Draft:UGSF

In universe, the United Galaxy Space Force is an organization that originated on futuristic-Earth. As depicted in games such as Galaxian3: Project Dragoon, the UGSF came across an extraterrestrial species known as UIMS, and later utilized their technology to expand deeper into space.^[1] Different races of antagonistic aliens are discovered in space, such as the Galaga, Bosconians, and Battura, while UGSF's own defense would also be designated as Galaxians.^[2] Most games feature the conflicts between the Galaxians and other aliens in space, while some other games would integrate many of these forces together. Games such as Dig Dug, Baraduke, and Mr. Driller are connected through their placement on the timeline and the fact that the player characters are Taizo Hori, Masuyo Tobi, and Susumu Hori, respectively, who are canonically related and work for UGSF.^[3] Canceled games like Starblade: Operation Blue Planet continue the timeline into the 27th century,^[4] with Thunder Ceptor being set at the tail end in the year 7650 (a reference to Namco's goroawase).

Despite Pac-Man and Xevious's franchises being prevalent for Bandai Namco, they do not take place within the timeline. Therefore, Shadow Labyrinth served as the introduction of both franchises into UGSF, with reimagined concepts from Pac-Man with PUCK as well as the main antagonist of Super Xevious, Gamp, appearing. The game takes place on a planet named Xevious, which features Galaxians having to work together with a tribe of Bosconians to defeat the Xevians while other Galaga and Dig-Dug aliens roam around the planet.^[5] An episode of the animated anthology series, Secret Level, had an episode promoting the game and features the world shown in Shadow Labyrinth.^[6]

Internally, many space-themed games created by Namco had shared some form of universe together.^[7] By 1990, the development of Galaxian3: Project Dragoon led to the full world of UGSF being established, which would include their previous shoot 'em ups. Later games like Star Ixiom would reference UGSF and the games within the shared universe.

In 2011, an official website was created by Bandai Namco to compile a list of every game that takes place within the timeline.^[7] This included New Space Order, a cancelled entry which would've served as the larger introduction of UGSF.^[8][9] In 2014, Shingun~Destroy! Girl's Tank Battalion was released in Japan, resulting the website being updated to insert itself. The timeline would not be updated until 2025, which included missing entries and the then-upcoming Shadow Labyrinth, the newest entry which heavily featured the UGSF universe.^[10]