Accepted [+] [X] Super Cobra [Model GX316] Update submitted by vecchiom
Super Cobra (c) 1981 Konami.
The object of the game is to invade ten SUPER COBRA defense systems of increasing difficulty and safely pick up the BOOTY.
Use the joystick to move up, down, accelerate and decelerate. Use the Laser and Bombs to destroy defenders. Hitting tanks scores Mystery Value worth 100, 200, or 300 points. Rockets, Tanks, Missiles, and UFO's may all fire at invader. Hit fuel tanks for extra fuel for CHOPPER. The Chopper uses up fuel as it flies, except in between defense levels.
At 10000 points, the player is awarded a BONUS CHOPPER.
At the end of the game, the player can continue at the defense level he left off on by depositing extra coins and pressing the discharge button on the left-hand side of the panel.
If the Booty is destroyed on the BASE level, the player may try again. When the Booty is safely recovered, a Bonus Chopper is awarded and play resumes at defense level Number 1 where the fuel is used up faster and the defenders fire more often.
SUPER COBRA Defense Level Descriptions :
* Fuel Tanks appear on every defense level.
* Tanks appear and fire on all levels except level 8 where they do not fire.
Level 1 - Player must maneuver the chopper over mountainous terrain against fast and slow firing rockets.
Level 2 - Chopper faces Arcing missiles over a mountain terrain.
Level 3 - Smart Bombs flying in groups of four over mountainous terrain. Rockets appear, but do not fire.
Level 4 - Single Smart Bombs over mountainous terrain. Again, Rockets appear but do not fire.
Level 5 - Chopper flies through a cavern-like terrain against Falling Mines.
Level 6 - Rapidly firing, Roving Tanks over mountainous terrain. Rockets appear, but do not fire.
Level 7 - Maneuver through a field of meteors which explode when hit with bombs or three times with Laser, plus a single, green, shadow meteor directly in front of Chopper which explodes when hit five times with Laser. Rockets appear but do not fire.
Level 8 - Chopper flies over mountainous terrain against rapidly firing UFO's. Tanks and Rockets appear, but do not fire.
Level 9 - Chopper faces arcing missiles over tall buildings.
Level 10 - Firing rockets in a Building Maze.
Base - Player must maneuver the Chopper over tall buildings against arcing missiles and rapidly firing tanks to reach the Booty and safely carry it away.
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : GX316
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 1.78975 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) General Instrument AY8910 (@ 1.78975 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 2 (FIRE, BOMB)
- TRIVIA -
Super Cobra was released in March 1981 in Japan.
While Scramble only went through five areas to the base, Super Cobra went through ten areas. Super Cobra also had more enemies to deal with besides the missiles such as gun batteries and sidewinder missiles. The premise, though, is the same. Penetrate the enemy defenses to make it to the base to pick up the booty. What do you have against all this defense, you have your Super Cobra of course. It will, though, require all of your skills as a pilot to be able to go the distance to get the booty. This game never gained the popularity of Scramble but it still remains a cult classic and actually seems to have had better staying power then Scramble. Perhaps the reason was because it was more of a challenge, who knows.
A Super Cobra unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'.
- SCORING -
10 points per second of flying.
Missile on ground : 30 points
Sidewinder missile on ground : 40 points
Missile in air : 50 points
Sidewinder missile in air : 60 points
Red UFO : 100 points
UFO : 100 points
Fuel tank : 50 points
Gun battery : 100, 200, or 300 points
Green fireball : 150 points
Missile in ceiling : 30 points
Missile dropping from ceiling : 50 points
Booty : 800 points
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* When you start the game, your helicopter will be at the left side of the screen. Keep in mind, this is a scrolling game. This means you can go no faster then the right side and no slower then the left side. You can, however, vary your speed in-between by pushing the joystick back and forth. The biggest key in getting through this game is learning how to use the joystick to speed up and slow down because you will sometimes be put into some very tight areas that will require precision joystick control. You will hit a clear area and a message will come up such as '1000 miles cleared', '2000 miles cleared', etc... until your reach the base.
1ST AREA : This is a basic introductory area. It will allow you to get used to the controls while the threat level remains relatively low. The area is a mix of both mountainous and city.
a) Learn how to vary your speed and you can drop bombs with pinpoint precision. You can only have two bombs on the screen at any one time. You will have to go close to the surface to really make a difference. The biggest threat is the missiles that rise up to meet you.
b) Fuel is a very precious commodity in this game. Don't take a chance trying to bomb a fuel tank. It's better, if you have a flat section, to take out what's under your rocket, and strafe the rest of the way. This way, you ensure you can hit the fuel tank or tanks.
c) Watch the terrain. Sometimes you may be cruising when a mountain will appear suddenly requiring quick reflexes and space you may not have.
d) You also need to watch out for ground fire from the gun batteries. They tend to fire random shots and if you aren't careful, they will hit your helicopter.
2ND AREA : This area introduces you to the sidewinder missile. These missiles are unusual in the fact that they fire at an arc and come back down again. This means your helicopter can get hit two ways. Of course, if it misses your helicopter, it tends to sometimes be helpful by taking out other ground targets such as missiles and gun batteries. The terrain is mountainous.
a) Follow the same pattern as you did in the 1st Area. This time, you need to be wary of the sidewinder missiles.
b) As always, make sure you keep a high fuel level and watch out for those gun batteries.
3RD AREA : You get to deal with the red UFO's in this area. Also, the mountains will get steeper and create ''choke points'' at the top of the screen. Of course, you will have to contend with the UFO's coming through the other side. The terrain is mountainous.
a) The red UFO's aren't too difficult to deal with. They have a tendency to stop in pairs, then come at your helicopter. Again, it's easy to shoot them down.
b) The biggest threats are the 'choke points'. You usually will arrive at the same time as a UFO to see who's first over the mountain. This will require quick reflexes.
c) Even though no missiles come up at you, the gun batteries will still harass you.
4TH AREA : This is a continuation of the 3rd Area. Except this time the area you are flying in is significantly narrowed to a point where it seems like you are going through natural caverns. Use the same methods as the 3rd Area.
5TH AREA : You will have to deal with threats both from above and below in this area. There are missiles in the ceiling of the caverns that will drop down. Although missiles aren't firing from the ground, you still have to deal with gun batteries. The terrain is mountainous and caves.
a) You will have to be real careful in this area, the missiles in the ceiling are pretty concentrated. You will have to be able to speed up and slow down on a dime to avoid them or to shoot them.
b) Don't get too close to the ground since the terrain goes from mountains to canyons very quickly.
c) As already mentioned, get fuel and avoid ground fire.
6TH AREA : The main threat in this area is the fact the gun batteries now move. That's right, they track right along with your helicopter until they hit an obstacle. They travel equally well in the canyons as well as the mountains. This makes them especially dangerous since they are firing at the same time.
a) You will have to accelerate and decelerate frequently to 'fool' the moving gun batteries.
b) When you destroy ground targets, be selective in which ones you hit because if you hit targets in the path of the moving gun batteries, you just allow them to travel farther.
7TH AREA : This area is a little trickier since you now have fireballs coming at your helicopter. In addition, there is a green fireball that likes to track your helicopter and prevent your shots from gaining any distance. It takes seven shots to take out this fireball. The terrain is mountainous.
a) You will be staying in the valleys most of the time in this area. This is a good time to shoot things up on the ground since again, the missiles won't fly up at your helicopter. Gun batteries, though, will continue to harass you.
b) Timing again is important in this area since there are hills in the valley you must cross over. Of course, the tops of these hills are exposed to the fireballs. Time it so that right after a fireball passes over a hill, accelerate and drop into the next valley. Then decelerate in preparation for the next hill.
8TH AREA : This is repeat of the 3rd area except this time you will be dealing with 'chains' of white UFO's. Use the same tactics as the 3rd Area.
9TH AREA : This is a very short city area. Just watch out for sidewinder missiles.
10TH AREA : This is the area that will get most players. The movements have to be precise in the caves or you will end up part of the wall.
a) Learn quickly when to accelerate and decelerate within the caves. Right when you come to a ledge, push the joystick all the way back and start lining up for the next cave. Accelerate quickly through it, decelerate and repeat this pattern.
b) Don't worry about running out of fuel in the caves, there are plenty of fuel tanks to top your helicopter off. Plus, you will need all that fuel for not only navigating through the caves, but also the base since it doesn't have any fuel tanks.
BASE : This is the second hardest area that gets a lot of players. You have to be very precise in your movement. You will have to deal with gun batteries firing at you while you are trying to pick up the booty.
a) You will see the KONAMI sign atop one of the buildings. Once you see this, you need to decelerate rapidly and drop down quickly to the shorter building next to the base. Once you almost clear that building, you will have to rapidly decelerate, drop down, grab the booty, and rise quickly to avoid the building on the right.
b) If you fail to grab the booty on a pass, the screen will repeat itself until you either destroy the base or run out of rockets to use on it.
Once you have completed the Base, the action goes back to the 1st Area again. Things, however, will speed up. Fuel consumption is quicker and the enemies also are faster.
- SERIES -
1. Scramble (1981)
2. Super Cobra (1981)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Casio PV-1000
Philips G7000 Videopac [EU]
[JP] Sony PlayStation (may.13, 1999) "Konami 80's Arcade Gallery [Model SLPM-86228]"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX [EU] (1983) "Super Cobra [Model RC705]"
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1987) "Killer Cobra" by Mastertronic
Commodore Plus/4 [EU] (1987)
Sord-M5 [JP] (1981)
* OTHERS:
[JP] VFD handheld game (19??) released by Gakken : Two different body styles were released.
Arcade [EU] [AU] [KO] (nov.1998) "Konami 80's AC Special"
Arcade [JP] (nov.1998) "Konami 80's Arcade Gallery"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Accepted [+] [X] Scramble Update submitted by vecchiom
Scramble (c) 1981 Stern Electronics, Incorporated.
North American release. Game developed in Japan. See the original for more information; "Scramble [Model GX387]".
- TRIVIA -
Scramble was released by Stern Electronics, under license by Konami, in March 1981 in the USA.
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
GCE Vectrex [US] (1982) "Scramble [Model HS-4070]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (nov.30, 1999) "Konami Arcade Classics [Model SLUS-00945]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] [US] (sept.13, 2006)
Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] [US] (june.30, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Scramble [Model CUSA-02382]"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Nintendo GBA (mar.21, 2002) "Konami Collector's Series - Arcade Advanced [Model AGB-AKCE-USA]"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.27, 2007) "Konami Classic Series - Arcade Hits [Model NTR-ACXE-USA]"
* COMPUTERS:
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1983) "Skramble"
[US] Commodore C64 (1983) "Skramble!"
[US] Commodore C64 (1984) "Penetrator" by Melbourne House
Tommy Tutor
* OTHERS:
VFD portable game [US] (1982) by Tomy
Arcade [US] (nov.1998) "Konami 80's AC Special"
Konami Arcade Advanced Plug 'n Play TV Game [US] (2004) by Majesco
Windows Mobile [US] (dec.10, 2007)
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Accepted [+] [X] Gorf [Model 873] Update submitted by vecchiom
Gorf (c) 1981 Midway.
The player's goal is to defeat the Gorfian Empire and safeguard the future of mankind. Gorf is a single screen shoot-em-up in the classic "Space Invaders" mould, the prime difference being that Gorf offers five distinct levels of shooting action. The levels are as follows :
* Mission 1 - Astro Battles : The first mission is more or less a straight clone of "Space Invaders", set against a sky-blue background. The player is protected by a glittering parabolic force field, which is gradually worn away by enemy projectiles. The force field also works in BOTH directions, and therefore must momentarily deactivate in order for the player's ship to fire out. To advance to the next mission, the player must destroy all the invaders.
* Mission 2 - Laser Attack : The other missions are all set in space. In this mission, the player is faced with two formations each made up of five enemies. The formations are cross-shaped, and at the bottom of each formation is a single laser gun. The laser guns fire a long, dangerous yellow beam at regular intervals. At the same time, the other enemies may break formation and attempt to dive-bomb the player. Destroying a laser gun causes the corresponding formation to break apart. To advance to the next mission, the player must destroy all the enemies.
* Mission 3 - Galaxians : This mission is a clone of "Galaxian". The player is faced with a swarm of galaxians, which continually dive-bomb and shower the player with deadly projectiles. To advance to the next mission, the player must destroy all the galaxians.
* Mission 4 - Space Warp : A wormhole is situated in the middle of the screen out of which enemies ships emerge, one at a time, and spiral outward at increasing speed; whilst growing larger and flinging fireballs at the player. The Space Warp level would have an influence on Konami's superb "Gyruss", released two years later. To advance to the next mission, the player must survive a number of these enemies.
* Mission 5, Flag Ship : The final mission is a one-on-one confrontation with the alien Flag Ship itself. The Flag Ship is one of the earliest examples of the 'boss' enemy in mainstream video games. It is equipped with its own force field, through which the player must blast in order to get a clean shot on the ship. It is also armed with a powerful fireball weapon. The player's weapon has a minor effect on the Flag Ship's hull, and can only blast off tiny pieces of it. This adds to the player's problems, as stray pieces of hull can destroy their ship. These pieces can be destroyed with a single shot. The only way to destroy the Flag Ship is to hit the glowing reactor at the heart of the ship, either by first blasting away the hull to expose it, or by managing to fire a shot directly into the tiny vent that leads to the reactor.
