is a 1991 first-person rail shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Namco. The sixth entry in the Xevious series, the player takes control of the Solvalou starship from a first-person perspective as it must destroy the Xevious forces before they take control of Earth. The Solvalou has two weapon types: an air zapper to destroy air-based enemies, and a blaster bomb to destroy ground-stationed enemies. It runs on the Namco System 21 arcade board. Solvalou was advertised as a "hyper-entertainment machine" for its sit-down cabinet design and 3D shooting gameplay. The game is named after the starship the player controls in the series. Although it proved to be a commercial failure, Solvalou was well-received by critics for its realism, 3D graphics and impressive hardware capabilities, with some finding it to be better than Namco's previous 3D arcade titles. It was digitally re-released for the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2009 as one of the first titles under the Virtual Console Arcade brand. A home port for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was announced in 1994 but never released. Gameplay Solvalou is a third-person shooter video game set in the Xevious universe. Its plot takes place in the year 2015, following a war between humans and androids named the GAMP. The humans launch the titular starship to destroy the GAMP and its mothership before they wipe out the rest of humanity. The Solvalou is restricted to a pre-determined flight path, though players can move it around to avoid projectiles and obstacles that approach it. The game is divided into six levels that gradually increase in difficulty. In each of these, the Solvalou must make it to the end while destroying moving formations of enemies. The Solvalou has two weapons at its disposal: an "air zapper" that is used for destroying aerial enemies, and a "blaster bomb" that is used for destroying ground-stationed enemies. A maximum of five bombs can be launched at once, and the player needs to wait for them to regenerate before firing again. The top of the screen displays the player's health bar, or "shield", which depletes by one when inflicted by an enemy projectile. When the meter is drained, the game is over. At the end of each stage, players are scored based on how many enemies they defeated. Some levels end in a boss fight, usually with a mothership named the Andor Genesis. Development