Several enemies and characters were made to pay homage to other popular science fiction works, including Star Wars, UFO, Alien, and Battlestar Galactica.

It became an unprecedented success for Namco in Japan, with record-breaking sales figures making it the biggest game since Space Invaders.

[5][3] Certain points in the game have a fight against the Andor Genesis mothership, which launch an endless stream of projectiles and explosive black spheres known as "Zakatos".

[6] He and a small team were assigned by Namco's marketing department to create a two-button scrolling shooter that could rival the success of Konami's arcade game Scramble (1981).

[6] Early versions of the game were named Cheyenne and took place during the Vietnam War, with the player controlling a helicopter to shoot down enemies.

[6] Influenced by ray-tracing, Endō wanted the game's sprites to be high-quality and detailed, while also making sure they fit the limitations of the arcade board it ran on.

Many of the game's characters and structures were designed and refined by Shigeki Toyama, who previously worked on many of Namco's robotics for their amusement centers in the early 1980s.

[7] The player's ship, the Solvalou, is based on the Nostromo space tug from Alien, while several of the enemies are homages to starships from popular science fiction works, including Star Wars, UFO and Battlestar Galactica.

[b][7] The design was changed to instead be the shape of an octagon as the hardware had difficulty displaying round objects, while still keeping much of its key features such as the central core and blaster receptacles.

[6] While programming it, Endō thought it would be interesting to have the blaster target flash over a blank space where an enemy wasn't present, leading to the addition of the Sol citadels.

[6] The game was originally named Zevious, the "X" being added to make it sound more exotic and mysterious, with the metallic logo paying homage to the pinball table Xenon.

Copies of the game sold out within three days, with Namco's telephone lines being flooded with calls from players in need of gameplay tips.

[36] Amusement Life praised its detailed backgrounds, fast-paced gameplay and sense of mystery, labeling it a masterpiece and one of the best games of 1983.

[37] In 1998, Allgame called it one of the more "polite" shoot'em ups for its detailed visuals, challenge and unique enemy designs, finding it to have a "charm" unmatched by other games of the genre.

Your Sinclair commended the ZX Spectrum version's accurate conversion of the arcade original, while also praising its fast-paced gameplay and "enthralling" experience.

[11] Nintendojo greatly praised the Classic NES Series version for its gameplay and multiplayer mode, favorably comparing it to games such as Gradius.

Reviewing the Nintendo Entertainment System release, German publication Power Play found the game to be "too old", suggesting that readers instead try out titles such as Gradius.

"[40] In 1996, Next Generation ranked it at #90 in their "Top 100 Games of All Time", praising its art direction, intense gameplay and layer of strategy.

[41] Gamest magazine ranked it the second greatest arcade game of all time in 1997 based on reader vote, applauding its pre-rendered visuals, addictive nature and historical significance.

[42] Japanese publication Yuge found the Famicom home port to be one of the system's best and most memorable titles for its faithful portrayal of the original.

[43] The game's immense popularity led to high score tournaments being set up across the country, alongside the creation of strategy guidebooks that documented much of its secrets and hidden items.

[52] Bubble Bobble creator Fukio Mitsuji and Rez producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi cite Xevious as having a profound influence on their careers.

[42] In 1985, Roger C. Sharpe of Play Meter magazine stated that the "dimensionalized, overhead perspective of modern, detailed graphics was launched with Xevious.

[63] A final follow-up was released in 2009, Xevious Resurrection, exclusively as part of the compilation title Namco Museum Essentials, which includes two-player simultaneous co-op alongside a number of other features.

[65] A Xevious-themed soundtrack album was produced by Haruomi Hosono of Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1984, titled Video Game Music.