Each time the Flag Ship is destroyed, the player advances in rank. Initially, the player begins with the rank of Space Cadet, before moving on to Space Captain, Space Colonel, Space General, Space Warrior, and finally Space Avenger. The player's spaceship is equipped with a Quark Laser which allows the player to cancel a poorly aimed shot and fire another shot.
- TECHNICAL -
[Upright model] [No. 873]
Gorf upright arcade units came in a blue and grey dedicated cabinet with sticker side art of several spaceships locked in battle.
Bally Midway Astrocade hardware
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 1.789773 Mhz)
Sound Chips : (2x) Astrocade (@ 1.789773 Mhz), Votrax SC-01
Control : 8-way 'flight yolk' controller with a trigger
- TRIVIA -
Gorf was released in February 1981 in the USA.
Gorf was the first game ever to show multiple scenes. It has achieved the status of 'true status' and became legendary for its groundbreaking, yet almost unintelligible speech.
This game featured some early speech synthesis that was done in a similar manner to that in "Wizard of Wor" (Gorf and Wizard of Wor ran on nearly identical hardware). Here is a list of the humorous phrases Gorf says throughout the game; [rank] denotes where Gorf speaks the player's current rank :
Attract mode:
1) Insert Coin!
2) I am the Gorfian Empire.
3) Long Live Gorf!
NOTE: Move the controller any time during the attract mode to trigger the speech.
Ready to play mode:
1) Long Live Gorf!
2) Push a player button.
Mission start-up:
1) Prepare yourself for annihilation, [rank]!
2) You will meet a Gorfian doom, [rank]!
3) Survival is impossible, [rank]!
4) You cannot escape the Gorfian robots!
5) I am the Gorfian Empire!
6) I am a Gorfian consciousness.
7) Gorfian robots...Attack! Attack!
8) Robot warriors, seek and destroy the [rank]!
9) My Gorfian robots are unbeatable!
10) Gorfians take no prisoners!
Player loses a ship:
1) Got you, [rank]!
2) Bad move, [rank]!
3) Some galactic defender you are, [rank]!
4) Another enemy ship destroyed!
5) Your end draws near, [rank]!
6) Ha ha ha ha!
Player loses last ship:
1) Too bad, [rank]!
2) Bite the dust, [rank]!
At game over:
1) Gorfians conquer another galaxy.
2) You cannot escape the Gorfian Robots.
3) All hail the supreme Gorfian Empire!
4) Try again; I devour coins!
Player destroys Flag Ship (and advances in rank; [new rank] denotes where Gorf speaks the player's new rank) :
1) Nice shot! You have been promoted to [new rank]!
2) For hitting my Flag Ship, you have been promoted to [new rank]!
3) In the Gorfian chronicals, you have been promoted to [new rank]!
4) Next time will be harder, but for now you have been promoted to [new rank]!
NOTES : These phrases may not be easy to hear over the loud explosion of the Flag Ship. The Rank lamp on the bezel moves over to the next rank as soon as Gorf begins speaking. If the player destroys the Flag Ship while already at the highest rank (which is Space Avenger), the words "you have been promoted to" will be omitted from each of these phrases.
OTHER NOTES:
Have you ever noticed that GORF is FROG spelled backwards? Seriously, GORF is an acronym for 'Galactic Orbital Robot Force'.
The game's creator, Jay Fenton, designed a sequel to Gorf called 'Ms. Gorf', but it was never released. Jay Fenton underwent a sex change and is now known as Jamie Fenton.
A Star Trek tie in was originally planned by Midway, but when the first movie fell flat, the Enterprise sprite was reused as the Gorf Flag Ship.
Todd Rogers holds the official record for this game with 653,990 points.
A Gorf unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' and in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks'.
An upright Gorf unit appears in the 38 Special music video 'Caught Up In You' and the 1987 sitcom "Married... with Children"; Season 4, Episode 19 (Peggy Turns 300).
- SCORING -
Astro Battle :
Space Invaders (all) : 50 points
Destroying Gorfian robot distributing Space Invaders : 300 points
Mystery Saucer : 100 points
Back and Forth Saucer : 300 points
NOTE : If you hit a Space Invader when it is being launched from the Gorfian robot, you get 100 points.
Laser Attack :
Laser Ships : 300 points
Escorts for Laser Ships : 100 points
Galaxians :
All Galaxians not attacking : 50 points
Yellow Galaxian attacking : 60 points
Blue Galaxian attacking : 80 points
Red Galaxian attacking : 100 points
Galaxian Flagship : 300 points
Space Warp :
Enemy fighters : 100 points
Flag Ship :
Each hit : 20 points
Escorts : 100 points
Destroying a piece of debris : 150 points
Destroying Flag Ship (and advancing in rank) : 1,000 points
Gorfian robots (appear randomly) : 300 points
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* The action starts immediately as soon as you start your game. The first sight that will greet you are the Space Invaders. From that point on, the action will be non-stop with the only things changing are your rank and the difficulty of the enemies. Also, there is an interesting quirk in the game. If your ship hits a displayed score (after destroying some enemy), your ship will be destroyed. So avoid flying into scores. Also, you can only have one shot up at a time. This, though, can be countered by the fact that you can prematurely end a shot and fire another thus saving yourself a lot of time and perhaps your ship.
* Due to Gorf's limited hardware not being powerful enough to move the game's colorful sprites around easily, it's possible, on the Astro Battles screen, to slow the last two invaders down to a crawl; simply by repeatedly firing. On the Laser Attack screen, if you shoot all the enemy ships EXCEPT for the laser shooters, you can sit forever on the far left hand side of the screen. Useless, but interesting all the same.
* Astro Battles :
1) Fire immediately when the mission starts. You may get lucky and hit the Gorfian robot distributing the Space Invaders. Also fire at the invaders as they are being distributed for more points.
2) Instead of the normal 11x5 grid of invaders, you only have to deal with an 8x3 grid.
3) Instead of buildings to protect your ship, you now have a shield dome over you. It briefly disappears when you fire, but the invaders have to cut through it with their lasers.
4) Remember, you have a lot of maneuverability in your ship (i.e. you can go up and down) so it should be easy to avoid the invaders bombs.
* Laser Attack :
1) Your first priority should be the laser ships. Wait until they have fired and send a shot right up their laser cannon.
2) The escorts tend to make random movements so be wary of them coming at you from all directions.
3) As you advance higher in rank, everything speeds up accordingly.
* Galaxians :
1) Try to shoot the Galaxians when they are setting up to get the score for attacking Galaxians.
2) At first, only a couple will come down. After a while, though, the Galaxians attempt to swarm all over your ship. Since they each fire three shots apiece, this can present a particularly deadly situation.
3) Keep moving. There is no safe place (not even the corners).
4) At later ranks, it isn't uncommon for a whole bunch of Galaxians to attack your ship at once.
5) If you can, try to hit the Gorfian robot that sometimes bounds over the top of the Galaxians.
* Space Warp :
1) This is the mission that tends to kill off most players. You will see a black hole with dots in it. These dots represent the number of fighters you have to deal with coming out of the black hole. As a Space Cadet, you only deal with 12 fighters. From Space Captain onward, it will be 16 fighters.
2) Fighters leave fast or slow and rotate around the hole. In addition, they will also fire at you. It will take some fancy maneuvering to avoid both the fighter and the shot it fired.
3) Some fighters go around so fast, you just have to try to keep out of its way.
4) Sometimes fighters will launch a slow shot from the side of the screen. Watch out for these shots.
5) In the later ranks, it will take all of your skill to survive since everything moves very quickly on this mission.
* Flag Ship :
1) The Flag Ship will fly back and forth slowly. It will descend then ascend as it completes a back and forth movement.
2) There is a shield around the Flag Ship you must cut through to hit it. The Flag Ship can fire through the shield at you.
3) On the later ranks (starting with Space Captain), the Flag Ship is escorted by two Gorfian robots.
4) Plan your shots so you can expose the reactor. This will mean cutting through a little bit of the ship to accomplish this. Watch out for the debris you create since it is as deadly as the Flag Ship's laser shots. If you feel really daring, hit the debris for extra points.
5) After you have stripped the ship away from the reactor, a well-placed shot should obliterate the Flag Ship.
6) Again, in the later ranks everything moves much faster.
- SERIES -
1. Gorf [Model 873] (1981)
2. Ms. Gorf (1982)
- STAFF -
Developer by David Nutting Associates.
Executive producer: Dave Nutting
Game concept / Designers: Dave Nutting, Jay Fenton
Video programmer: Jay Fenton
Audio programmer: Scot Norris
Added program support: Rick Frankel, Bob Ogden
Electronics designers: Jeff Frederickson, Dave Otto
- PORTS -
NOTE : Due to licensing difficulties, the 'Galaxians' mission is omitted on these home ports unless otherwise noted.
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1982) "Gorf [Model 80010]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1983) "Gorf [Model 4L 2711]"
Atari XEGS
[US] Colecovision (1983) "Gorf [Model 2449]"
[AU] Colecovision (1983)
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Atari 800 (1982) "Gorf [Model 09-01102]"
[US] Commodore VIC-20 (1982) "Gorf [Model VIC-1923]"
[US] Commodore C64 (1983) "Gorf [Model C-64 618]"
[EU] Commodore C64 (1983)
[EU] BBC Micro (1983) "Gorf" by Doctorsoft
[EU] Acorn Electron (1983) "Gorph" by Doctorsoft
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1993) "Gorf" by Towerbyte Software : Includes Galaxians mission, unlike the other ports
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (2004) "B.A.R.F." by Dinu Cristian Mircea
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Machine's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Jamie Fenton's website; http://www.fentonia.com/bio
Accepted [+] [X] Phoenix [Japanese Cocktail Table] Update submitted by vecchiom
Phoenix (c) 1980 Taito Corp.
Japanese version licensed from Amstar. For more information on the game itself, please see the original Amstar entry; "Phoenix".
- TECHNICAL -
Japanese Cocktail Table
- TRIVIA -
Phoenix was released by Taito in December 1980 in Japan.
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[JP] Sony PS2 (mar.29, 2007) "Taito Memories II Gekan [Model SLPM-66713]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] Phoenix [Upright model] Update submitted by vecchiom
Phoenix (c) 1981 Centuri.
For more information on the game itself, please see the original Amstar entry.
- TECHNICAL -
Upright model Dimensions :
Height : 180.3 cm (71 in.)
Width : 64.5 cm (25.375 in.)
Depth : 76.2 cm (30 in.)
- TRIVIA -
Phoenix was released by Centuri, under license by Amstar Electronics, in January 1981 in the USA.
Title screen's copyright notice :
PHOENIX COPYRIGHT 1980
AMSTAR ELECTRONICS CORP.
MFG. BY CENTURI INC.
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1982) "Phoenix [Model CX2673]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[US] Sony PS2 (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLUS-21122]"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Sony PSP (may.17, 2007) "Taito Legends Power-Up [Model ULUS-10208]"
* COMPUTERS:
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1983) "Demon Seed"
[US] Commodore C64 (1984) "Eagle Empire"
[US] Apple II (1981) "Falcons"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.10, 2005) "Taito Legends"
* OTHERS:
Arcade Legends : Space Invaders TV Game [US] (2004) by Radica Games
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (oct.24, 2010) [Model 375327278]
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Refused [+] [X] Rally-X [Upright model] [Model 935] Update submitted by vecchiom
Rally-X (c) 1980 Midway Mfg. Co.
Export version by Bally/Midway for North America. Game developed in Japan by Namco. For more information about the game, please see the original Namco entry.
- TECHNICAL -
[Upright model]
[No. 935]
- TRIVIA -
Rally-X was released by Midway Manufacturing, under license from Namco, in December 1980 in the USA.
In the introduction to the bonus stages, the Namco version misspelled 'Challenging' as 'Charanging'. This was corrected in this export version.
In 1981, "Defender", "Pac-Man", and "Battlezone" were shown alongside Rally-X at a trade show sponsored by the Amusement Machine Operators of America. It was believed that Rally-X would be the top money-earner. Defender went on to sell more than 60,000 units - more than disproving these projections - and cemented its place in video game history.
A Midway Rally-X unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Tron'.
- PORTS -
NOTE: Only ports released in North America [US] are listed here. For ports released in other regions, please see the original Namco entry.
* CONSOLES:
Sony PlayStation (jul.31, 1996) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SLUS-00215]"
Microsoft XBOX (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model NMO-2201A-NM]"
Nintendo GameCube (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model DOL-G5NE-USA]"
Sony PS2 (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model SLUS-21164]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
Nintendo Wii (nov.16, 2010) "Namco Museum Megamix"
* HANDHELDS:
Sony PSP (aug.23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
Nintendo Gameboy Advance (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model AGB-B5NE-USA]"
* COMPUTERS:
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.31, 1998) "Microsoft Revenge of Arcade"
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (oct.25, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
* OTHERS:
Arcade (1996) "Namco Classics Collection Vol.2"
Namco Classics TV Game (2003) by Jakk's Pacific
Arcade (2010) "Pac-Man's Arcade Party"
Arcade (2018) "Pac-Man's Pixel Bash"
- SOURCES -
Game's Flyer.
Refused [+] [X] Rally-X Update submitted by vecchiom
Rally-X (c) 1980 Namco, Limited.
