue's artwork and audio design but the scoring system was found to be complex and confusing. The Psi re-release was applauded for its extra modes and character, as well as addressing issues with the original scoring system. The title spawned two spin-offs in the form of Espgaluda (2003) and Espgaluda II (2005).

Gameplay

ESP Ra.De. is a science fiction-themed vertical-scrolling bullet hell game similar to DoDonPachi where players assume the role of one of the three playable characters (Yūsuke Sagami, Jb-5th and Irori Mimasaka) through five increasingly difficult stages.^[1]^[2] The plot involves ESPer Lady Garra and her Yaksa syndicate launching an attack to remove opposing forces and take over Tokyo.^[2]^[3] Unlike most Cave shoot 'em ups, the characters only possess a shot attack but players can hold down the fire button to reduce movement.^[2] A unique gameplay mechanic is the power gauge, which gives players a force field that acts as a shield.^[2]^[4] Activating the force field renders the player's character invincible, turning enemy bullets into power-up and gold blocks, until the shield button is released and drains the power gauge.^[2] Releasing the shield buttons unleashes a powerful psychic blast capable of obliterating enemies and bullets on-screen.^[2]

Each character also possess their own piercing attack to deal additional damage but cannot be used in quick sessions. Depleting the piercing gauge renders the player's character incapable of performing a piercing shot for a brief time period until the gauge is full.^[2] The piercing attack is also crucial for reaching high-scores and extra lives; destroying enemies will occasionally reveal power-ups and more are obtained based on a score multiplier, which is increased by hitting enemies with the character's regular and piercing shots.^[2] When destroying an enemy with the regular shot, the player's multiplier is leveled up by attacking parts of the enemy, while its current level is hidden during normal gameplay but can be activated via cheat code.^[2]

After a character is fully powered up, defeated enemies will drop gold blocks and colleting them grant points.^[2] Collecting 200 gold blocks activates a timer and the multiplier grants energy tanks to restore the power gauge.^[2] The collected gold blocks are depleted after the timer is over.^[2] Lives are represented by hearts and losing a heart stock results with decreasing a character's firepower to their original state, as well as the loss of collected gold blocks by players.^[2] Once all heart stocks are lost, the game is over, but players can continue by inserting more credits into the arcade machine but with the penalty of resetting the player's score and being unable to change between characters.^[2]

Development

ESP Ra.De. was developed in conjunction with Dangun Feveron (1998) by a small crew of nine members: art director Junya Inoue, designers Akira Wakabayashi, Atsushi Aburano, Riichiro Nitta and Yūko Nakamura, programmers Ryuichi Yabuki, Satoshi Kōyama and Tsuneki Ikeda, and composer Masahiro Kusunoki.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9] The team recounted its creation process and history through various publications.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]

Release

ESP Ra.De. was first released in arcades by Atlus and Nihon System in April 1998.^[17] On November 6, 1998, a soundtrack album containing music from the game and DoDonPachi was co-published exclusively in Japan by Scitron and Gamest.^[8]^[18] International Games System originally wanted to distribute the title in Taiwan after acquiring the DoDonPachi license for the PolyGame Master.^[11] A port for EZweb mobile phones was distributed by Cave through their Gaesen Yokocho service as two separate titles in June 2004.^[19] In 2005, a conversion for i-mode phones titled ESP Ra.De. DX was also distributed by Cave through Gaesen Yokocho.^[20] Unlike other releases by Cave, it hadn't seen a contemporary home console port due to rights and publishing issues with Atlus.^[2] In December 2019, M2 published a port for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 titled ESP Ra.De. Psi in physical and digital editions under their M2 ShotTriggers label.^[21]^[22] This version features the original arcade release and additions such as enhanced visuals, extra modes, re-recorded voiceovers and a new playable character called Alice Master.^[21]^[23]^[24]

Reception and legacy

In Japan, Game Machine listed ESP Ra.De. on their June 15, 1998 issue as being the fifth most-popular arcade game for the previous two weeks.^[25] Player One's François Daniel and Reyda Seddiki regarded its power gauge mechanic as unique compared to competing shoot 'em ups.^[4] Hardcore Gaming 101's Nick Zverloff stated that the game's scoring system was convoluted and complicated but praised the stylistic presentation, Inoue's artwork and audio design, regarding the title as "one of Cave's underrated classics" but found Irori's voice to be annoying.^[2]

Famitsu's four reviewers praised the inclusion of "Super Easy" and "Irori's Room" modes in the Psi version, as well as the addition of a new playable character.^[23]^[24] Nintendo Life's Mark MSX compared its visual style with both Akira and Ghost in the Shell, while finding its gameplay and scoring mechanics to be departures from DoDonPachi but commended the Psi version for addressing issues with the original scoring mechanic, the new playable character, user interface and extra modes but criticized the lack of an "arranged" mode and additional music options.^[21]

