FixEight

File:ARC FixEight (FixEight - Jigoku no Eiyū Densetsu).png

{{see also|Out Zone#Gameplay}}

FixEight is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling run and gun game similar to Out Zone, where players assume the role of one of the eight playable mercenaries through seven increasingly difficult stages, each with a boss at the end that must be fought before progressing any further, in an effort to exterminate the invading Gozzu alien race on planet Fortuna as the main objective.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/gamest0075/page/70/mode/1up|title=フィグゼイト|magazine=Gamest|issue=75|publisher=Shinseisha|date=August 1992|page=70|lang=ja}}{{cite magazine|title=フィグゼイト|magazine=Gamest|issue=76|publisher=Shinseisha|date=September 1992|lang=ja}}{{cite magazine|title=フィグゼイト|magazine=Gamest|issue=80|publisher=Shinseisha|date=November 1992|lang=ja}}{{cite magazine|title=フィグゼイト|magazine=Gamest|issue=84|publisher=Shinseisha|date=February 1993|lang=ja}}{{cite magazine|title=フィグゼイト|magazine=Gamest|issue=107|publisher=Shinseisha|date=February 1994|lang=ja}} Players fight enemies on foot and move upward through the level. The players are also equipped with a number of "X" bombs capable of any enemy caught in its blast radius at the start, rendering players invincible for a brief period of time after using a bomb and the player's stock is refilled with "B" icons.FixEight arcade flyer (Toaplan, JP)FixEight manual (Toaplan, EU){{cite web|url=http://shootingstar.game.coocan.jp/fixeight.html|title=FIXEIGHT|publisher=Shooting Star|access-date=2019-11-15|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008185748/http://shootingstar.game.coocan.jp/fixeight.html|archive-date=8 October 2019|url-status=live}}

Returning from Out Zone is its weapon system, albeit modified. Players are equipped with two main weapons at the beginning that can be upgraded by picking up "P" icons and switch between them at will by standind below a change panel but unlike its predecessor, each character has their own weapon set, as well as their own special weapon that is acquired through a "?" icon. Grabbing the "?" icon after obtaining the special weapon grants other attributes such as increasing the character's overall speed or shield. Other items like gold bars and gold statues can also be picked up for points. Omitted from its predecessor is the energy bar system where player had to remain aware of their depleting energy level.

If a single player is downed, their character is immediately respawned at the location they died at, unlike its predecessor's checkpoint system. Getting hit by enemy fire, colliding against solid stage obstacles or falling off the stage will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing the characters' firepower and speed to his original state and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. Although there is an ending, the game loops back to the first stage after completing the last stage as with previous titles from Toaplan, with the second loop increasing the difficulty and enemies fire denser bullet patterns, in addition to spawning extra bullets when destroyed (sometimes called 'suicide bullets' or 'ricochet effect'). Defeating the second loop results in being sent back to the first stage, starting the third loop.

FixEight takes place in a future where an alien race known as the Gozzu from the planet Fortuna have invaded the universe, prompting the Galactic Federation government with releasing a group of eight mercenaries from their imprisonment in an asteroid prison and sending them to Fortuna with the task of exterminating the invaders alongside their planet.

• Howard Young is a North American war veteran who was confined to prison and contracted a disease.
• GX-026 is an android who single-handedly obliterated 26 planets across the galaxy in one year.
• Vistario is a lizard-like space pirate from the Oligo star.
• Agatha Bordeaux is a former Italian supermodel warrior who was jailed for treason. Her portrait at the character selection screen bears resemblance with actress Sharon Stone.{{cite web|author=derboo|url=http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tracing/tracing5.htm|title=Tracing the Influence: Stolen Images in Games - Part 5: Other: In-game graphics|publisher=Hardcore Gaming 101|date=October 2012|access-date=2019-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926012358/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/tracing/tracing5.htm|archive-date=26 September 2019|url-status=live}}
• Lucy Pamela is the princess of a kingdom who was imprisoned after killing a king. Her portrait at the character selection screen bears resemblance with actress Vanessa Paradis.
• Cull Horn is an African leader of an army who was prosecuted for betrayal. His portrait at the character selection screen bears resemblance to former professional boxer Mike Tyson.
• Hayate Zigragi is a ninja of unknown origin and identity who was sent to prison for his assassination attempt against the president of the Galactic Federation government.
• Remlias L'Angelo is a mineral-like being from Christo star who was captured after commanding a rebellion to fight against enemy troops in a war to protect nature.

