Starblade: Operation Blue Planet^{[lower-alpha 1]} is an unreleased 3D rail shooter arcade game in development by Namco. A sequel to the game Starblade (1991), the player controls the GeoCalibur starship in its mission to wipe out an alien race known as the Unknown Intelligent Mechanized Species. Gameplay involved using a flight-yoke controller to control a crosshair and shoot down enemies, while avoiding incoming obstacles and projectiles. The player has a shield that depletes when inflicted with enemy fire. Only one level was completed. It ran on the PlayStation 2-based Namco System 246 arcade hardware.

The game was created to utilize an arcade cabinet known as the Over Reality Booster System (O.R.B.S.), which featured a globular mirror and retractable seat. Development of the game was made to be simple and easy to understand, a response to the diminishing Japanese arcade game industry at the time, and to show off the technological capabilities of the O.R.B.S. machine. It was revealed to the public at the 2001 Amusement Machine Show in Japan and became one of the show's most popular titles, having a 70-minute wait time to play it. Critics applauded the game's detailed graphics and immersive experience. It was quietly cancelled following its unveiling, said to have been the result of a sharp decline of arcades and high manufacturing costs of the O.R.B.S. cabinet.

Starblade: Operation Blue Planet is a 3D rail shooter video game, and a sequel to the arcade game Starblade. Controlling the GeoCalibur starship, a successor to the GeoSword from the original, the player is tasked with wiping out an alien race known as the Unknown Intelligent Mechanized Species (UIMS) and their mechanical fortress named Megamouth before they destroy the United Galaxy Space Force, an intergalactic organization ran by humans to protect Earth. The player uses a flight-yoke controller to move a crosshair around the screen, which is used to shoot down enemies and their projectiles. The GeoCalibur has a shield at the top left of the screen that depletes when it is inflicted with damage from enemies, and should it fully deplete the game ends. An unseen announcer alerts the player of incoming enemies or obstacles.^[1] Only one level was completed, displaying a "TO BE CONTINUED" message upon completion.^[1]

The concept for O.R.B.S. was later re-used by Namco Bandai Games for their "Panoramic Optical Display" (P.O.D.) arcade cabinet, made to support their Gundam arcade games in Japan.^[4] A video showing the entirety of the demo was uploaded to YouTube by Namco Bandai on October 5, 2011.^[1] In a 2015 interview with Kazushi Imoto, the lead producer for Star Wars Battle Pod, he noted that Operation Blue Planet and other similar cancelled projects could potentially see a revival if there is enough fan demand.^[11]