Wibarm (0)

Overview

Wibarm (stylized as WiBArM in Japanese and WIBARM in English) was developed and released by for the & , and & computer platforms in , and then ported to MS-DOS for 's in by . The game is considered to be ahead of its time in various ways.

Wibarm was an early example of a shooter-RPG hybrid, combining shooter-based combat with such as and exploration. The game switches between a view while exploring the outdoor to a fully 3D polygonal perspective inside , while are fought in an 2D shoot 'em up battle.

It was one of the first computer games with environments, along with (but more advanced than) that same year. In contrast to RPG's at the time which were restricted to 90-degree movements in four directions, Wibarm's use of 3D polygons allowed full 360-degree movement in the 3D sections of the game, which was a significant leap forward in terms of 3D game design.

The player controls a that can between a mech, and . The game also featured a variety of weapons and equipment as well as an , while the player could equipment and earn to raise like many RPGs.

In 1988, Arsys Software's was in many ways a to Wibarm, building on its 3D game design, gameplay mechanics, and open-world exploration.

Award

Wibarm won the following award from a leading Japanese computer publication at the time:

• (Oh!X) - Game of the Year (1986)