XEVIOUS

• HIDDEN MESSAGE: As soon as your Solvalou appears, move to the far right edge of the screen and begin bombing constantly. Continue bombing until the first set of attacking rings is very close to you, and then shoot the rings. The message “NAMCO ORIGINAL program by EVEZOO” (for Masanobu ENDOH) will appear on the screen (picture #1) and you'll earn 10 points.  This hidden message also serves as a copyright against bootleg versions, for if the code has been tampered with, the message will change to "DEAD COPY MAKING copy under NAMCO program" (picture #2).

• The 'world' of Xevious is comprised of 16 different 'slices' of it, or 16 different areas.  There’s to indicate which one you’re in, but each is separated by a section of trees.  After completing area 16, the sections repeat starting with #7.  See the maps section here for a detailed version of the map.

• Hidden flags: There are 4 hidden flags in the game, hidden in areas 1, 3, 5, and 7.  Flying over a flag awards you a free Solvalou.  The detailed map shows the location of the flags.  The October 1983 issue of Joystik explains how to find them in more detail (pictures #5 - #8).

• Sol Citadels: All but 1 of the 16 areas have hidden Sol Citadels, for a total of 44; only the 14th area doesn't.  The detailed map shows the location of the citadels.  The targeting crosshairs will glow red when you are over one.  Bombing them uncovers them and nets you 2,000 points.  Bombing them again earns you another 2,000 points.  Most of them are isolated, but there are 3 groups of 2 citadels, 3 groups of 4 citadels, and 1 group of 8 citadels.  Unlike the flags, these structures are always in the same place.  The October 1983 issue of Joystik explains how to find the groups of 4 and 8 in more detail (pictures #9 - #12).  It's believed that it's not possible to uncover and destroy the entire group of 8 citadels.

• The manual states to leave dip switch #8 (at position 10B) OFF but it actually has a function.  When OFF, the copyright message “ATARI/NAMCO” appears, and high score names are 3 characters long. When ON, the copyright message is “NAMCO” only, and high score names are 10 characters long!  If you change this switch during a game, it will freeze.  {Heinrich Rückeshäuser}

• With dip switch #8 set to ON, the following names appear in the high score list:

1st M.Nakamura - Masaya NAKAMURA (president of Namco)
2nd Eirry Mou. - ?
3rd Evezoo End - Masanobu ENDOH (game designer and programmer)
4th S.Okamoto - Shin-ichiro OKAMOTO (planner)
5th S.Kojima - Shin-ichi KOJIMA (another Namco staffer)

With the dip switch set to OFF, the names are abbreviated due to being limited to only 3 characters:

1st M.N
2nd Mou
3rd Eve
4th S.O
5th S.K

• The zapper and blaster buttons were reversed between the Japanese and U.S. arcade versions.

• The giant ground drawing of a bird is based on actual geoglyphs called Nazca Lines.

• BUG: The highest score possible is 9,999,990, at which point the game resets, or the score freezes (the game continues but w/o points registering).

• BUG: Soon before reaching the maximum score, the game starts to award extra lives on every blaster shot fired.  The game will start displaying strange symbols for the remaining lives.

• RUMOR: There’s an area with 4 clumps of 4 land-based enemies on either side of the screen, and after bombing the first clump with one shot, you’ll earn an extra Solvalou.  Bombing the clump on the other side also earned a free Solvalou, and the same thing happened with the other two clumps.  You’ll suddenly gain 4 extra lives and your score will jump from 150K to post-400K.  This might have been a bug.