In Rally-X, the player drives a car around a maze picking up all of the yellow flags, of which there are ten, before the car's fuel runs out. The game-play has a similar feel to another Namco legend, "Pac-Man"; although in Rally-X, the mazes are much larger and, with each maze having only ten flags to collect, is more sparsely populated than Namco's pill-eating legend.
In-game opponents consist of red enemy cars that try to ram into and destroy the player's car, a problem compounded by the fact that enemy cars are faster than the player's. A smoke screen can be activated which trails behind the player's car and causes any pursuing enemies to crash. Each maze also has rock formations which, if crashed into, will result in the loss of a player car. A radar display to the right hand side of the playing area shows the positions of both the flags, and the enemy vehicles.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Namco 3-channel WSG and discrete circuitry for the crash sound.
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (SMOKE SCREEN)
- TRIVIA -
Rally-X was released in November 1980 in Japan.
- UPDATES -
In the introduction to the bonus stages, the Namco version misspells 'Challenging' as 'Charanging'. This was corrected in the Midway version.
- SCORING -
Collecting a flag : 100 points x the flag collected up to a maximum of 1,000 points. If you lose a life, the points awarded will reset to 100 when you restart.
Collecting the Special Flag : Doubles points for the Special Flag and all flags collected thereafter until you clear the round or lose a life. If you clear the entire round without losing a single life, the tenth flag is always worth 2,000 points because it is guaranteed that at some point, you will have collected the Special Flag. However, losing a life will cancel out the Special Flag's scoring effect when you restart.
End of stage bonus : Points for remaining fuel
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Your only goal is to collect all ten flags as quickly as possible. You need to pay constant attention to two things: the zoomed in view of the world that occupies most of the screen, and the radar view of the world to the right.
* The radar view provides you with two key pieces of information: the relative position of the flags in the world, and the proximity of the enemy cars to yours. Yellow dots in the radar view denote the flags' locations, red dots represent the enemy cars, and the dot flashing black and gray represents you.
* The method you use for collecting the flags is of utmost importance. It is usually best to try to hop from one flag to whichever flag is closest, but the enemies will make that quite difficult to do. As a general rule, do not reverse your direction unless it is absolutely necessary and completely safe to do. If you have to choose between getting close to an enemy to pick up a nearby flag, and abandoning that flag for a farther flag, go for the farther flag. The more distance you put between you and the other cars, the safer you will remain.
* In general, you will be safe off if you choose a direction to collect flags, clockwise or counter-clockwise, and stick to it throughout the duration of the stage. The smokescreen is an invaluable and incredibly tempting tool to use. But if you use it excessively, you will deplete your fuel supply very rapidly, making it more likely that you will run out of fuel before you collect all ten flags, which will almost ensure your demise.
* Challenging stages occur before each maze change, which occurs each time the round number is one less than a multiple of four (the challenging stages occur on the third, seventh, and every fourth round thereafter. In these stages, you are free to collect all of the flags without being harassed by enemy cars until your fuel runs out. However, you can still crash into parked cars and rocks, so be careful.
* Easter Egg :
1) Enter service mode.
2) Keep B1 pressed and enter the following sequence : UP(x2), DOWN(x7), RIGHT, LEFT(x6)
3) '(c) Namco LTD. 1980' will be added at the bottom of the screen.
- SERIES -
1. Rally-X (1980, Arcade)
2. New Rally-X (1981, Arcade)
3. Rally-X Arrangement (1996, Arcade): part of "Namco Classics Collection Vol.2"
4. New Rally-X Arrangement (2005, PSP): part of "Namco Museum Battle Collection"
5. Rally-X Remix (2007, Wii): part of "Namco Museum Remix"
6. Rally-X Rumble (2011, App Store)
- PORTS -
NOTE: For ports released in the USA, please see the Midway version entry.
* CONSOLES:
Nintendo Famicom [AS] (1989) "Jovial Race" by Sachen
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (199?) "Mi Hun Che"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (nov.22, 1995) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SLPS-00107]"
[AU] Sony PlayStation (1996) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SCES-00243]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (aug.1996) "Namco Museum Vol.1 [Model SCES-00243]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jan.26, 2006) "Namco Museum Arcade Hits! [Model SLPS-25590]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (mar.24, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[EU] Sony PS2 (mar.31, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model SLES-53957]"
[EU] Nintendo GameCube (may.5, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model DOL-G5NP-EUR]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (may.15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (june.4, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Sony PSP (dec.9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
[JP] Sony PSP (feb.24, 2005) "Namco Museum [Model ULJS-00012]"
Sony PSP [KO] (may.2, 2005) as 'Banggor' in "Namco Museum [Model UCKS-45005]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (mar.31, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model AGB-B5NP-EUR]"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX (mar.30, 1984)
Fujitsu FM-7 [JP] (1984)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1984) "Hold-Up" : Different sprites but same game.
[JP] Sharp X68000 (1988) by IT
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] [JP] (nov.28, 1997) "Namco History Vol.2"
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] [AU] (mar.27, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (may.19, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Accepted [+] [X] King & Balloon Update submitted by vecchiom
King & Balloon (c) 1980 Namco.
The player controls two green men (likely soldiers in the king's army) with an orange cannon that fires at squads of descending balloons. You must protect the King and prevent him from being captured and carried away by one of the balloons. Unlike most shooter games, the player's cannon can be hit and destroyed any number of times; it is the King that must be protected. The game ends when the king is carried away three times.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 2.5 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Tone generator, discrete circuits, and a DAC for speech
Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)
- TRIVIA -
King & Balloon was released by Namco in October 1980 in Japan and by GamePlan in December 1980 in the USA.
King & Balloon is the first game from Namco to feature voices.
Kevin Olkowski holds the official record for this game with 48900 points.
- UPDATES -
The voices differed between Japanese and U.S. versions. In the Japanese version, the abducted king yelled 'Help! Help!', but with heavy Japanese pronunciation, sounding more like 'Herupuu!'. In the U.S. version, the voice was redone as a more English-sounding 'Help!'.
- SCORING -
On single balloons, first score is in formation, second score diving or rising, third score is rising with King in tow.
Red Balloons : 50, 100, 150
Orange Balloons : 40, 80, 120
Yellow Balloons : 30, 60, 90
White balloons : 20, 40, 60
On combination balloons, first score is first hit, second score is second hit, third score is third hit. First color is balloon color, second color is line/gondola color
Red/White : 500, 1,000, 1,500
Orange/Yellow : 400, 600, 1,000
Yellow/Orange : 300, 500, 700
White/Red : 200, 300, 500
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* A player can easily top 100,000 or more on this game using two basic tactics: maximizing the points available, and ensuring the cannon is always best placed to destroy any balloon that grabs the king. Since all cannons are expendable, success often depends on their deliberate tactical destruction.
* Keep an eye out for the giant balloon. These balloons are worth more point than regular balloons. Shooting it once makes it become a medium-sized balloon, and shooting it a second time reverts it back to being a normal balloon.
* Giant balloons never appear by themselves - there will always be at least one small balloon on the screen at the same time. As soon as you see a giant balloon start to form, let a normal balloon destroy your cannon as soon as possible. This should give you enough grace time when you reappear to fire three shots at the giant balloon for 3000 points, and then position yourself correctly if there is a balloon attempting to abduct the king. It is possible to destroy 5 or 6 giant balloons by per level, gaining you around 20,000 points.
* Try to keep the level going as long as possible unless you're down to your last 6 balloons - at this point giant balloons rarely from.
* Just like Galaxian, the game only goes up to round 48. If round 48 is completed, the game will continue to work but will always report the level as 48.
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Sony PlayStation (oct.30, 1997) "Namco Museum Encore [Model SLPS-01050]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [US] (nov.4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (may.15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (june.4, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
[US] Nintendo Wii (nov.16, 2010) "Namco Museum Megamix"
* HANDHELDS:
[US] Sony PSP (aug.23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
[EU] Sony PSP (dec.9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
[JP] Sony PSP (feb.23, 2006) "Namco Museum Vol.2 [Model ULJS-00047]"
[KO] Sony PSP (nov.8, 2007) "Namco Museum Vol.2"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX (1984)
[EU] MSX (1984) by Bug-Byte
[JP] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (dec.24, 1998) "Namco History Vol.4"
* OTHERS:
[US] Arcade (2018) "Pac-Man's Pixel Bash"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Refused [+] [X] Defender Update submitted by vecchiom
Defender (c) 1980 Williams.
Defender is a legendary sideways-scrolling shoot-em-up - the very first of its genre - in which the aim is to pilot a laser-firing spaceship and protect humanoids stranded on the planet's surface from swarms of alien abductors.
A long-range scanner at the top of the screen shows the positions of both the humanoids and the attacking aliens. The ideal strategy is to shoot down the alien ships before they reach the humanoids. If a humanoid is captured, the alien abductor can still be destroyed, but the player must then catch the falling humanoid and return it to the safety of the planet's surface before it falls to its death.
If an alien is allowed to carry its victim to the very top of the screen, the humanoid will mutate, becoming a permanent part of the alien that captured it. This new and deadly mutation will then immediately join in the alien attack.
The challenge becomes more intense as action progresses. Fighter ships and their mines will soon join the abductors. There are also mother ships that must be destroyed; these are particularly difficult as a direct hit smashes the mother ship into a swarming mass of mini-ships that must also be wiped out. Throughout the entire mission, the player must act quickly or face possible destruction by the cosmic baiter, a fast and dangerous enemy.
Players have two escape options to use as a last resort. The first is the 'smart bomb', which destroys all on-screen enemies. The second option is 'hyperspace', which randomly teleports the player's ship to another part of the level. This is highly risky as it may place the player's ship in a position more dangerous than the one it left.
If all humanoids are successfully abducted, the planet will explode in a blinding flash and the waves remaining until the next planet is reached take place in outer space, and consist solely of destroying enemy waves.
- TECHNICAL -
Board Number : D75 (top), D71F (A)
Prom Stickers : DF
Main CPU : Motorola M6809 (@ 1 Mhz)
Sound CPU : M6808 (@ 894.75 Khz)
Sound Chips : DAC
Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick (vertical)
Buttons : 5
= > THRUST, FIRE, REVERSE, SMART BOMB, HYPERSPACE
- TRIVIA -
According to Defender development lead Eugene Jarvis: The game was shown at AMOA Chicago October 31, 1980 and released a week or two later in November 1980.
Along with Namco's seminal "Pac-Man", Defender shares the title of 'Highest Grossing Video Game of All Time' and to date has earned more than one billion dollars. It's interesting to note that when the now-legendary shoot-em-up was first shown at a 1981 Chicago arcade machine trade show, it was deemed to be a flop due to its high level of difficulty. Arcade industry insiders confidently predicted that both Defender and Pac-Man would be commercial flops and that Namco's "Rally-X" would be the next major arcade success.
Defender's attract mode for the game was programmed in just five hours.
Defender was noted for both its superb sound and visual effects and, moreover, for its extremely demanding gameplay. This didn't, however, stop players from accumulating millions of points when playing the game. Just minutes after the opening of the AMOA - an arcade industry trade show - Eugene Jarvis and his team - Defender's creators - were burning new ROMs for the game's display due to the fact they plugged the first burn into the board BACKWARDS and fried them. Due to the intimidating controls, hardly anyone at the show played the game and there were even rumours circulating suggesting that both Pac-Man and Defender would flop and that Namco's Rally-X would be the next big hit. Not only did Defender have the highest number of controls (five buttons, in addition to a two-way joystick) but it was also the first video game to feature an artificial 'world', in that game events occurred OUTSIDE the on-screen viewing area presented to the player.
Chris Hoffman holds the official record for this game on 'Marathon' settings with 79,976,975 points on January 1, 1984.
Bill Jones holds the official record for this game on 'Tournament' settings with 543,950 points on August 15, 2008.
Some bootlegs of this game are known as "Star Trek 1981", "Defence Command", "Defense Command", "Zero" (Jeutel), and "Tornado" (Jeutel).
Defender inspired a catchy hit song by Buckner and Garcia called 'Defender' released on the 'Pac-Man Fever' album.
A Defender unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Terms of Endearment', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks' and in the 1983 movie 'Koyaanisqatsi - Life out of Balance'.
The official video of the 1982 pop song "Herbergsvater", by Joachim Witt, begins by featuring a Defender unit and contains long scenes of Defender gameplay.
A mini Defender unit appears in the 1983 music video 'Almost Over You' by Sheena Easton.
MB (Milton Bradley) released a board game based on this video game (same name) in 1983: win the most points by using your Defender ships to protect Humanoids from waves of aliens. A set of chance cards will bring the different aliens (Bombers, Landers and Humanoids) into play. Movement is determined with a spinner. Players can move their defenders and aliens.
- UPDATES -
Defender ROM sets were distinguished by early and later editions. The early edition supported only upright cabinets. In 1981 Williams released a cocktail cabinet version which necessitated extra code to flip the video display and to support a second set of game controls. The editions had some minor differences in the game's attract mode : The early edition gave an erroneous point value of '100' for alien landers; this was corrected to '150' in the later edition. Also, the high score value for player PGD was '14185' in the early edition and '14285' in the later edition.
Early edition ROM sets :
* Defender (White Label)
* Defender (Green Label)
* Defender (Blue Label)
Later edition ROM sets :
* Defender (Red Label)
- SCORING -
Lander : 150 points.
