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Grobda title screen

The Title screen for Grobda (1984)

Grobda (グロブダー?) is a shooter/action arcade game that was released by Namco on November 1, 1984. It runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware (two Motorola M6089, running at 1.536 MHz) but with a video system used in Mappy (The Tower of Druaga also used this system), and also uses a DAC for speech (King & Balloon used a DAC as well), with Namco WSG running ag 1.536 MHz for sound. It was designed by Masanobu Endo, who previously made Xevious, in which this game is a spin-off, as Grobda appeared as an enemy in the latter. It was released in Namco Museum Volume 2 in 1995 for the PlayStation, and the Wii Virtual Console on November 10, 2009.

Gameplay[]

The player uses the eight-way joystick to control the tank Grobda throughout the 99 stages (or as the game calls it, "Battlings"). Pressing the first button makes Grobda fire, and the second button activates the shield.

The goal of each level is for Grobda to destroy all of the enemies on the stage. A level is complete when all enemies are destroyed. The level has several indestrucible walls that Grobda and the tanks can't shoot through. If an enemy is destroyed, it creates a large explosion, and any enemies around the explosion will also be destroyed. This can also, however, happen to Grobda if he gets too close. Grobda can also activate a shield for a VERY short while, and will dissinigrate when constantly under attack or shot. The game's high score table will show that if the player completes 99 levels, it will say he/she has cleared 100 levels. If the DIP switches are on, then the player can select a level when a coin is inserted.

Re-releases[]

Grobda was included in Namco Museum Volume 2 in 1995 for the Playstation. It was also included in Namco History Volume 2 in 1996 for Windows 95. It wasn't seen again until Namco Museum Battle Collection in 2005 for the PSP. It was included again in Namco Museum Virtual Arcade in 2009 for Xbox 360, and again in 2010's Namco Museum Megamix (which also included a minigame version, Grobda Remix, which has Pac-Man piloting Grobda)


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