Prism Squad: GO! is a three-player shoot-'em-up video game in which you and two partners cooperate to defend the solar system from invading aliens. Prism Squad: GO! was developed in C++, and uses Nintendo Wiimotes to play.
THE STORY
In the year 2082, humanity's peaceful isolation was shattered by the arrival of the Spek'Tral armada – an alien war machine hell-bent on subjugating the Earth and all of its inhabitants. Though the forces of Earth fought valiantly against the invading Spek'Tral, our weapons were no use against the alien's advanced shielding technology. The situation looked dire until the Earth's top scientists made an unexpected breakthrough; using technology recovered from a crashed Spek'Tral warship, they were able to engineer three experimental spacefighters whose weapons could pierce the Spek'Tral's defenses. These ships were entrusted to three of the Earth Defense Coalition's top pilots, forming an elite fighting force known only as "Prism Squad".
Through a series of daring tactical strikes, Prism Squad accomplished the impossible: they routed the invading Spek'Tral, forcing them to retreat. As the Spek'Tral warships withdrew from the solar system, the members of Prism Squad followed them, vowing to pursue the remnants of the Spek'Tral forces wherever they fled.
Years have passed since that time, and the citizens of Earth have begun to rebuild. But when a Spek'Tral scouting party is unexpectedly spotted near Venus, the Earth Defense Coalition realizes that their planet is in danger once again. With heavy hearts, the Earth Defense Coalition sends a distress signal to their protectors in the sky: "Prism Squad! Come in Prism Squad! The Earth needs your help once again!"
HOW TO PLAY
In Prism Squad: GO!, you play as a member of Prism Squad, fighting to defend a planet (which lies in the center of the screen) from invading Spek'Tral warships (who appear in waves from either side.) The Spek'Tral attack by crashing their ships directly into the planet. If the planet sustains enough damage, then it's game over!
Each member of Prism Squad is color-coded with a single color: red, yellow, or blue. The Spek'Tral are also color-coded, although they're not limited to primary colors; Spek'Tral warships will appear in red, yellow, blue, orange, green, purple, and white. Members of Prism Squad can defend their objective by shooting down the Spek'Tral warships whose color matches their own. (So for example, the red player can shoot down red ships, the blue player can shoot down blue ships, and so on.)
When the Spek'Tral dispatches orange, green, purple and white warships, the members of Prism Squad must combine their Prism Powers to succeed. When two or more players hold down the 'A' button on their Wiimotes, each ship will begin to glow with the combination of their two colors (for example, if the red and yellow players both hold down 'A', they will each glow orange, allowing them to take down orange Spek'Tral.) Be careful though! If you press 'A' while your partners' are trying to blend a specific color, you may inadvertently ruin their plans. In Prism Squad: GO! communication and teamwork are your keys to success!
INSPIRATION
The aesthetic of Prism Squad: GO! draws inspiration from campy Japanese movies and video games circa 1980. The notion of a colored-coded fighting-force who combine their powers to defeat extraterrestrial enemies was inspired by old Japanese TV series such as Voltron and Super Sentai. Commander Wolfgang — Prism Squad's liaison to the Earth Defense Coalition — pays homage to such classically-mistranslated Japanese video games as Zero Wing with his campy dialog, two-frame "flappy head" animation, and gratuitous use of exclamation marks.