Mutant : 150 points.
Baiter : 200 points.
Bomber : 250 points.
Pod : 1,000 points.
Swarmer : 150 points.
Completely destroying a pod with a smart bomb : 1,150, 1,300, 1,450, 1,600, 1,750, 1,900, or 2,050 points.
* The chances that a bombed pod will score 1,150, 1,300, or 1,450 points are 1/256 each.
Getting hit by an enemy bullet : 25 points.
Saving a humanoid from a Lander : 500 points.
Depositing a humanoid into the ground : 500 points.
Humanoid landing into the ground safely on his own : 250 points.
Bonus at the end of each wave :
Wave 1 : Humanoids Left X 100.
Wave 2 : Humanoids Left X 200.
Wave 3 : Humanoids Left X 300.
Wave 4 : Humanoids Left X 400.
Wave 5 and above : Humanoids Left X 500.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* The enemies that initially appear in each wave are :
Wave 1 : 15 Landers
Wave 2 : 20 Landers, 3 Bombers, and 1 Pod
Wave 3 : 20 Landers, 4 Bombers, and 3 Pods
Waves 4 and up : 20 Landers, 5 Bombers, and 4 Pods
* Avoid using hyperspace unless you are about to die. Fighting off attacks, regardless of the number of enemies, will make you a better Defender player.
* Baiters can usually be overcome by hitting the reverse button twice quickly. They will fly past you and be in range for your fire power. Do NOT try to outrun them as baiters are faster than your ship.
* Swarmers are easy to defeat. You can hit reverse as soon as they fly past you and fly behind them. They cannot shoot backwards so you can blast away at will.
* Shooting a Pod will release between 1 and 7 Swarmers. The chances that it will try to release 1, 2, or 3 Swarmers is 1/256 for each. Also, the maximum number of Swarmers allowed in the game is 20. So, for example, if there are 18 Swarmers in the game and a Pod is hit, it can only release a maximum of 2 Swarmers.
* At higher levels, you will need to play God and even sacrifice some Humanoids (by killing them yourself) to preserve the rest of the planet's population. The planet is too large for you protect and you are sparing the Humanoids from a fate worst than death (mutation). Do not worry, these Humanoids reproduce quickly and overpopulation has always been a constant problem. The planet will be fully populated at the start of every fifth attack wave (configurable).
* The International Date Line : there are reverse lines for Swarmers and Mutants (AKA the 'International Date Line'). If this line is between you and the type of enemy in question, they will travel the opposite direction around the planet to get you (i.e. they won't cross this line to get to you). If a Mutant, say, is following you and you cross the Mutant reverse line (to the left of the big mountain) it will suddenly reverse direction and go around the other way. The same is true for the Swarmer reverse line (located approximately where your ship starts each wave). This doesn't affect Swarmers that you are following behind. If you're on one side of the line and a Pod is on the other and you shoot it open, the Swarmers will fly away from you and you can get in behind them immediately. The best use of these lines is where there are lots of Swarmers and/or Mutants that you don't want to hassle with. You stay near the line and go back and forth over it to keep the enemy on the other side of the planet. This is especially useful in space and waves that get really hairy.
* Freeze : you can freeze a Defender machine by picking up all ten Humanoids (on any wave, but Wave 1 is your greatest chance at success), stopping all forward motion of your ship, quieting the screen down (i.e. having no enemies moving around on it) and setting all the Humanoids straight down quickly. This seems to work better were the terrain is very close to the bottom of the screen. Everything will freeze, but you can still move your ship up and down. Thrusting will break the spell, so to speak. If you do pick a spot with shallow terrain, some Humanoids will go thru the bottom of the screen and appear suspended in mid-air near the top. This trick is good to use during marathon games when you've reached Wave 256 and need a breather.
* Some top players begin each round by shooting all the Humanoids except for one, which they pick up. The planet is too large for you protect and you are sparing the Humanoids from mutation, a fate worse than death. This keeps Mutants from developing, but it also means that the planet explodes if you lose your last Humanoid. The planet is fully repopulated at the start of every fifth attack wave (configurable). This can be considered an advanced trick.
* Due to a bug in the algorithm that computes extra lives, every scoring activity from 990,000 to 999,975 will earn one extra ship and one extra Smart Bomb. If the player suicides on something or gets shot, one ship is lost, but one ship and one smart bomb are awarded; the net effect on the number of ships is zero. Dying on hyperspace re-entry awards nothing, because this awards no points. For winning N ships from 990,000 to 999,975, the player will have to achieve N x 10000 points after passing 1,000,000 before the game's accounting balances, and ships are awarded properly at 10,000 point intervals again. For example, if a player earns 45 extra lives during this interval, he will have to score another 450,000 points before being awarded another extra life. The player gets to keep surplus ships and bombs and can have super long turns where he may bomb two to three times per wave to get out of dangerous situations.
* The trick is this: If the player wins 100+ ships between 990,000 and 1,000,000, this causes the game to start awarding extra lives right away again after turning the score over to zero. If the player wins 100 ships, the machine will have to wait 1,000,000 points to begin awarding ships again. However, since 1,000,000 is equivalent to zero, it awards them immediately at 1,010,000.
* It's possible on a real Defender machine to make the screen color inverted so that all the black space is white while you are playing. It will reset itself when you die and maybe when you use hyperspace. Smart bomb flashes are cool when it's reversed. The trick was to drop a credit in right when you die and the screen flashes white. Somehow the program gets distracted (non-masked interrupt on coin drop?) and the screen stays white.
* Defender attack waves 'roll over' at Wave 100, which is displayed, after being completed, as Wave 0. The game keeps track of the actual number of waves, even though they are not shown properly. For example, the next wave will be counted as Wave 101, even though it shows being completed as Wave 1. The game will 'roll over' again at Wave 200, which is displayed, after being completed, as Wave 0 as well.
The next 'roll over' occurs at Wave 256. Upon completion of Wave 255, the next wave is a 'blank' wave, in which no enemies appear, and the wave immediately ends after the player's ship appears on screen. This level is counted and displayed as Wave 0, and the player is awarded a bonus of humanoids left X 0 points (the bonus for this wave is always 0 points). The next is Wave 1, and the game now plays just as if the player had started a new game, except the player gets to keep his score and all of his bonus ships and smart bombs.
- SERIES -
1. Defender (1980, ARC)
2. Stargate (1981, ARC)
3. Strikeforce (1991, ARC)
4. Defender 2000 [Model J9041E] (1996, Jaguar)
- STAFF -
Staff : Eugene Jarvis (DRJ), Sam Dicker (SAM), Larry DeMar (LED), Paul Dussault (PGD), (CRB), Mike Stroll (MRS), Steve Ritchie (SSR), (TMH)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1981) "Defender [Model CX2609]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Defender [Model CX5218]"
[US] Entex Adventure Vision (1982) "Defender [Model 6075]"
[EU] Emerson Arcadia (1982) "Space Squadron"
Atari XEGS
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[US] Colecovision (1983) "Defender [Model 70002]"
[US] Mattel Intellivision (1983) "Defender [Model 70252]"
[US] Sega Genesis (1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits"
[EU] Sega Mega Drive (1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model T-97126-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model T-9703H]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (apr.10, 1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SLUS-00201]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (sept.1, 1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SLES-00323]"
[US] Nintendo SNES (oct.1996) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SNS-AW8E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo SNES (jan.8, 1997) "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits [Model SNSP-AW8P-EUR]"
[US] Sega Dreamcast (june.27, 2000) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1 [Model T-9713N]"
[EU] Sega Dreamcast (jul.28, 2000) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1 [Model T-9710D-50]"
[US] Nintendo 64 (nov.14, 2000) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1 [Model NUS-NAIE-USA]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.18, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model SLUS-20801]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.24, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[US] Nintendo GameCube (dec.18, 2003) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model DOL-GAKE-USA]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (feb.6, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.6, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures [Model SLES-51927]"
[US] [EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (nov.15, 2006) [retired in 2010]
[US] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.6, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins"
[US] Sony PlayStation 3 (nov.6, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins [Model BLUS-31083]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.15, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins"
[EU] Sony PlayStation 3 (nov.15, 2012) "Midway Arcade Origins [Model BLES-01768]"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 4 - Defender & Joust [Model DMG-ADJP-UKV]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (oct.1995) "Arcade Classic No. 4 - Defender & Joust [Model DMG-ADJE-USA]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy Color (mar.1999) "Arcade Hits - Joust & Defender [Model DMG-AADE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Color (apr.1999) "Arcade Hits - Joust & Defender [Model DMG-AADP-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (nov.22, 2001) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits [Model AGB-AM3E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Advance (nov.30, 2001) "Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits [Model AGB-AM3P-EUR]"
[US] Sony PSP (dec.13, 2005) "Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play [Model ULUS-10059]"
[EU] Sony PSP (feb.24, 2006) "Midway Arcade Treasures Extended Play [Model ULES-00180]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Starfire"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Planet Invasion"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Offender"
[US] Atari 800 (1982) "Defender [Model CXL4025]"
[EU] BBC B (1982) by Acornsoft
[EU] Sinclair Zx-Spectrum (1982) "Orbiter [Model 1]" by Silversoft
[US] TI99/4a (1983) "Defender [Model RX8506]"
[EU] Commodore C64 (1983)
[US] Commodore C64 (1983) "Defender [Model RX8508]"
[US] PC [Booter] (1983)
[US] Apple II (1983)
[EU] Oric-1 (1983) "Defence Force" by Tansoft
[US] Commodore VIC-20 (1983)
[EU] BBC B (1983) "Super Defender" by Acornsoft
[EU] Acorn Electron (1984) "Guardian" by Alligata
[EU] Acorn Electron "Gauntlet" by Micropower
[EU] BBC B (1984) "Guardian" by Alligata
[EU] BBC B "Gauntlet" by Micropower
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1984) "Starblitz" by Softek Software
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1984) "Defenda" by Interstella Software
[EU] Commodore C64 (1984) "Guardian" by Alligata
[EU] Commodore C64 (1985) "Guardian II" by Hi-tech Software
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1985) "Defend or Die" by Alligata
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1985) "Gauntlet" by Micropower
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1986) "Defenda" by Interstella Software : 128k version improved sound/graphics.
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1990) "Guardian II" by Hi-Tech Software Ltd 'UK'
[EU] Atari ST (1990) "Defender II" by ARC developments, Atari UK, limited
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1990) "Defender II" by ARC developments, Atari UK, limited
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1991) "Zeron" by Acid software
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1994) "Defender" - Shareware
[US] PC [MS Windows 3.1/DOS, CD-ROM] (1995) "Williams Arcade Classics"
[US] PC [MS Windows 95/DOS, CD-ROM] (1996) "Williams Arcade Classics"
[EU] Sam Coupe (1998) by Persona
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (aug.27, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.23, 2004) "Midway Arcade Treasures"
[EU] Tangerine Microtan 65
* OTHERS:
VFD handheld game (1982) by Entex
VFD handheld game (19??) by Gakken : the screen is a little smaller than the Entex version.
[US] Palm OS "Midway Arcade Classic"
[US] Tiger Game.com (1997) "Williams Arcade Classics [Model 71-722]"
[US] Mobile Phones (june.13, 2003) by THQ Wireless
[US] Apple App Store (feb.23, 2012) "Midway Arcade [Model 476467441]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Accepted [+] [X] Space Panic Update submitted by vecchiom
Space Panic (c) 1980 Universal Company, Limited.
Influential computer game designer and writer Chris Crawford calls Space Panic "the granddaddy of all platform games", as it predates Nintendo's Donkey Kong (from 1981) which is often cited as the original platform game. Space Panic lacks Donkey Kong's jump mechanic - the main character instead digs holes in the platforms into which he must lure the aliens. He must then hit them to knock them out of the hole and off the screen. In later levels, two or more holes must be lined up vertically in order to dispose of the aliens. There is also a limited supply of oxygen.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 1.802666 Mhz)
Sound Chips : DAC
Players : 2
Control : 4-way joystick
Buttons : 2
- TRIVIA -
Space Panic was released in November 1980 in Japan and in the USA. It was the first platform game.
Licensed to ADP Automaten for the German market.
Licensed to Inder for the Spanish market.
- SERIES -
Cosmic Series
1. Cosmic Monsters [Upright model] (1979)
2. Cosmic Monsters 2 (1979)
3. Cosmic Guerilla (1979)
4. Cosmic Alien (1980)
5. Devil Zone (1980)
6. Zero Hour (1980)
7. Space Panic (1980)
8. Cosmic Avenger (1981)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
Colecovision [US] (1983) "Space Panic [Model 2447]"
Casio PV-1000 [Japan]
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Apple II (1981) "Apple Panic"
Microbee (198X) "Apple Panic"
PC-DOS (1982) "Apple Panic"
Vic-20 (1982) "Apple Panic"
TRS-80 (1982) "Apple Panic"
Atari XE (1982) "Apple Panic"
[US] Apple II (1983) "Apple Panic"
VTech Laser-VZ [US] "Vz Panik"
- SOURCES -
Game's manual.
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Game's screenshots.
Refused [+] [X] Berzerk Update submitted by vecchiom
Berzerk (c) 1980 Stern Electronics.
The player controls the 'Humanoid' and must navigate a number of robot-filled rooms; each with up to as many as eleven, laser-firing enemy robots. The Humanoid can be killed either by a single shot from a robot, by running into a robot, by running into a wall of the maze, or by being touched by the player's nemesis, 'Evil Otto'.
