Phoenix (arcade game)
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Phoenix is a popular shoot 'em up arcade game created and manufactured by Amstar Electronics (which was located in Phoenix, Arizona) in 1980, and licensed to Centuri for US distribution, and to Taito for Japanese distribution.
Description
Like many arcade games of that era, Phoenix is an outer space-themed fix shooter. Gameplay is somewhat predictable: each level has two types of alien birds that fire at your ship, and a mothership that is guarded by many of the same alien birds.The player's spaceship moves horizontally at the bottom of the screen. In addition to the missiles, the ship is equipped with a shield that can be used to zap any of the alien creatures that attempt to crash into the spaceship. However, the player cannot move while the shield is active, and must wait for a short period (approximately five seconds) before using it again.
Phoenix was one of the first full color arcade games, along with Galaxian, so at the time it stood out. Also, it has distinctive shooting sounds that have become very familiar to fans of the genre. Most importantly, the Phoenix mothership was the first video arcade game boss where the boss was presented as a separate challenge.
Phoenix is a very popular game for graphing calculators; it is one of the most common programs for the TI-83, TI-84, and TI-86 models.
Gameplay
Each level has five separate rounds. The player must successfully complete a round before advancing to the next one.
- Rounds 1 and 2 – The player must destroy a formation of alien birds. While in formation, some of the birds fly down kamikaze style, in an attempt to destroy the player's spaceship by crashing into it. The birds are yellow in round 1, pink in round 2. The player's spaceship is given rapid fire for round 2, where the birds fly somewhat more unpredictably.
- Rounds 3 and 4 – Larger alien birds, resembling phoenixes, swoop down at the player's spaceship. The only way to fully destroy one of these birds is by hitting it in its belly; shooting one of its wings merely destroys that wing, and if both wings are destroyed, they will regenerate.
- Round 5 – The player is pitted against the mothership, which is controlled by an alien-like creature sitting in its center. To successfully complete this round, the player must first fire away at the hull and a conveyor belt-type shield to get a clear shot at the alien. Destroying the alien – only one shot is required – ends the level. The mothership fires missiles at the player, and has the alien birds (from rounds 1 and 2) protecting the ship.
Clones
- Griffon was released by Videotron in 1980.
- Falcon was released by BGV. in 1980.
- Vautour was released by Jeutel in 1980 in France.
- Batman Part 2 was released in 1981.
- Condor was released by Sidam in 1981.
- Galaxian
Bootlegs
- Phoenix was released by T.P.N in 1980
- Phoenix was released by IRECSA, G.G.I Corp in 1980
Sequels
The official sequel to Phoenix was called Pleiads (onscreen) or Pleiades (on the Centuri manufactured marquee) and was developed by Tehkan in 1981, and licensed to Centuri for US distribution.The Flagship level in the Midway game Gorf has been compared to the boss stage in Phoenix.
Trivia
Most Phoenix games will be in a standard Centuri woodgrain cabinet, but several other cabinets exist, due to this game being sold by multiple companies at the same time. These use sticker sideart (which covers the upper half of the machine), and glass marquees. The control panel is made up entirely of buttons, no joysticks are present. The monitor in this machine is mounted vertically, and the monitor bezel is relatively unadorned. Phoenix uses a unique wiring harness, which isn't know to be compatible with any other games.Matt Gotfraind holds the official record for this game with 987,620 points.
Ports
Atari later bought the home video game console rights to Phoenix. The Imagic game Demon Attack closely resembled Phoenix, so Atari sued Imagic but lost their lawsuit. The home version of Phoenix is one of the better arcade ports of the time.In 2005, Phoenix was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and the PC as part of Taito Legends.
External links
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