Fraxy is an "Arena Shooter", a game where you pilot a small spacecraft with variable armament in free scrolling space, in combat against various enemies. Enemies are constructed from segmented parts, many of which serve auxilliary functions, ranging from Armor, Aiming, Movement augmentation, Self-repair, and others. Parts can be destroyed individually, while destruction of the "primary core" results in the total destruction of the enemy.

To get a good idea of how the game plays, I reccomend searching Youtube for "Fraxy", however, if you are lazy, here are a couple links that will give you a good idea:

Sometimes things are not that they seem

Sometimes things are large and Spinning

Sometimes you are faced with an unceasing barrage.

The primary drawing features of Fraxy are:

"Edit" mode that allows creation of enemies.

Conditional event scripting that allows vast freedom in coordinating an enemy's functions.

Scripting language designed for user-created battle scenarios, ranging from one-on-one fights to epic battles against many enemies simultaneously or in succession.

User "mod" ability of all in-game graphics: They are stored as simple BMP files.

User "mod" ability of all sound effects, again, stored as simple .WAV files.

Ability to custom select your own weapons load out, among other widely variable configuration options.

Ability to add additional background graphics AND music.

Basically, Fraxy is quite possibly the ULTIMATE "sandbox" for the shmup-nut in all of us.

Now that you know what Fraxy IS, you probably want to play it. Fraxy can be found here.

The main portion of the creator's site is located here and it contains records of all previous versions of Fraxy, an up-to-date parts reference, and a BBS.

The pages are all in japanese, but the download link for the english-only version of the game is near the top of the Fraxy download page and is clearly labeled.