Vasara

Overview

Vasara is a Shoot 'Em Up developed and published by Visco for the Arcade platform. Vasara was never released outside of Japanese arcades.

Story

Vasara is set in the year 1600 A.D. The current ruler of Japan, Hideyoshi Hashiba has died and Ieyasu Tokugawa is planning on taking over. The three main heroes are tying to make sure that Tokugawa does not assume control as they battle their way through a series of warlords sent by Tokugawa to stop them.

Gameplay

Vasara uses a two-button system for attacking. The first, and primary attack involves rapidly pressing the first button which will fire the normal bullets. Each character also has a melee attack that can be used by holding the button down. The melee attack will not only damage an enemy, but will also deflect any bullets in the way.

The second button is used to deploy a bomb which will clear the screen of small enemies and do damage to the larger ones.

The third method of attack uses a meter called the "Vasara" meter. Once the Vasara meter is full it can be used by holding down the primary attack button for a small amount of time and them released. The Vasara attack is a larger version of the melee attack which does large amounts of damage. The Vasara meter can be replenished by collecting various items dropped by the enemies such as red jewels.

Characters

There are three selectable main characters in Vasara. All three of the characters are based on real life people who also fought against Tokugawa. Each characters attacks, speed, and specials are different from each other.

Yukimura Sanada

Yukimura Sanada is the well rounded character of the three. Yukimura has a more concentrated main attack, which when upgraded will also shoot homing daggers. Yukimura's melee attack is a katana attack. The Vasara powered melee attack is a very large katana attack which will attack around half of the screen.

Stats:

• Speed - 2
• Power - 2

Saiga Magoichi

Saiga Magoichi is the speed based character in Vasara. Saiga's main attack is more of a spread attack than a concentrated attack, which when upgraded will also shoot homing fans at the enemies. Saiga's melee attack is a set of flaming fans that spin around the ship. The Vasara powered melee attack is a much larger flame that will also hone in on the enemies automatically.

Stats:

• Speed - 3
• Power - 1

Keiji Maeda

Keiji Maeda is a power based character. Keiji's main attack is a very concentrated, forward shooting attack. When Keiji's attack is upgraded it will also fire missiles that also only fire in a straight line. Keiji's melee attack is a giant spear attack that attacks out in a V shape in front of the ship. The Vasara powered attack is simply a very large version of the normal melee attack.

Stats:

• Speed - 1
• Power - 3