ESP Ra.De. spawned two spin-offs in the form of Espgaluda (2003) and Espgaluda II (2005).^[26] Junya Inoue has since regarded both titles as fine for what they are, though he felt that the term "ESP" does not go well with their lore.^[14]

Notes

^ Japanese: エスプレイド, Hepburn: Esupureido

References

^ "エスプレイド". Saturn Fan (in Japanese). No. 10. Tokuma Shoten. May 29, 1998. p. 159.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Zverloff, Nick (December 11, 2011). "ESP Ra.De". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 2020-02-16. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ "ESPRADE （エスプレイド）ストーリー紹介". www.cave.co.jp (in Japanese). Cave. 1998. Archived from the original on 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
^ ^a ^b Daniel, François; Seddiki, Reyda (December 1998). "L'arcade dépasse les bornes! - ESP Rade". Player One (in French). No. 92. Média Système Édition. p. 42.
^ Cave (1998). ESP Ra.De (Arcade). Atlus, Nihon System. Level/area: Staff roll.
^ "井上淳哉 -「エスプレイド」「ぐわんげ」を創った男". Continue (in Japanese). Vol. 6. Ohta Publishing. September 2002. ISBN 978-4872337006. (Translation by Gamengai. Archived 2019-11-22 at the Wayback Machine. Transcription by Gaijin Punch. Archived 2006-07-10 at the Wayback Machine).
^ 若林明 (in Japanese). Cave. 24 August 2010. pp. 195–198. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2020-05-10 at the Wayback Machine).
^ ^a ^b Fuentes, Edgar S. (June 10, 2020). "Vandal Game Music: CAVE. Un rítmico despliegue balístico — Repasamos la amplia carrera musical de una las compañías más importantes en shooters de nave". Vandal (in Spanish). El Español. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
^ Dengeki PlayStation Ron; Naka J (6 September 2019). "【エスプレイドΨ】エムツーは男どアホウシューティングだ──漫画家・井上淳哉ロングインタビュー". Dengeki PlayStation. ASCII Media Works. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ Gamest Graphics Vol.1 - キャラクターデザイン特集: エスプレイド (in Japanese). Vol. 170. Shinseisha. 27 February 1999. pp. 32–35. ISBN 4-88199-585-5. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ ^a ^b "Dossier Shoot 'em up". IG Magazine (in French). No. 8. Ankama Presse. May–June 2010. (Translation by Gaming.moe. Archived 2019-02-13 at the Wayback Machine).
^ インタビュー - : 井上淳哉 (in Japanese). Cave. 24 August 2010. pp. 172–175. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-12-30 at the Wayback Machine).
^ ボーナス！ケイブ事実！- エスプレイド (in Japanese). Cave. 24 August 2010. pp. 203–224. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-12-30 at the Wayback Machine).
^ ^a ^b Kemps, Heidi (13 September 2010). "The Art of Shooting with Junya Inoue". Otaku USA. Sovereign Media. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ Guwange/ESP. Ra.De. Artworks (in Japanese). Cave. 25 February 2012. pp. 1–158.
^ 井上淳哉氏・池田恒基氏対談 (in Japanese). M2. 19 December 2019. ASIN B07W4N1MKC. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アトラス Atlus; ケイブ Cave; 日本システム Nihon System (in Japanese) (1st ed.). Amusement News Agency. pp. 14, 26, 55. ISBN 978-4990251215. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ Kotowski, Don (August 1, 2012). "DoDonPachi & ESP.Ra.De". Video Game Music Online. Archived from the original on 2021-01-16. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
^ Takizawa, Osamu (June 17, 2004). "ケイブ、"最も激しく華麗なボス"との最終決戦本格シューティングEZweb「エスプレイドNEXT」". GAME Watch (in Japanese). Impress Corporation. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
^ Sei, Sekiguchi (October 12, 2005). "ケイブ、iモードとボーダフォンに「エスプレイドDX」". K-Tai Watch (in Japanese). Impress Corporation. Archived from the original on 2021-03-26. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d MSX, Mark (October 26, 2007). "ESP Ra.De. Psi Review (Switch)". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ Moyse, Chris (13 August 2019). "ESP Ra.De. Psi is preparing to blow up on PS4 and Nintendo Switch". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c Uchizawa, Rōringu; Uwāman; Ashida, Jigoro; Urara, Honma (December 26, 2019). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: エスプレイドΨ (Switch)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 1619. Kadokawa Game Linkage. Archived from the original on 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c Uchizawa, Rōringu; Uwāman; Ashida, Jigoro; Urara, Honma (December 26, 2019). "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: エスプレイドΨ (PS4)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 1619. Kadokawa Game Linkage. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 566. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 June 1998. p. 21.
^ エスプレイド (in Japanese). Cave. 24 August 2010. pp. 5–8. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)