stages are bonus levels, which are indicated by the text "That Is Galactic Dancing". In these, enemies fly into the screen along pre-set paths without firing any projectiles. Players can shoot down the aliens to earn bonus points; destroying all enemies awards the player a large sum of points. Some stages are vertical-scrolling corridors, where players must avoid constantly-moving waves of enemies and other obstacles. Development and release Galaga '91 was developed and published for the Game Gear by Namco. Minor assistance was provided by Now Production, a Japanese developer that collaborated before with Namco on a number of arcade conversions. As the first portable installment in the Galaxian series, 91 is based on the arcade game Galaga '88 (1987) and its TurboGrafx-16 home conversion (1989). It is not a direct port of 88, but instead a brand-new sequel that borrows and builds on mechanics established in its predecessor. The game was released in Japan on October 25, 1991. It was published under the Namcot banner, the former consumer game division of Namco. To promote the game, a LCD handheld was released, which has since become a prized collector's item. Galaga '91 was released in Europe in August 1993, where it was published by Sega and renamed Galaga 2. Its localized name has become a point of confusion, as Galaga was the follow-up to Galaxian and a North American upgrade kit for Gaplus was titled Galaga 3. Reception Critics believed that Galaga '91 was a well-suited title for the platform. Computer & Video Games reviewer Tim Boone commended its accurate portrayal of Galaga 88, and made for a "decent blaster" on the Game Gear. This opinion was shared by both Jean-Marc Demoly of Joystick and a writer for ACE, who both enjoyed its simplicity. The graphics, in particular, were well-liked; Demoly enjoyed its sprite animations and a reviewer from Mean Machines Sega felt it was one of the game's strong points. Critics liked the gameplay itself for being fun and well-designed, with the Mean Machines reviewer calling it "a good blaster" for the Game Gear library. Not everyone showed praise; a Beep! writer felt that the limited screen size made it harder to avoid enemy shots and the graphics look squashed. ACE similarity felt that it suffered from the Game Gear's limited screen size, but nonetheless was still a fun game. In 1995, Sega Saturn Magazine reported that it was