Dangerous Seed[a] is a 1989 vertically scrolling shooterarcade game developed and published by Namco. Controlling one of three different starships, the player is tasked with destroying an alien race known as the Danger Seed before they wipe out all of mankind. Each ship has their own set of weapons and abilities, such as shots that dissolve enemies and target-seeking projectiles, and can sustain multiple hits before being destroyed. The player’s ships can also combine into a new ship, the Moon Diver, featuring a stronger shield and additional weapons. It ran on the Namco System 1 hardware.
Gameplay
Arcade version screenshot.
Dangerous Seed is a vertically scrolling shooter video game. The player controls a fleet of ships — Alpha, Beta and Gamma — as they must wipe out the alien race known as Danger Seed before they destroy all of mankind.[1] Each ship features different attack types; Alpha has a standard shot, Beta has a V-shaped laser weapon, and Gamma has the ability to shoot forwards and backwards.[1] All three also have a health meter that will deplete when they are inflicted with enemy fire, and having one of the ships destroyed will cause the player to take control of the next ship.[1] If all three ships are destroyed, the game will be over.[1] The three ships can also find power capsules by destroying large “Turtle” enemies that upgrade their abilities, such as homing missiles, “ring lasers” that track enemies, and a melt-missile that dissolves enemies when they are hit.[1]
The game spans twelve stages, known as “tubes” in-game, each taking place in planets found in the Solar System.[1] The fifth tube combines the player’s ships into a single craft named the Moon Diver, which features all of the weapons and abilities of the three ships and a large health bar.[1] Each tube features a boss fight at the end, which must be destroyed in a certain amount of time before it flees and deducts points from the player’s score.[1] Bosses have weak points which must be destroyed before completely defeating it.[1]
