It is Konami's first arcade shooter since Gradius IV in 1999. The arcade title was announced in AOU2007 Amusement Expo in 2006-02-16, with test version available.
It features touch screen input and e-AMUSEMENT.
Unlike previous Konami's arcade shooters, player can continue after
losing all lives using a single credit. Player can choose which stage to
play, with maximum of 3 stages playable using 1 credit.
When using an e-AMUSEMENT PASS, player gets following features:
- Character statistics records. The e-AMUSEMENT PASS saves player's name, obtained Otome cards, stage performances.
- Character development. When playing a character, the character gains
experience points (ST) that allows the character to raise ranks, which
allow more difficult missions to be chosen.
- Online features. Player's scores are compared with others via online ranking database.
It is an item obtained when the game ends. The following cards are available:
- Weapon card: Allows players to choose power up type in a fighter's
power up slot before the beginning of a mission. Levels 2 and 3 cards
allows weapons to have further power increase, but the power increase is
time-limited.
- Illustration card: An illustration card contains a fragment of an
illustration. After obtaining multiple illustration cards, an
illustration is obtained. It comes in colour and monochrome variants.
When obtaining 2 monochrome pieces, they are converted to 1 colour
piece.
- Miracle gift: The selected character gains 1000ST.
Each character has its own rank and ST points, and the ranks are
raised by gaining ST points. ST points can be gained by following:
- Retrieving various Elements in the game. The difficulty rating of
collecting a given quantity of Elements affects the earned ST points.
However, when a fighter dies in the game, the Elements obtained is
halved.
- Rating bonus. High mission rating gains ST points, while low rating
loses them. If player continues a mission or fails a mission, the rating
drops.
