Giga Wing

Giga Wing
Giga Wing is a vertical shooting game released by Takumi in 1999 for the CPS-2 arcade system. It was later ported to the Sega Dreamcast in 2000 (1999 for Japan), and is also available on the Capcom Arcade Stadium collection, released in 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (Steam). Although it is a vertically-oriented game, it features a wide aspect ratio (commonly referred to as "vertizontals" in the STG fandom). It is the second game Takumi released, and the first featuring their own original IP. The game was published by Capcom. It is notable for its massive score potential -- reaching even higher than the trillions when played for score proper, huge number of bullets on-screen, and its bullet- reflecting mechanic -- one of the first of its kind -- which would prove to become a central idea in all of Takumi's games moving forward.

It was successful enough to be followed up by a sequel the following year, and a third game (Giga Wing Generations) released in 2004, ending the trilogy.

In Giga Wing, the player is fighting through a war in a futuristic steampunk setting, with the end goal of destroying the Medallion (spelled as "Medalion" in game), a powerful artifact that is being used for evil. There are four characters in the game, each with their own story unfolding around the chase for the Medallion. Notably, if the game is being played with two players at once, another story unfolds where the two characters work as a team, and it even features both good and bad endings.

Gameplay Overview
Giga Wing features seven total stages, although the seventh stage can only be played by completing the first six stages without using a continue. It is a single-loop game with a large focus on scoring.

The first three stages are played in different order, depending on the character that you select:

Controls
Giga Wing uses two buttons for its control scheme, with the Shot button also controlling the game's bullet reflection mechanic. On the Sega Dreamcast port, the player can set up dedicated buttons for auto-firing the Shot and using the reflection weapon.

Ships
There are four ships to play in Giga Wing, each one being piloted by a different character, which feature their own unique dialogue between stages. The player can select between three ship colors with Shot, Bomb, or Start.

A fifth ship can be unlocked in the Dreamcast port by 1CCing the game, or by entering a cheat code in the Gallery.

Rank
Giga Wing features a basic rank system, which will increase the speed of enemy bullets, and reduce the bullet sealing distance between the player and enemies. The earlier you die, the lower rank will increase. The default difficulty is 2 on the Japanese versions and 4 on US/EURO ones. Stage order will also influence the difficulty of stages and the bosses in said stage; Volcano as stage 3 is harder than Volcano as stage 1, for example.

Scoring
Scoring in Giga Wing revolves around a game-spanning multiplier that the player is constantly increasing by collecting Gold Medals and destroying enemies, massively increasing their base value. Gold Medals are generated by destroying airborne enemies, destroying certain objects, and deflecting enemy bullets into enemies and objects using Reflect Force. By chaining medals and maximizing destruction rate, the player can earn millions of points per hit.

High scores can be valued upwards of the trillions. The Hall of Records shows that the highest scoring runs between all four ships average upwards of 260,000,000,000,000pts (260 trillion).

Medal Chaining Breakdown
Gold Medals exponentially increase in value as they are collected. Each Gold Medal collected increases the value of all following medals, and this value is then added into the game's multiplier. The chain value is reset when the player dies, or a new stage has begun.

Achieving particularly high scores is greatly dependent on maintaining large medal chains without dying, and routing the best moments and angles to reflect enemy bullets and collect many medals. (B + N) = V  B = Base value of the medal collected. N = Overall medal collection value at the time of collection V = Final value that is added to the following medal, then added to the multiplier

As an example; if the player collects a medal that is worth +10 after collecting no medals, then the overall medal collection value applied to the next medal will be 10, and the multiplier will now be at x11. (10 + 0) = 10

If the player then collects five medals, each worth +1, then the first medal, instead of being worth 1, will be worth 11 (making the multiplier x22), then 12 (x34), then 13 (x47), then 14 (x61), then 15 (x76). (1 + 10) = 11 > etc. > (1 + 15) = 16

Multiplier Breakdown
The multiplier in Giga Wing spans the entire run. The player is constantly carrying a massive multiplier with them through all seven stages, and it makes going for high scoring strategies extremely valuable in the early game.

(V + X) = Y  X = Previous multiplier value Y = Current multiplier value

The multiplier, much like medals, is increasing exponentially with each medal collected, and this multiplier increases the value of every object and enemy that the player destroys. (Y * A) = Z  A = Base value of object destroyed Z = Score given to player on destruction

For example; if the player destroyed an enemy worth 150pts, with a x394049 multiplier, the enemy will be worth 59,107,350pts.

End-of-Stage Bonus
The end-of-stage bonus rewards players with bonus score based on three things; the rate of boss destruction, rate of enemy destruction, and their remaining bomb stock. All three rewards are increased based on the multiplier, leading to these bonuses becoming exponentially more rewarding the further the player is into their run.

BOSS BREAK: (1000 * Y) * Bs [* 2] * T * St  Bs = Boss destruction percentage T = Time remaining St = Stage number Boss Break Bonus rewards the player based on how much destruction they've inflicted upon the boss.
 * If Bs is 100%, then this bonus is doubled.
 * In the final stage, the value of T will always be set to 1.
 * In later stages, efficiently and quickly destroying bosses can yield very high bonuses.

SHOOT DOWN: (10000 * Y) * Sh [* 2] * St  Sh = Enemy destruction percentage Shoot Down Bonus rewards the player with bonus score based on their efficiency in destroying as many enemies in the stage as possible.
 * If Sh is 100%, then this bonus is doubled.

BOMB RESERVE: (10000 * Y) * Bm * St Bm = Bombs remaining at end of stage Bomb Reserve Bonus rewards the player with additional score for holding onto their bomb stock. This is the least-valuable end-of-stage bonus, but can still yield high score gain.

Strategy
See Giga Wing/Strategy for stage maps, enemy and boss descriptions, walkthroughs, and advanced play strategies.

Story
"Numerous wars have been fought since ancient times - many civilizations have emerged and disappeared. The cause of the wars is Medallion, a divine stone that brings both prosperity and destruction to humankind. Uncounted civilizations have sought it, fought for it and vanished. What they gained in their struggle for power was nothing short of annihilation!

Now, in the year 2050...

Civilizations of the world have again resumed fighting for Medallion with powerful weapons developed with advanced technology. This has become the most explosive war in history. Four air fighters take off into the sky. Each pilot carries a stone that holds mysterious power, said to be the only way to destroy Medallion. A new chapter is about to open in the never-ending saga of the fight for Medallion.

The future will soon answer the question: will this battle be the last?"

Endings
TBD

Development History
TBD

Version Differences
US / Euro Version (vs. Japan Version)
 * The US / Euro versions are set to difficulty 4 by default (JP version is set to 2).

Trivia
-There`s a Siter Skain shmup called RefleX, which resembles GigaWing for it`s photon reflector shield mechanic.

Gallery
See Giga Wing/Gallery for our collection of images and scans for the game.

Video References
Video Index

References & Contributors

 * 1) Page text, info, and formatting by CHA-STG