To advance through the game, players must fight their way through each room to an opening at one of the far walls. Each robot destroyed is worth 50 points and while it's possible to progress without killing every robot in each room, destroying all of them will earn the player a per-maze bonus (worth ten points per robot). The game has an impressive 64,000 mazes, with each level designed to be more difficult than the last.
- TECHNICAL -
The Berzerk cabinet was the first in a series of cabinets from Stern that had a patented pull out drawer that allowed access to the games circuit boards from the front of the cabinet. This title features rather primitive painted side-art that only uses two colors, but it makes up for it with the awesome comic book style art on the control panel and monitor bezel. The marquee is only a 'Berzerk' logo, and it kind of looks like something that someone might have done in their high school airbrush class.
Berzerk is technically a monochrome game. It uses a special 'color overlay' circuit board to add color to the games graphics before they go to the monitor. A side effect of this is that walking very close to a wall will cause that section of the wall to change to your color.
Berzerk, in common with other machines commonly thought to have used samples (such as Atari's "Star Wars", "Paperboy" and "Gauntlet") used LPC encoded speech and a dedicated speech synthesizer. So the speech is technically encoded data for this speech synth, rather than the now far simpler, digitized audio 'samples' for play back via a DAC.
Here is all of the robots' speech in the game:
During certain in-game events:
"Coin detected in pocket!" - heard randomly during attract mode, especially while showing the high score list.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" - when Evil Otto appears.
"The Humanoid must not escape!" OR "The intruder must not escape!" - when the Humanoid escapes the room after destroying every robot.
"Chicken! Fight like a robot!" - when the Humanoid escapes the room without destroying every robot first.
"Got the Humanoid! Got the intruder!" - when the Humanoid is killed. ("Got the intruder!" is a minor third higher in pitch than "Got the Humanoid!")
Random chatter during gameplay:
"Charge...", "Attack...", "Shoot...", "Kill...", "Destroy...", OR "Get...", followed by "the Humanoid", "the intruder", "it", or "the chicken".
NOTE: In this case, you'll only hear "the chicken" if you escaped the previous maze without first destroying every robot, resulting in the "Chicken! Fight like a robot!" message.
The speed and pitch of some of the phrases vary from deep and slow to high and fast.
Main CPU : Zilog Z80
Sound Chips : Custom tone generator, custom LPC speech synthesis chip
Control : 8-way joystick
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)
- TRIVIA -
Berzerk was released in October 1980 in the USA.
Alan McNeil, an employee of Universal Research Laboratories (a division of Stern Electronics), had a dream one night involving a black-and-white video game in which he had to fight robots. This dream, with heavy borrowing from the BASIC game 'Robots' ('Daleks' in the UK), was the basis for Berzerk. The idea for a black-and-white game was abandoned when the color game "Defender" was released earlier the same year to significant success. At that point Stern decided to use a color overlay board for Berzerk. A quick conversion was made, and all but the earliest versions of the game shipped with a color CRT display. The game was test-marketed successfully at a Chicago singles bar before general release.
The title of the game comes from the series of books called 'The Berzerker Stories' by Fred Saberhagen. It's a novel about robots which go Berzerk and kill everybody.
Berzerk is the first robot killing game but the big selling point of Berzerk was speech.
From Tony Miller : "The speech was done using LPC coding that I believe was invented by T.I., although I remember we used a National Speech chip in it. This was when speech and memory was expensive, so we didn't just digitize sounds and dump them out through a DAC. I remember it cost something like $1,000 per word to have the compression done, so we tried to come up with a limited vocabulary which could be rearranged and reused as much as possible. There was some guy up in Silicon Gulch who did this stuff for a living - so it is possible to make money while talking in a monotone.".
The Artist Richard D. James, using his alter ego Caustic Window, has the sample : 'Humanoid must not escape' from this game in his song with the same name as the sample. It's from the album 'Caustic Window Compilation'.
Berzerk was also the first game to attempt a bit of on-screen comedy. Your robot opponents often fell foul of slapstick misfortune, shooting each other in the head or walking into walls and exploding in their attempts to kill you. And if you legged it out of a room without killing them all, the survivors would taunt you in their Speak & Spell voices : "Chicken! Fight like a robot!". Okay, it's not hilarious, but even Bob Monkhouse had to start somewhere. Sometimes when you escape as above, it will just utter "Chicken".
'Evil Otto' was named for 'Dave Otto', who worked for Dave Nutting's Arcade Engineering group as R & D director at the time Alan McNeil did. 'Evil Otto' can be considered one of the most intimidating video game villains of all time. He is, and even travels through walls, preventing a player from loafing in the room. He resembles a bouncing smiley face, and has been called a 'Malicious basketball' by some.
Berzerk was Stern's first major video game success. It was made in both upright (approx. 37,500 units) and cocktail (approx. 1,200 units) models. Berzerk suffered a bit in sales due to frequent breakdowns of it's original giant sized optical 8-way joystick. Approximately 4,200 orders were canceled by distributors and operators whose machines were frequently down from the opto-stick. Stern issued free WICO leaf switch sticks to operators after they had so much trouble with the optical stick, but this still hurt sales.
Berzerk shares a rather chilling distinction of being the first known game to be blamed for an actual player's death. In January 1981, Jeff Dailey was the first person to die playing a video game, a 19-year old Berzerk player, died of a massive heart attack right after playing his favorite game. His score was 16,660 (a very respectable score but disturbing for obvious reasons). On an equally distressing note, in October 1982 at the 'Friar Tuck Game Room' in Calumet City, Illinois : 18-year old Peter Burkowski, a physically healthy person who was alcohol-free and drug-free, inscribed his initials in Berzerk's top ten list twice in a matter of only 15 minutes. A few seconds after that, he collapsed and died of a heart attack.
In Retrogamer Issue #47, Alan McNeil addressed these legends, and has a different perspective: "...one player did die while playing the game (Alan refutes reports that claim two died). The unfortunate fellow was obese and had run upstairs to play the game", Alan explains: "The legend is he set a high score and died, but the owner of the arcade said he didn't finish the game – he was out of breath from the moment he arrived until he dropped. The legend is way better than reality: the excitement of playing a game killing a player after setting a high score..."
Steve Wagner holds the official record for this game on the 'Fast Bullets' setting with 350,340 points on March 12, 2009.
Phil Younger holds the official record for this game on the 'Slow Bullets' setting with 304,570 points on August 12, 2007.
A Berzerk unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Tron' and in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks'.
A Berzerk unit appears in the ZZ Top music video 'Legs'.
Milton Bradley (MB) released a board game based on this video game (same name) in 1983. 'Can You Survive the Frenzied Attack of the Robot Army?' In this board game version, two players face off. One player controls the Humanoid and the other player controls Evil Otto and the robots. Players alternate sides for a maximum of three rounds or until both have been zapped three times and destroyed as the Humanoid. Humanoid lives are represented by chips placed in front of the player. Each time a player's Humanoid is zapped, the player surrenders one chip. Once a player loses all three chips, that player's Humanoid is destroyed, and therefore he/she cannot control the Humanoid for the rest of the game. The object of the game is to zap more robots while controlling the Humanoid than your opponent.
Berzerk inspired a catchy hit song by Buckner and Garcia called 'Goin' Berzerk' released on the 'Pac-Man Fever' album, here are the full lyrics! :
Verse 1: (Humanoid - This is me.)
I can move in eight directions.
Once I start I'm never done.
I can go from room to room,
I can crawl or I can run.
I can wander through the maze.
It's a wonderland at night,
I can stop and aim my gun when,
there's a robot in my sight.
I can wander through the maze.
It's a wonderland at night,
I can stop and aim my gun when,
there's a robot in my sight.
Chorus: (Robots - The various colored robots.)
I think I'm going berzerk.
I think I'm losing my mind.
I'm getting lost in the shuffle.
It happens every time.
I think I'm going berzerk.
Would you like to come to?
I can't stop now - I'm addicted!
I'm berzerk over you.
Verse 2: (Evil Otto - The bouncing smiley face.)
If we fight this thing together,
there's a chance that we might win.
Now here comes Evil Otto,
push the fire buttons in.
I'm sure he's crazy too because,
he's bouncing off the floor.
There's no way to destroy him,
let him bounce right out the door.
Now here comes Evil Otto,
push the fire buttons in.
If we fight this thing together,
there's a chance that we might win.
(Repeat chorus)
Berzerk, berzerk, berzerk over you (3x),
Berzerk, berzerk over you.
(Repeat and fade)
The speech, 'Humanoid' and 'Intruder Alert!' featured heavily in 1988's seminal UK Acid track, 'Stakker Humanoid' by later Future Sound of London member Brian Dougans. His use of distortion and slightly lower pitch, leaves the game sounding quite tame by comparison...
- UPDATES -
Two different versions of the game were released. As a player's score increases, the colors of the enemy robots change, and the robots can have more bullets on the screen at the same time (once they reach the limit, they cannot fire again until one or more of their bullets detonates; the limit applies to the robots as a group, not as individuals). In the original version, the sequence goes :
* Yellow robots that don't fire
* Red robots that can fire one bullet
* Light blue robots that can fire two bullets
After 5,000 points Evil Otto doubles his speed, moving as fast as the player while robots remain in the maze, and twice as fast as the player after all the robots are destroyed.
The revised version, which had the much larger production run of the two, features a longer color sequence that also included green, purple, gray, and white robots. In this version, the robot sequence went up to five normal speed bullets, then they began firing fast bullets, starting with one fast bullet, and eventually going as high as five bullets, both normal speed and fast speed, at once. After 19,000 points the robots stay light blue and may have up to five bullets on screen for the remainder of play. To balance the greatly increased threat from the robots in this version, Evil Otto's pursuit speed remains at its normal (half or equal the player's speed) level throughout.
- SCORING -
You get 50 points per robot destroyed. It doesn't matter whether you destroy them or they get destroyed some other way.
You get a bonus of 10 times the number of robots in a maze if you clear it For example, if you destroyed all 7 robots in a maze, then your bonus would be 10 X 7 or 70 points.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Here is how the rounds progress in the revised version :
Points - Robot Color - Shots fired
0-260 - Yellow - 0
260-1,200 - Red - 1
1,200-3,000 - Light Blue - 2
3,000-4,500 - Green - 3
4,500-6,000 - Purple - 4
6,000-8,000 - Yellow - 5
8,000-10,000 - White - One fast shot (2x speed)
10,000-11,000 - Light Blue - Two fast shots
11,000-13,000 - Purple - Three shots, both normal and fast
13,000-15,000 - Gray - Four shots, both normal and fast
15,000-17,000 - Yellow - Five shots, both normal and fast
17,000-19,000 - Red - Five shots, both normal and fast
19,000+ - Light Blue - Five shots, both normal and fast
Starting at about 10,000 points, Berzerk becomes largely a game of luck. If you get an open maze with a lot of robots, there is not much you can do.
* In a 1-player game, the Humanoid is always colored green.
* In a 2-player game, the players alternate turns. The Humanoid's color indicates whose turn it is - green for player 1, purple for player 2.
* When you start the game, the Humanoid will be put at the left entrance. (In a 2-player game, player 2's Humanoid will be put at the right entrance.) You will face anywhere from 1 to 11 robots. Quickly assess where the Humanoid is at and destroy the closest robots. The first 3 sets of robots are pretty easy. It's when they start firing those 3+ shots at you or the supershots things can get bad.
* Remember, the Humanoid is longer then he is wide; use this to your advantage. Always try to exit the maze from the left or right exit so that the Humanoid presents a small profile for the next maze. If the Humanoid enters from the top or bottom, you presents a bigger target. Of course, there is no defense against being put right next to a robot.
* There is a 1-2 second delay after you enter a maze before the robots come after you; use that to your advantage.
* You cannot run and shoot at the same time in this game. You have to stop and shoot. Use the joystick to aim and press the FIRE button. The Humanoid may move a little in that direction so don't try to shoot robots point-blank or you will destroy the robot while the robot vaporizes you.
* When you get into the later rounds, luck will be as much a factor as skill. This is especially true when the robots are firing supershots at you (these shots travel twice the speed of normal shots).
* Evil Otto (the bouncing happy face) will appear from where the Humanoid entered the maze. Evil Otto's appearance is directly related to how many robots you start with. The lower the number, the sooner Evil Otto appears. Evil Otto cannot be destroyed.
* Because the robots are attracted to you 'as the crow flies', they will tend to clump together and smash into each other. The best way to kill robots is to stand safely behind a wall and let them shoot and smash each other. The ball (Evil Otto) will also kill them. You can ignore some robots in the maze and let Otto kill them for you. Otto follows your position like the robots, so as he comes across the screen, lead him up and down into any remaining robots before you exit.
* If the robot cannot hit you with laser fire, they will still try to kill the Humanoid by attempting to run him over.
* The walls in the maze are deadly. If the Humanoid or a robot runs into a wall, he is vaporized. (You score the points if a robot is destroyed by running into a wall). The wall will light up if the Humanoid is too close to it.
* If you and a robot are in line and firing at each other, your shots will negate themselves out. In the later levels, this could prove deadly since they can keep up with your firepower.