FixEight was released in arcades in July 1992. Despite sharing the same gameplay mechanics, Out Zone composer Tatsuya Uemura revealed in a 2017 podcast that FixEight was not directly related to its predecessor, although he and members of the original team had no involvement during development.{{cite web|url=https://sweeprecord.com/srin-1100/|title=東亜プラン シューティングクロニクル|work=SweepRecord|publisher=SuperSweep|date=14 November 2011|access-date=2020-02-15|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021030143/https://sweeprecord.com/srin-1100/|archive-date=2019-10-21|url-status=live}} ([http://shmuplations.com/toaplan-chronicle/ Translation] by Shmuplations. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711134859/http://shmuplations.com/toaplan-chronicle/|date=2018-07-11}}).{{cite podcast|host1=Brian Mosley|host2=James Brunner|url=https://pixelatedaudio.com/out-zone/|title=Out Zone with guest Tatsuya Uemura – PA76|publisher=Pixelated Audio|date=March 2017|access-date=2019-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023230947/https://pixelatedaudio.com/out-zone/|archive-date=2019-10-23|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}} According to former Toaplan designer Junya Inoue, FixEight was designed by Nanpei Kaneko, a member who would later work on Knuckle Bash before quitting the company and work as illustrator for Japanese magazines.{{cite magazine|title=井上淳哉 - 「エスプレイド」「ぐわんげ」を創った男|magazine=Continue|volume=6|publisher=Ohta Publishing|date=September 2002|lang=ja|isbn=978-4872337006}} ([https://www.gamengai.com/#/cmnt-info?id=1301 Translation] by Gamengai. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122014305/https://www.gamengai.com/#/cmnt-info?id=1301|date=2019-11-22}}. [http://home.arcor.de/agony_/interviews/guwange.html Transcription] by Gaijin Punch. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060710035820/http://home.arcor.de/agony_/interviews/guwange.html|date=2006-07-10}}).{{cite web|url=https://tablet.wacom.co.jp/article/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%81%AE%E3%82%8F%E7%AC%AC16%E5%9B%9E%E9%87%91%E5%AD%90%E3%83%8A%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9A%E3%82%A4|title=イラストレーターのわ第16回/金子ナンペイ|work=ワコムタブレットサイト|publisher=Wacom|date=2020|access-date=2020-08-13|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610135336/https://tablet.wacom.co.jp/article/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%81%AE%E3%82%8F%E7%AC%AC16%E5%9B%9E%E9%87%91%E5%AD%90%E3%83%8A%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9A%E3%82%A4|archive-date=2018-06-10|url-status=live}} The soundtrack was composed by Toshiaki Tomizawa.{{cite web|url=https://vgmdb.net/album/760|title=PCCB-00100 | FIXEIGHT|work=vgmdb.net|publisher=VGMdb|access-date=2019-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115040435/https://vgmdb.net/album/760|archive-date=15 November 2019|url-status=live}} ([http://shmuplations.com/toaplanmusic/ Translation] by Shmuplations. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022183049/http://shmuplations.com/toaplanmusic/|date=2019-10-22}}). On October 21 of the same year, an album was co-published exclusively in Japan by Scitron and Pony Canyon, featuring an arranged song composed by Tomizawa. A promotional recording sent by Toaplan to arcade operators also features an arranged song not present in the 1992 album.{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4sGQ0TE7NA|work=YouTube|date=July 27, 2019|author=Tatsuya Uemura|author-link=Tatsuya Uemura|title=『Fixeight』1992年JAMMAショー用PV|access-date=2019-12-12}}

In Japan, Game Machine listed FixEight on their September 1, 1992 issue as being the ninth most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as X-Men.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=433|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 September 1992|page=31|lang=ja}} In the November 1992 issue of Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine, the game was ranked on the number six spot in popularity.{{cite magazine|last=Yamashita|first=Nobuyuki|url=https://archive.org/stream/micomBASIC_1992-11#page/n234/mode/1up|title=Super Soft Hot Information - Video Game: Hot 20|magazine=Micom BASIC Magazine|issue=125|publisher=The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation|date=September 1992|page=243|lang=ja}} Nick Zverloff of Hardcore Gaming 101 gave positive remarks to FixEight related to several improvements made over its predecessor and regarded it as "one of the most improved sequels Toaplan ever made". Den of Geek noted it to be one of the titles from Toaplan which intensively pushed the formula established by their previous endeavors.{{cite web|last=Lambie|first=Ryan|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/games/58480/toaplan-the-rise-and-fall-of-japans-greatest-shooting-game-company|title=Toaplan: the rise and fall of Japan's greatest shooting game company|work=Den of Geek|publisher=Dennis Publishing|date=21 June 2018|access-date=2019-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621073806/http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/games/58480/toaplan-the-rise-and-fall-of-japans-greatest-shooting-game-company|archive-date=21 June 2018|url-status=live}} In more recent years, the rights to the game, its predecessor and many other IPs from Toaplan are now owned by Tatsujin, a company named after Truxton{{'}}s Japanese title that was founded in 2017 by former Toaplan employee Masahiro Yuge, who are part of the Embracer Group.{{cite web|url=http://tatsujin.tokyo/custom.html|title=ライセンス事業|publisher=TATSUJIN Co., Ltd.|date=2019|access-date=2019-11-14|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225203847/http://tatsujin.tokyo/custom.html|archive-date=2018-12-25|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Bravo|first=Roberto|url=https://www.gamercafe.cl/2018/09/12/nueva-compania-tatsujin-asegura-tener-gran-parte-de-las-ips-de-la-extinta-toaplan/|title=Nueva compañía "Tatsujin" asegura tener gran parte de las IPs de la extinta Toaplan|publisher=Gamercafe|date=12 September 2018|access-date=2019-11-14|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021030437/https://www.gamercafe.cl/2018/09/12/nueva-compania-tatsujin-asegura-tener-gran-parte-de-las-ips-de-la-extinta-toaplan/|archive-date=2019-10-21|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Embracer Group Announces the 11[th] Operating Group: Embracer Freemode |url=https://embracer.com/mfn_news/embracer-group-announces-the-11th-operating-group-embracer-freemode/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |website=Embracer Group |language=en-US}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/567422-fixeight FixEight] at GameFAQs
• [https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7821 FixEight] at Killer List of Videogames
• [https://www.mobygames.com/game/fixeight FixEight] at MobyGames
• [http://privat.bahnhof.se/wb831590/toaplansite/allyourbase/fixeight/index.html FixEight] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001055430/http://privat.bahnhof.se/wb831590/toaplansite/allyourbase/fixeight/index.html |date=2019-10-01}} at The Toaplan Museum

{{Toaplan}}

{{Portal bar|1990s|Japan|Video games}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:FixEight}}

Category:1992 video games

Category:Arcade video games

Category:Arcade-only video games

Category:Cooperative video games

Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games

Category:Run and gun games

Category:Science fiction video games

Category:Toaplan games

Category:Video games developed in Japan

Category:Video games scored by Toshiaki Tomizawa

Category:Video games set in the future