Air Gallet

Air Gallet is a 1996 vertical scrolling arcade shooter published by Banpresto and developed by Gazelle, a studio founded in 1994 by former Toaplan employees after Toaplan declared bankruptcy that same year. Gazelle was founded by Tatsuya Uemura, Junya Inoue, Mikio Yamaguchi, Kaneyo Ohira and Yoshitatsu Sakai, all veterans of one of Japan's most celebrated arcade shooter studios. That lineage matters, because it puts Air Gallet in a direct creative chain that runs from Toaplan straight through to CAVE.

Players control a fighter jet across six levels to take down a terrorist organisation that is destroying major cities around the world and brainwashing the global population with propaganda. The game features four distinct weapon types: a laser, a support drone, a tracing missile and a gatling spread shot. Each weapon requires four power-up tokens to reach the next level, with four upgrade levels available per weapon type. Two special bomb weapons can also be collected, with the green Energy Spark clearing all bullets from the screen and the blue Thunder Drive delivering a narrower, more focused blast that only clears bullets that make direct contact.

The development story behind Air Gallet is one of the most fascinating in arcade history. Junya Inoue confirmed in an interview that due to financial difficulties at Gazelle, the game's deadline was moved forward mid-development. At that point, over 50% of the stages still needed to be built and only two to three months remained. Inoue revealed that the company's financial situation meant the game had to be rushed and they were unable to properly adjust its balance. Despite that, the sprite layering and visual presentation drew genuine praise on release.

Air Gallet is the only original IP from Gazelle and was the second of only three games the studio ever developed. Junya Inoue, who worked on this game at Gazelle, went on to become one of CAVE's most celebrated staffers shortly afterwards. A remaster titled Airgallet EXA Label was released in March 2025 exclusively for the exA-Arcadia coin-op platform, with Junya Inoue and Keishi Yonao brought back to work on it. It includes the original game with bug fixes alongside a new EXA Mode with updated scoring and new voice overs.

The original 1996 release features voice work from Lenne Hardt and Jeff Manning. Today MAME preserves the full arcade version exactly as it appeared in cabinets, and that is what you are watching right here.

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