* An Interesting Quirk : There is a one pixel space between the Humanoid's head and shoulders. The game doesn't register it as existing so if a robot's shot goes through that space, the Humanoid doesn't die.
* The robots always walk toward you unless you're in their line of fire; then they will pause to shoot. There are eight directions you and they can shoot. The only way to survive the higher levels (10,000 points +) is to learn the blind spots of the robots. If you are in a robot's blind spot he poses no threat, and you can concentrate on blasting the others. The angle shots are almost never necessary. It is very difficult to hit a robot with an angle shot. When you shoot, the Humanoid stops moving, when you can't move, you are vulnerable. Make your shots count and don't bother wasting your time with angles unless you are on an early level and need the practice.
* Because the robots are shorter than you, try to avoid robots at the bottom edge of the screen. By the time you move low enough to get a shot they will have already fired. In contrast, if you come 'up' on robots from the bottom, you can shoot their feet and duck back down before their shot reaches you.
* Because the Humanoid is a lot taller than he is wide, it is very easy to avoid shots from above and below. Take out the robots to the sides of you first.
* If you poke your head above a wall just far enough to shoot above it, the robots on the other side of it can't shoot you. They will only hit the wall. ALWAYS use this tactic to kill most of the robots in a maze. When you are in the right position, just hold down the fire button. This will make the Humanoid stand still. You can inch your way very close to the deadly walls without fear of running into them. When shooting up or down, that trick doesn't work. If there is a wall between you and a robot above you, run to the right and start shooting up just past the wall. If you are lucky, the robot will walk into your fire before he gets a shot off. By design, if a robot is above you, he will lock into position directly in-line with your shots, and you will shoot each other's bullets. In early rounds you can overpower a robot and outgun him, but later the robots can keep up with you and you will be in a deadlock. To defeat him, shoot up and immediately walk to the right and he will walk into your bullet.
* The robots are programmed to avoid colliding into the sides of the deadly walls, but they can't detect the start or end of a wall. If a robot is below the end of a wall, you can move up and direct him into the wall end.
* In later rounds, all of the real action takes place in the first two or three seconds of a round. If you survive the initial shots from the robots, you are as good as done with the maze. When a new maze comes on screen, you are very vulnerable. Often you are in the line of fire of five robots. As the new maze slides on-screen, you can see it before the robots appear. Use this time to decide which way to run. Assume that there will be a robot in each 'room' or 'nook'. Shoot the robot right in front of you first, and then run toward his position. By running ahead, you will exit the line of fire of any robots above/below you and also the dreaded angle shots. Once you are out of their line of fire, you can re-enter their line of fire selectively and shoot them. Get to a safe barrier as soon as possible and wait for the robots to move into easy positions.
- SERIES -
1. Berzerk (1980)
2. Frenzy (1982)
- STAFF -
Designed & programmed by : Alan McNeil
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] GCE Vectrex (1982) "Berzerk [Model HS-4020]"
[US] Atari 2600 (1982) "Berzerk [Model CX2650]"
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[US] Atari 5200 (1983) "Berzerk [Model CX5221]"
[BR] DynaVision (198?) Berzerk
[US] Emerson Arcadia (1982) "Escape [Model 1015]"
* COMPUTERS:
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1981) "Berserk"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1981) "Robot Battle"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1982) "Android Attack"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1982) "Haywire"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (198?) "Monster Maze"
PC [Booter] [US] (1983) "Robot War", a part of the "Friendlyware PC Arcade" suite
Tangerine Microtan 65 [EU] (1984)
* OTHERS:
VFD handheld game [US] (1982) by Coleco : unfortunately, this game was never released.
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Passport @ everything2
Accepted [+] [X] Moon Cresta [Model 800-3121] Update submitted by vecchiom
Moon Cresta (c) 1980 Gremlin.
Manufactured by Gremlin under license from Nichibutsu. For more information on the original game, please see the Nichibustu entry.
- TECHNICAL -
BOARD # 800-3121
- TRIVIA -
Moon Cresta was released by Gremlin, under license by Nichibutsu, in September 1980 in the USA.
- STAFF -
Designed & programmed by: Shigeki Fujiwara
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Refused [+] [X] Moon Cresta [Model MCA-5001] Update submitted by vecchiom
Moon Cresta (c) 1980 Nichibutsu
Moon Cresta is a single screen shoot-em-up with the player controlling an armed ship that moves horizontally along the bottom of the screen and must use their ship to destroy waves of attacking aliens.
The player begins the game with a small ship armed with a single laser cannon. Upon successful completion of the first four waves of alien attacks, the player's ship will be able to dock with the next 'stage' of fighter ship, although the docking procedure must be completed within a set time. This larger, two-stage ship has increased fire power (three lasers).
After successfully clearing a further two alien waves and surviving a meteor shower, the two-stage ship will be able to dock with the third and final piece, giving the player the largest and most powerful ship, which is now armed with five lasers. Bonus points are awarded depending on how quickly the docking procedures are completed.
If the multi-stage ship is hit, the player continues with whatever stages remain. If players achieve a score of 30,000, they are awarded a free game and their score continues to accumulate.
Upon completion of the first eight screens, the player's ship will revert back to its small, single-stage incarnation and the game begins again with an increased level of difficulty.
- TECHNICAL -
Model MCA-5001 (Upright)
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Tone generator & discrete circuits
Screen orientation : Vertical
Video resolution : 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.61 Hz
Palette colors : 98
Players : 2
Control : 2-way joystick (RIGHT and LEFT)
Buttons : 1 (FIRE/THRUST)
- TRIVIA -
Moon Cresta was released in June 1980 in Japan.
Marcus McHaffie holds the official record for this game with 153,490 points.
- SCORING -
Scoring in this game is relatively simple. Each alien (except meteors and arrows) come in two different colors for each screen.
Eyes (Break in half) : 50 points
Eyes (Destroy other half) : 100 points
Flies : 30 points
Birds : 60 points
Fireballs : 200 points
Arrow Ships : 100 points
Docking is a big way to increase your score. You get the time remaining from 30 seconds multiplied by 100 for your docking bonus.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* When you start the game, all three stages of your ship will come from the bottom of the screen. After going halfway up, the ship on top separates from the other 2 and it settles onto the bottom of the screen ready for battle.
* Remember, you can only keep one set of shots in the 'air' at one time. This means you need to plan your shots out so you don't end up with a lot of misses when the aliens decided to come after your ship.
* In the later screens, the aliens start moving much quicker and you have to be on your toes to keep up with them and avoid being taken out.
* Although the aliens do not fire, they still can cause a lot of hate and discontent by their wild maneuvering. There is no real safe place on the screen from the aliens since they go into the lower corners of the screen, reappear from the bottom after they have apparently 'left' the screen, or just appear right above your ship.
* In the earlier waves, you have to split apart 2 eyes before the rest automatically split and come after your ship. In the later screens, the eyes automatically split upon entering the screen. That means eight instead of four aliens you have to deal with.
* If you manage to dock all three ships together, you will have a lot of firepower (5 shots at once) to send out. Here are some ways, unfortunately, you can lose ships and what ships are lost :
1) Besides the aliens, docking is the second way people lose a lot of ships. The only ship destroyed is the ship attempting to dock.
2) If an alien hits any part of your ships (if all stages are joined), only the stage hit is lost. This can create an amusing circumstance if you lose stage II and you only have stages I and III to fight with.
* Don't worry if you lose Stage I early in the game. One has to be very skilled to fight four screens with Stage I. Stage II is the best stage to fight with. It is a small target plus it has enough firepower to defend itself. Stage III on the other hand, is just a lumbering junkyard. The lasers are too spread out to do much good plus there is a very wide-open area in the middle for aliens to hit.
* The bird stages present the most challenge of the aliens. They appear and disappear at will. Sometimes they will appear right next to your ship so on these stages, be extra alert. If you see one disappear and don't hear the familiar bird chirp of it reappearing, assume it is on the screen somewhere still.
* The best place to 'hide' during the fireball stage is in the lower right corner. The fireballs will not hit your ship in this corner. You can do hit and runs by moving your ship out, shooting at a fireball, then going back to the corner again.
* During the arrow screen, the aliens will hover around the top, then turn into arrows and attempt to ram your ship. In the later screens, they won't even hover but just try to ram your ship.
* Your goal is to make it to 30,000 points so you can have a fresh ship waiting in case you lose all the stages of your present ship.
* Docking isn't that hard to do. After finishing off a wave just before the docking stage, try to center your ship on the screen. That way, all you have to do is move that ship left or right to successfully dock. You want to avoid using the thrusters unless your ship is in extreme peril. The docking bonus can be the most amount of points you score in the game. If you happen to miss a dock, then you will continue the next set of screens with the ship that failed to dock.
- SERIES -
1. Moon Cresta (1980)
2. Terra Cresta (1985)
3. Dangar - Ufo Robo (1986)
4. Terra Force (1987)
5. Terra Cresta II - Mandoraa no Gyakushuu (1992, NEC PC Engine)
- STAFF -
Moon Cresta was developed by game developer company Jorudan.
Designed & programmed by : Shigeki Fujiwara
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Nintendo Super Famicom (may.26, 1995) "Nichibutsu Arcade Classics [Model SHVC-AACJ-JPN]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (dec.29, 1995) "Nichibutsu Arcade Classics [Model SLPS-00184]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jul.21, 2005) "Moon Cresta [Oretachi Geasen Zoku] [Model SLPM-62645]"
Nintendo Wii [Virtual Console Arcade] [JP] (mar.9, 2010)
[JP] Sony PS4 [PSN] (aug.26, 2014) "Arcade Archives - Moon Cresta [Model CUSA-00649]"
Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] [US] (may.29, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Moon Cresta [Model CUSA-00982]"
Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] [AS] (june.12, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Moon Cresta"
Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] [EU] [AU] (sept.29, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Moon Cresta [Model CUSA-02669]"
Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] [KO] (nov.13, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Moon Cresta [Model CUSA-00649]"
* COMPUTERS:
Microtan 65 [EU] (1985)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1985)
[US] Commodore C64 [EU] (1985)
BBC B [EU] (1985)
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1986)
[EU] Commodore C64 (1992) "Classic Arcadia 3"
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1992) "Classic Arcadia 3"
[JP] Sharp X68000 (nov.20, 1992) "Moon Cresta + Terra Cresta [Model DP-3205023]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Refused [+] [X] Missile Command Update submitted by vecchiom
Missile Command (c) 1980 Atari.
Missile Command is a one or two-player game depicting the outbreak of a nuclear war. Players must defend six cities from waves of incoming nuclear missiles by launching their own anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs) from one of three missile batteries.
The game is played by moving a cross-hair across the sky and pressing one of three buttons to launch an ABM from the corresponding battery (either Alpha Base, Delta Base or Omega Base). Upon reaching the cross-hair the player's ABM explodes, creating a fireball that lasts for several seconds and destroys any enemy missiles that enter it. Each battery is initially armed with ten anti-ballistic missiles and becomes useless when either all of its missiles have been fired or it's been destroyed by enemy missiles.
New enemy weapons are introduced in later levels that increase the level of difficulty; smart bombs that can evade a less than perfectly targeted missile, and bomber planes and satellites that fly across the screen and launch missiles of their own. Missiles from the player's central battery fly to their targets at much greater speed and are the most effective way of destroying smart bombs from a distance.
Enemy weapons are only able to destroy a maximum of three cities per level. A level ends once all enemy missiles have either been destroyed or have reached their target. At the conclusion of a level, players receive bonus points for any remaining cities and unused missiles. Between levels, missile batteries are rebuilt and replenished, while destroyed cities are only rebuilt at set point thresholds (determined by the game's dip switch settings).
The game ends once all cities have been destroyed.
- CAST OF ELEMENTS -
Anti-Ballistic Missiles (ABM) : The defensive missiles you launch to protect your cities. Each missile base contains 10 ABMs per wave. If any missile base is struck by an attack missile or smart bomb, the remaining stock of ABMs for that wave are destroyed, and the missile base is rendered useless until the next wave. You receive bonus points for every ABM you have remaining at the end of each wave.
Targeting crosshair : Aim your ABMs quickly but carefully. Use the trackball to move the targeting crosshair to where you want the next ABM to go, then press any Launch Control button to fire the ABM. The ABM will explode where the crosshair was positioned when the Launch Control button was pressed.
Cities : There are six cities in total on the screen at one time, three on either side of the Delta Base. If one enemy missile or smart bomb manages to strike a city, that city will be wiped out. When all cities are destroyed, the game is over.
Alpha Base : The missile base on the bottom left corner of the screen. Press the leftmost Launch Control button to launch an ABM from the Alpha base.
Delta Base : The missile base in the bottom center of the screen. Press the middle Launch Control button to launch an ABM from the Delta base.
Omega Base : The missile base on the bottom right corner of the screen. Press the rightmost Launch Control button to launch an ABM from the Omega base.
NOTE: The Alpha and Omega bases launch ABMs at a slower speed than the Delta base, so you must plan further ahead when launching ABMs from those bases.
Attack Missiles : Their only aim is to destroy your cities and missile bases. Every missile wave starts off with a hailstorm of attack missiles. They never deviate from their path. They may, however, turn into MIRVs.
Multiple Independently-targeted Re-entry Vehicles (MIRV) : Surprise! There is no warning when an attack missile turns into an MIRV (with multiple warheads). Think fast. Each new missile that the MIRV unleashes is carefully targeted.
