XDR

n/a

XDR
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: UNIPACC
Developer: Affect
Sound driver: YMOIMO (Cube/Masaru Suzuki)
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: English
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-08-26 ¥6,800 (7,004)6,800e T-41013

XDR (エックス・ディー・アール) (X-Dazedly-Ray) is a Sega Mega Drive horizontal shoot-'em-up developed by Affect and published by UNIPACC. Released exclusively in Japan in August 1990, the game is notable for being one of the poorest received Mega Drive games ever released, and was frequently voted the system's worst Japanese-developed game by readers of Beep! MegaDrive magazine.

Story

The warlord Guardia was banished from the planet Sephiroth, otherwise known to be a very peaceful planet. Many years later, he returns, complete with an entire army which overpowers the Guardian army, leaving one hope: the newly developed XDR craft.

Gameplay

The game is a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up. The player pilots the XDR through six different stages, blasting ground and sky forces. The XDR moves in any direction using the D-Pad. The player can cycle between four different speed levels by pressing ; the current speed is shown in the HUD. Its standard weapon is fired with , which can be held for continuous fire (changing the Shot option from Normal to Auto increases the rate of fire). The game has no bullet limiter, so shots are fired until the game slows down and sprite flickering appears. The XDR can equip three different weapons, and collecting the item for the equipped weapon upgrades its power level, up to three levels. The XDR can obtain a secondary weapon, missiles that can shoot ground targets with . These missiles can also be upgraded by collecting the item multiple times, enabling the XDR to fire multiple missiles at once in multiple directions. Missiles crawl along the floor and ceiling until they hit a target.

The XDR is destroyed if it is hit by enemy fire or runs into an enemy or terrain. If it is destroyed, it respawns at a set checkpoint within the stage if the player has extra lives left. There is a shield item that absorbs multiple hits. The game ends if the player runs out of lives, but it can be continued a limited number of times from the beginning of the current stage. There are three difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard), and the player can set the starting number of lives (between 1 and 5).

Items

	Item Carrier
	Destroy to release an item.
	Wide Beam
	Equips the Wide Beam weapon or upgrades it if already equipped. At level 1, it shoots two short parallel beams. At level 2, it shoots a larger, wave-shaped projectile. At level 3, it fires the wave-shaped projectile in a two-way spread. This is the starting weapon.
	Laser
	Equips the Laser weapon or upgrades it if already equipped. At level 1, it shoots two short parallel beams. At level 2, it shoots a larger, wave-shaped projectile. At level 3, it fires the wave-shaped projectile in a two-way spread.
	Wave Shot
	Equips the Wave Shot weapon or upgrades it if already equipped. At level 1, it shoots a helix of energy balls. At level 2, the pattern grows larger. At level 3, the pattern grows larger and gains a middle stream of energy balls.
	Missile
	Equips Missiles as a secondary weapon or upgrades it if already equipped. At level 1, it drops a single missile downward. At level 2, it fires two missiles at upward and downward angles. At level 3, it fires four missiles in the four intermediate directions.
	Option
	Adds an option drone that follows the ship that contributes support fire. At level 1, it adds a single drone that encircles the ship. At level 2, it changes the behavior of the option to follow the ship. At level 3, it adds a second option that also follows the ship.
	Shield
	Encases the ship in a protective barrier that can sustain three hits before dissipating.
	1 Up
	Gives the player an extra life.

Stages

	惑星セフィロス上空
	ガーディア軍秘密基地
	セフィロス古代遺跡
	衛星「グリーーンムーン」
	亜空間地帯「ゼリアド」
	ガーディア軍母星基地内

History

Release

In a user ranking organized by Beep! MegaDrive, XDR ranked in at position 519 out of 520, making it the second most unpopular game at that time, behind only Sword of Sodan. It was frequently criticized for its weak graphics, poor sound effects, dodgy collision detection, and boring gameplay.

Production credits

• Program: TM AFFECT
• Designer: M.ESAKI
• Music Composer: S.KANEDA
• Special Thanks: SYO-TSUDA, OKAPY, HI-KUN, TAGA-3, MA-FIGTHER, GPX-KIKAKU

Source:

In-game credits (unused)

Magazine articles

Main article: XDR/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (JP) #1990-09: "September 1990" (1990-08-XX)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (RU) 30 (JP) NTSC-J 63 (UK) 47 (UK) 47 (FR) 48 (UK) NTSC-J 43 (JP) NTSC-J 63 (UK) 47 (DE) 52 (UK) NTSC-J 60 (UK) NTSC-J 25 (UK) NTSC-J 54 (JP) NTSC-J 30

	47
Based on 13 reviews

XDR

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

Main article: XDR/Technical information.

External links

• XDR: X-Dazedly Ray article by Cassidy at Bad Game Hall of Game