Xevious (Arcade)

Xevious
Developer: Namco Publishers: Namco (JP), Atari, Inc. (US) Platform: Arcade (Namco Galaga) Released in JP: January 1983 Released in US: February 1983 Released in EU: 1983 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has hidden developer credits. This game has unused graphics. This game has anti-piracy features.

A much-loved (especially in Japan) top-down shooter with a startlingly over-complicated backstory that factors into the game in exactly zero ways. A "sequel" called Super Xevious was also released that made the game harder and fixed some bugs.

Unused Graphics

A enemy resembling the flagship from Galaxian. It would later be used in Super Xevious.

An F4 Phantom enemy unused in Xevious, also present in Super Xevious with the redesign on the right.

Namco Museum Vol. 2

Like the Galaxian Enemy above, this graphic does appear in the sprite slideshow from Namco Museum Vol. 2, labeled "PHANTOM". Given how different it is from the other enemies in the game, it's possible that this enemy is a leftover from earlier in the game's development as the Vietnam War inspired Cheyenne.

Developer Credit

A hidden developer message that, for once, is quite easy to find: start Level 1, then immediately fly to the right and mash the Bomb button for a while. The message "NAMCO ORIGINAL program by EVEZOO" will appear at the bottom of the screen, and you'll be rewarded with a whopping 10 points.

This trick also works in Super Xevious, but with a subtly different message: "Special thanks for you by game designer EVEZOO".

"EVEZOO" is Masanobu Endo, who designed both this game and many of Namco's other classic arcade games.

When the game was remade as Xevious Arrangement on Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1, the message was changed to "This game is dedicated to the original XEVIOUS staff."

In the original Xevious, this trick also doubles as a method to detect bootlegs: On bootleg boards, the message changes to "DEAD COPY/MAKING copy under NAMCO program". (DEAD COPY / デッドコピー means bootleg in Japanese). This check seems to have been removed in Super Xevious.

Namco Museum DS keeps this Easter egg intact, with a setting in the "Hardcore Options" menu to display the "DEAD COPY" message instead.

(Source: [1])

Some bootleg versions would alter the message. For instance, in the bootleg Battles the message was changed to "Prease [sic] enjoy this GAME !". This was likely done to make the bootleg seem more original or legitimate, as the message had no other effects on the game otherwise.