Killer Satellite : A mean-looking satellite that travels across the sky at a mid-level altitude and fires attack missiles. First appears in Wave 2.
Bomber : A big slow-moving target that flies across the sky at a mid-level altitude, but watch out! It fires attack missiles. First appears in Wave 2.
WARNING: If you destroy a bomber or killer satellite before they deploy their attack missiles, you may see their attack missiles added to the downpour. An existing attack missile may also turn into an MIRV.
Smart Bomb : Smart enough to avoid most explosion clouds from your ABMs. Your ABM must explode next to one in order to destroy it. You can also squeen it between two explosions to destroy it. First appears in Wave 5.
'LOW' Warning : As soon as there are only three ABMs left in a missile base, the game displays the word 'LOW' underneath that base, and a warning signal sounds. Heed the warning.
- TECHNICAL -
Missile Command is available in four different cabinet models: upright, cabaret, cocktail, and cockpit. The cockpit model only supports 1 player, while all others support up to 2 players.
After every two attack waves, the color scheme changes. There are ten different color schemes in all. After Waves 19 and 20, the game returns to the first color scheme. Notice that the sky remains black for the first four color schemes, and starts changing its color with the fifth scheme.
Game ID : 035820-035825
Main CPU : MOS Technology M6502 (@ 1.25 Mhz)
Sound Chips : POKEY (@ 1.25 Mhz)
(Cockpit model)
Players : 1
(Upright, Cabaret, and Cocktail models)
Players : 2
Control : Trackball ('TARGET CONTROL' for moving and aiming the targeting crosshair)
(Upright and Cockpit models)
Diameter of trackball : 4.5 inches (11.43cm)
(Cabaret and Cocktail models)
Diameter of trackball : 2.5 inches (6.35cm)
Buttons : 3 ('LAUNCH CONTROL') - for firing the ABMs from each base
= > [A] (leftmost button) - fires ABMs from Alpha Base
= > [B] (middle button) - fires ABMs from Delta Base
= > [C] (rightmost button) - fires ABMs from Omega Base
- TRIVIA -
Missile Command was released in June 1980 in the USA.
Licensed to Sega & Taito for the Japanese market.
The Upright and Cockpit versions of Missile Command were the last games to use the large 4.5-inch aluminum trackball that was also used by "Atari Football", "Atari Basketball", "Atari Baseball" and "Atari Soccer". The Cabaret and Cocktail versions used the smaller 2.5-inch trackball that would be used by later Atari titles, especially "Centipede".
Missile Command was an immensely popular arcade game that combined great game play with a rather chilling message about the dangers of war. Approximately 20,000 units were produced.
Originally called 'Armaggedon', Missile Command was designed at a time that the United States and Russia were locked in a fierce 'cold war'. Missile Command was originally going to have a large status panel as part of its marquee which indicated the status of the bases and cities but it was eliminated when the designers learned that players lost track of on-screen gameplay when they looked up at the panel. There is a picture of a prototype cabinet with the status panel on page 60 of the book 'High Score : The Illustrated History of Electronics Games, 2nd Edition'.
* The Creation of Missile Command : The idea for Missile Command began with a magazine story about satellites that captured the attention of Atari's president, who passed the clipping to Lyle Rains. Rains asked Dave Theurer to lead the effort in creating the classic, action-packed arcade game.
* Remembrances from the Video Game Masters : Recalling the birth of Missile Command, Dave Theurer said : "The request was for a game where there are missiles attacking the California coast and the player is defending the coast. They said, take it from here and write up a game proposal. In the first proposal it was the California coast."
Part of creating a great game is knowing what to strip away. Some of the first baggage the developers dropped was geographic identifications because of the frightful scenario of the game. And then they stripped away more.
Dave Theurer : "The original suggestion was for there to be a scanning radar, but I immediately said, no way! It would be just too hard for the player because he wouldn't be able to see what was going on. We chucked that idea. And when we first developed the game, we added railroads to transport missiles from the cities to the missile bases. That got to be too complicated and people got confused... if you get too complicated, people won't play. We also had submarines for a while but that didn't work out so we ripped them out, too."
The smart bombs presented the most difficult challenge in writing the code for Missile Command.
Dave Theurer : "These little diamond-shape guys can evade your explosions. The only way you can kill them is if the explosion starts out right on top of them. Programming that was the hardest part. They had to be intelligent because the little guy had to look around on the screen to see what he had to avoid and he had to figure out the best path to go around what there was to avoid. Of course, if I made it too smart, then the player couldn't kill it and they'd be guaranteed instant death. So it had to be a fine line between smarter than the dumb missiles, yet not totally unkillable."
Nerves of steel is the way Rich Adam, one of the Missile Command team members, described his co-worker : "Dave Theurer was extremely detail oriented, very thorough, and very disciplined. He had nerves of steel, would never get rattled, and worked tirelessly. You need nerves of steel because if your code doesn't work it's your fault, something inside that code is not correct. There's really nowhere to hide. The real Achilles' heel with a lot of software people, I believe, is that they spin their wheels and they go through this denial phase : 'It can't be my code! How could anything possibly be wrong with it? My code is so straightforward!' Well, it's so straightforward you might not have thought of a nuance. So, that's why it takes nerves of steel, I think. The work requires sort of a cold, methodical approach to the software."
* Popular from the Start : Even before it shipped, Missile Command had intense fans.
Speaking of the play, the game got just within the labs of Atari. Ed Rotberg said : "There were guys there that would literally have to worship that game for hours at a time. Their hands were sweating, and it was a definite adrenaline rush."
Describing some of the dedicated players at Atari, Dave Theurer said : "We were in the same building as the consumer division and there were a couple of guys from that division who would come down and spend all day playing Missile Command. I don't know what they did upstairs, but they would spend the entire day playing the game."
* The Great 25-Cent Escape : The escape from reality could sometimes have frightful consequences. The horrifying subject matter of Missile Command had an impact on the developers.
Dave Theurer : "It was pretty scary. During the project and for 6 months after the project, I'd wake up in a cold sweat because I'd have these dreams where I'd see the missile streak coming in and I'd see the impact. I would be up on top of a mountain and I'd see the missiles coming in, and I'd know it would be about 30 seconds until the blast hit and fried me to a crisp."
Steve Calfee : "Everybody I know who really got into the game had nightmares about nuclear war."
The game was nearly shipped with a name that carried the message of the end of the world... Armageddon.
Steve Calfee : "We had this big thing about the name of the game. From the beginning, it was called Armageddon. The management, themselves, didn't know what the word meant and they thought none of the kids would. Then we went through this big thing of naming it. Engineering loved the name Armageddon, and we always wanted to call it that. From the very top came the message, 'We can't use that name, nobody'll know what it means, and nobody can spell it.'"
Placing the game in the context of the previous decade, Ed Rotberg said : "The thing about Missile Command is that the world was not nearly as stable politically as it is now. There is a little bit of a spooky message in that whole game when you have that final cloud at the end."
Victor Ali holds the official record for this game on 'Marathon' settings with 80,364,995 points.
Roy Shildt holds the official record for this game on 'Tournament' settings with 1,695,265 points.
Hacks of this game are known as "Super Missile Attack" and "Missile Combat".
A Missile Command unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', in the 1991 movie 'Terminator 2 - Judgment Day' and in the 1995 movie 'Species'.
A Missile Command upright cabinet appears in the Judas Priest music video 'Freewheel Burning'. The game's THE END screen appears at the end of the video.
In 1982, a multi-player sequel was planned but never released. This game would have have been identical to the first except with twice as many cities and batteries and the players cooperating to save each other cities from the onslaught.
In 1982, Atari released a set of 12 collector pins including : "Missile Command", "Battle Zone", "Tempest", "Asteroids Deluxe", "Space Duel", "Centipede", "Gravitar", "Dig Dug", "Kangaroo", "Xevious", "Millipede" and "Food Fight".
- SCORING -
Points are awarded for destroying attack missiles, ships and planes :
Attack Missile : 25 points
Killer Satellite : 100 points
Bomber : 100 points
Smart Bomb : 125 points
Bonus points are awarded at the end of each missile wave for any cities and ABMs remaining :
Unused ABMs : 5 points each
Saved Cities : 100 points each
A scoring multiplier based on the missile wave being played is displayed at the start of each wave :
Waves 1 and 2 have 1x scoring.
Waves 3 and 4 have 2x scoring.
Waves 5 and 6 have 3x scoring.
Waves 7 and 8 have 4x scoring.
Waves 9 and 10 have 5x scoring.
Waves 11 and above have 6x scoring.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Anticipate. Place the targeting crosshair ahead of attack missiles so the explosion cloud expands toward the enemy's shots. If the leading edge of an attack missile touches any part of the explosion cloud, it is destroyed.
* A well-placed ABM can destroy two or more attack missiles converging into the same explosion cloud.
* Aim just in front of attack missiles, satellites, and bombers, and let them travel into your explosion clouds. As soon as you've launced an ABM and marked the target for destination, move the crosshair to another target. Don't wait for the explosion.
* Hit bombers and killer satellites before they can drop attack missiles. Also, the sooner you destroy them, the sooner they'll reappear and the more points you can score. You may want to launch "insurance" ABM's at the left and right sides of the screen even before a bomber or killer satellite appears, in the chance that one will travel into the explosion cloud.
* A sound tactic used by many expert players is the spread. Fire a sweeping barrage of ABMs across the screen just below the attack missiles at the start of a wave, creating a solid line of explosion clouds to trap and destory as many of the first shots fired by the enemy as possible. If possible, create the spread in the path of a bomber or killer satellite.
* When creating a spread, fire all your ABMs from the same base. Once all 10 ABMs are launched (or the base has been destroyed by the enemy), you no longer need to worry about defending it.
* When creating a spread, don't use the Delta Base. It is in a strategic position and its missiles fly faster than ABMs from the side bases. Save the Delta Base's ABMs for more precise shots.
* Destroy attack missiles while they are high on the screen. You don't want them to turn into MIRVs. If you notice that an attack missile has become an MIRV, try to destroy as many of the split missiles with a single explosion cloud as possible.
* Hit targets before they cross the radar line. The radar line is an invisible line marking the crosshair's lower limit. Since you can't position the crosshair below this line, any attack missile that crosses it is beyond range of your ABMs.
* There are usually two main attack waves per stage. Just when it looks like things have calmed down, another assault commences. Repeating the strategy above is a good idea.
* Smart bombs are usually fooled by a couple of quick ABMs being fired on opposite sides of the bomb, but overlapping. Then the smart bomb cannot escape.
* Don't let smart bombs distract you. Sometimes you can try so hard to hit smart bombs you forget to defend your planet. Remember that a smart bomb can only hit one target.
* Don't defend depleted missile bases or destroyed cities. Concentrate your efforts defending cities and missile bases that still show signs of life. If all your cities are destroyed or you are on the verge of earning a bonus city, then it is good strategy to go for the high-score targets like smart bombs, even if they are heading for dirt.
* As waves become more difficult, you may be forced to sacrifice some cities. Choose the left or the right, and give up the cities on the other side. When waves become really tough, you may want to defend only one city and go for as many high score targets as possible.
- SERIES -
1. Missile Command (1980)
2. Missile Command 3D (1995, Atari Jaguar)
3. Missile Command (1999, PlayStation/PC CD-ROM)
- STAFF -
Designed and programmed by : Dave Theurer (DFT)
Lead hardware engineer by : Dave Sherman (DLS)
Chief engineer of software engineering by : Steve Calfee (SRC)
Junior programmer and sound routines by : Rich Adam (RDA)
Electrical engineering by : Mary Pepper (MJP)
Hardware design, head of special projects in engineering and power supply by : Jed Margolin (JED)
Technician : Dave Webienson (DEW)
Track ball designed by : Gerry Lichac (GJL)
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1981) "Missile Command [Model CX2638]"
[EU] Atari 2600 (1981) "Missile Command [Model CX2638P]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Missile Command [Model CX5202]"
[US] Emerson Arcadia (1982) "Missile War [Model 1010]"
Atari XEGS
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
DynaVision [BR] (198?)
[EU] Sega Master System (1992) "Arcade Smash Hits [Model MK-27032-50]"
[US] Sega Genesis (1996) "Arcade Classics [Model MK-1715]"
[EU] Sega Mega Drive (1996) "Arcade Classics [Model 1715-50]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (dec.31, 1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SLUS-00339]"
[EU] Sega Saturn (1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model T-25413H-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (june.30, 1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model T-9706H]"
[US] Nintendo SNES (aug.1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SNS-AW7E-USA]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (dec.1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SLES-00466]"
[EU] Nintendo SNES (feb.26, 1998) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SNSP-AW7P-EUR]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLUS-01427]"
[US] Sega Dreamcast (jul.2, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition [Model T-15130N]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (mar.1, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLES-03808]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (nov.26, 2004) "Atari Anthology"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.18, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model SLES-53061]"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] [US] [EU] (jul.4, 2007)
[US] [EU] Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1992)
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (mar.1992) "Missile Command [Model DMG-MW-USA]"
[US] Atari Lynx (1994) "Super Asteroids & Missile Command [Model PA2093]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 1 - Asteroids & Missile Command [Model DMG-AMCP-NOE]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (jul.1995) "Arcade Classic No. 1 - Asteroids & Missile Command [Model DMG-AMCE-USA]"
[UK] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 1 - Asteroids & Missile Command [Model DMG-AMCP-UKV]"
[US] Sega Game Gear (1996) "Arcade Classics"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Color (1999) "Missile Command [Model CGB-ALCP-EUR]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy Color (sept.1999) "Missile Command [Model CGB-VLCE-USA]"
[US] Nintendo GBA (mar.25, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Advance [Model AGB-AAVE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (feb.14, 2003) "Atari Anniversary Advance [Model AGB-AAVP-EUR]"
[UK] Nintendo DS (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-UKV]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.16, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (june.30, 2005) "Atarimix Happy 10 Games [Model NTR-ATAJ-JPN]"
[AU] Nintendo DS (nov.2007) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-AUS]"
[US] Sony PSP (dec.19, 2007) "Atari Classics Evolved [Model ULUS-10325]"
[AU] Sony PSP (mar.7, 2008) "Atari Classics Evolved"
[US] Nintendo DS (nov.2, 2010) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.24, 2011) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6P-EUR]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Atari 800 (1981) [Model CXL4012]
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1981) "Polaris"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Defense"
[US] Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Missile Attack"
[US] [EU] Commodore C64 (1983)
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1983) "Missile Defence" - Anirog Software
[EU] Acorn Electron (1983) "Missile Control" - Gemini
[EU] BBC B (1983) "Missile Control" - Gemini
[EU] Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (1983) "Missile Command" - Anirog Software
[AU] VTech Laser-VZ "Missile Attack"
[EU] BBC B "Missile Strike" - Superior
[EU] Atari ST (1986)
[EU] MSX (1988)
[JP] Sharp X68000 (1988)
[US] PC [MS Windows 3.1x, 3.5"] (1993) "Microsoft Arcade"
[US] PC [MS Windows 95, CD-ROM] (1995) "Patriot Command", part of "Windows Arcade Pack"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.13, 1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.9, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (dec.14, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.10, 2005) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Replay]"
[US] Steam (mar.24, 2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"
* OTHERS:
[US] Mobile phone [Motorola T720] (june.13, 2003)
[US] Nokia N-Gage (2005) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. I"
[EU] Nokia N-Gage (oct.13, 2005) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. I"
[US] Apple iPhone/iPod (sept.16, 2008) [Model 291286162]
[US] Apple Store (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
[US] Google Play (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
game's picture.
Missile Command Help file from Microsoft Arcade.
Arcade Retro Lounge; http//tips.retrogames.com/
Refused [+] [X] Galaxian [Model 866] Update submitted by vecchiom
Galaxian (c) 1979 Midway Mfg. Co.
Export release by Midway for North America. Game developed in Japan by Namco. For more information about the game itself, please see the original Namco Upright model entry.
- TECHNICAL -
[Upright model]
[No. 866]
- TRIVIA -
Galaxian was released by Midway Manufacturing, under license by Namco, in December 1979 in the USA.
A Galaxian unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks' and the sitcom 'Two and a Half Men'; Season 5, Episode 2 (People Who Love Peepholes). It is also heard (but not seen) in the 1987 James Bond movie 'The Living Daylights'.
- PORTS -
NOTE: Only ports released in North America [US] are listed here. For ports released in other regions, please see the original Namco Upright model entry.
* CONSOLES:
Bally Astrocade (1977) "Galactic Invasion [Model 2011]" by Activision
Atari XEGS
Atari 5200 (1982) "Galaxian [Model CX5206]"
Emerson Arcadia 2001 (1982) "Galactica" clone, as "Space Attack [Model 1013]"
Atari 2600 (1983) "Galaxian [Model CX2684]"
Colecovision (1983) "Galaxian [Model 70006]"
Sony PlayStation (jan.31, 1997) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SLUS-00398]"
Nintendo 64 (oct.31, 1999) "Namco Museum 64 [Model NUS-NNME-USA]"
Sega Dreamcast (june.25, 2000) "Namco Museum [Model T-1403N]"
Sony PS2 (dec.4, 2001) "Namco Museum [Model SLUS-20273]"
Microsoft XBOX (oct.9, 2002) "Namco Museum"
Nintendo GameCube (oct.9, 2002) "Namco Museum [Model DOL-GNME-USA]"
Sony PS2 (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model SLUS-21164]"
Microsoft XBOX (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model NMO-2201A-NM]"
Nintendo GameCube (aug.30, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model DOL-G5NE-USA]"
Nintendo Wii (oct.23, 2007) "Namco Museum Remix [Model RVL-RN2E-USA]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
Nintendo Wii (nov.16, 2010) "Namco Museum Megamix"
* HANDHELDS:
Nintendo Game Boy (sept.1995) "Arcade Classic No. 3 - Galaga & Galaxian [Model DMG-AGCE-USA]"
Nintendo GBA (june.10, 2001) "Namco Museum [Model AGB-ANME-USA]"
Sony PSP (aug.23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
Nintendo DS (sept.18, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNME-USA]"
* COMPUTERS:
Commodore Vic 20 (1981) "Star Battle" by Hal Laboratory
Atari 800 (1982) "Galaxian [Model CXL4024]"
Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Galax Attax"
Tandy Color Computer (1982) "Space Ambush"
Commodore C64 (1983) "Galaxions" by Solar Software
Commodore C64 (1983) "Galaxian [Model RX8542]"
Commodore VIC-20 (1983) by Atarisoft
PC [Booter] (1983) by Thunder Mountain
PC [Booter] (1983) by Atarisoft
Apple II (1983) by Atarisoft
PC [MS-DOS] (1997) "ChampGalaxia" by CHAMProgramming
PC [MS Windows 95, 3.5"] (mar.31, 1996) "Microsoft Return of Arcade"
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2000) "Microsoft Return of Arcade Anniversary Edition"
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (oct.25, 2005) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
* OTHERS:
VFD tabletop game (1981) by Coleco.
Namco Classics TV Game (2003) by Jakk's Pacific
Mobile Phones (june.13, 2003) "Galaxian Mini"
Arcade Gold featuring Pac-Man (2007) by Jakks Pacific
Retro Arcade featuring Pac-Man (2008) by Jakks Pacific
Apple iPhone/iPod (may.16, 2009) "Galaxians [Model 316869163]" by Istvan David
Arcade (2010) "Pac-Man's Arcade Party"
Apple iPhone/iPod (june.9, 2011) "Galaga 30th Collection [Model 413616338]"
Apple iPhone/iPod (mar.23, 2012) "Galaxian [Model 511322882]" by Iconosys, Inc.
Pac-Man Connect and Play (2012) by Bandai
Arcade (2018) "Pac-Man's Pixel Bash"
- SOURCES -
Game's picture.
Game's ROM.
Refused [+] [X] Galaxian Update submitted by vecchiom
Galaxian (c) 1979 Namco.
Galaxian is a legendary single-screen shoot-em-up that took everything that made Taito's ground-breaking "Space Invaders" so good, and improved upon it on every level. Each screen starts with a wave of multi-colored aliens moving left and right at the top of the screen; the aliens quickly break ranks and start dive-bombing the Galaxip (player's ship) - either in single units or in groups of 3 - dropping multiple missiles as they descend. All of the aliens need to be destroyed before the player can progress to the next wave.
- CAST OF CHARACTERS -
Galaxip : This is the name of the ship which you control at the bottom of the screen.
Galaxian : These attacking aliens come in three varieties: blue, purple, and red. They begin in formation at the top of the screen and will occasionally swoop down to attack you before returning to their position in the formation.
Flagship : At least two of these appear at the top of the formation at the start of each stage. They will swoop down to attack with one or two red Galaxians if any are nearby. If a flagship is one of the last enemies left of the screen, it will run away and appear as a third Flagship at the start of the next stage.
- TECHNICAL -
This was the first title to use the now familiar 'Namco Cabinet', which was used for Galaxian, "Galaga", "Pac-Man", "Ms. Pac-Man". Several other titles used nearly identical cabinets as well. These machines are white, with painted sideart of a green dragonfly alien (done up in blue, green. and black). The marquee is rather large and displays a blue and green 'Galaxian' logo (which is painted on a sheet of glass, they don't make them like that anymore). The control panel and monitor bezel are not highly decorated, but do feature some game instructions. Finally this machine uses neon green t-molding (edge trim), it is difficult to find replacement trim in that same exact shade.
The earliest Galaxian machines used a 25-inch G02 monitor, but later machines shipped with the standard 19-inch Electrohome G07 monitor. Any normal standard resolution arcade monitor should work as a replacement. "Pac-Man" PCBs will work in Galaxian machines, but require a 4-way joystick, instead of the 2-way model that Galaxian normally has. The sound pinout is also different, so one would need to rewire the connector to hear any Pac-Man sounds. You can also plug a Galaxian PCB into a Pac-Man. Again, the sound would need to be wired up at the connector and you'd have to push UP on the joystick to fire.
Main CPU : Zilog Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Tone generator and discrete circuits
Players : 2
Control : 2-way Joystick
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)
Alternate Japanese cabinet versions):
Buttons : 3 (LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE)
- TRIVIA -
Galaxian was released in October 1979 in Japan.
Galaxian was the first video game to be released with 100 percent of its graphics displayed in true R.G.B. color.
Space battles of all kinds played a major role during the golden age of video games. With the introduction of Galaxian, players were transported to the most colorful and challenging space battle yet.
* A place in video game history : "Galaxian captivated the minds of quite a few arcade enthusiasts," said Chris Lindsey, director of the National Video Game and Coin-Op Museum in St. Louis. "It was a relatively early entry in the golden age of video games, and it capitalized on the enthusiasm created by the earlier video game classic, "Space Invaders", while providing a more colorful, enjoyable, and demanding gaming experience.
Galaxian had smarter bad guys than "Space Invaders", and it demanded that the player really pay attention to what was going on. And there were no shields, like many games have today. You really had to stay on the ball. Galaxian also had great sound and used elements that have since become standard -- such as flags and other symbols to mark the player's progression through different levels of game play.".
* The great 25-cent escape : "Galaxian definitely gets an enthusiastic response," Lindsey said. "In fact, I deliberately position the game near the entrance of the museum. Often it's the first game people go to." Lindsey often sees parents trying to convey to their child the excitement of these great games. "It is funny for me when I see a father trying to explain a game to his kid. Junior really just wants to get on the game and figure it out, and Dad wants to do a demo. Dad starts instructing Junior while Junior is sort of looking around, wondering how he can get away. But Dad continues, busily explaining the nuances of the game, which he knows Junior can't get on the first play. This all shows the enthusiasm that a certain generation still has for these terrific games."
With or without a parent's help, Lindsey sees a younger generation embracing the classic arcade games. "Kids by themselves will actually do quite well on these games," Lindsey said. "I'm somewhat surprised when I see how good kids are at picking up games. I sort of think that because I'm older, I should be able to play better, and that's not always the case with video games. That's a lesson an entire generation has had to learn.".
* Namco notes : Galaxian was one of Namco's first video games, and engineers throughout the company were gathered into a special team. As the game neared completion, the engineers suspected they had created a good game because other Namco employees were extremely "excited and crazy about the game." Once Galaxian was released, they knew they had a winner because, as one Namco engineer reported, "People [at the arcades] piled their coins onto the game cabinets to keep playing, and those who were waiting were very irritated because their turn never came. There were huge lines of people around each machine.".
The Galaxian Flagship became a trademark of Namco as it makes cameo appearances in other Namco classics :
* "Pac-Man" (1980) and "Pac-Man Plus" (1982) : The flagship makes an appearance as the bonus fruit in rounds 9 and 10, and is worth 2,000 points if Pac-Man eats it.
* "Galaga" (1981) : The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "transform" ships. It splits into 2, then 3 clones of itself. They are worth 160 points each, and killing all 3 scores a bonus of 3,000 points.
* "Dig Dug" (1982) : The flagship makes an appearance as the bonus vegetable in rounds 16 and 17, and is worth 7,000 points if Dig Dug picks it up.
* "Super Pac-Man" (1982) : All regular edible items on rounds 15, 31, 47, and 63 are flagships, and they are worth 150 points each. Starting from their second appearance, Round 31, they are 160 points instead.
* "Pac & Pal" (1983) : The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "special items" that make Pac-Man turn blue when eaten, and allows him to stun the ghosts for a short while by shooting a Galaga-style tractor beam. It is worth 1,000 points if Pac-Man eats it or intercepts it from Miru.
* "Pac-Land" (1984) : The ghosts in airplanes sometimes drop flagships and they are worth 7,650 points (765 being Namco's goroawase number in Japanese) if eaten.
* "Super Xevious" (1984) : The flagship makes an appearance in a silver form and as an enemy, and sometimes several of them attack at once. They are worth 300 points each.
* "Quester" (1987) : In Round 5, the bricks form a Galaxian Flagship.
* "Pac-Mania" (1987) : The flagship makes a 3-D appearance as a special item and in two forms as well, the other one being the silver form from "Super Xevious". The regular one and the silver one are worth 7,650 points if eaten.
* "Pistol Daimyo no Bouken" (1990) : The flagship makes an appearance as an enemy along with the other Galaxian characters, and they attempt to hit Pistol Daimyo with their fire.
* "Tinkle Pit" (1994) : The flagship also makes an appearance with the other Galaxian characters, but this time they appear as bonus items. It is worth 800 points if collected.
* "Tekken" (1994 - Arcade, 1995 - PlayStation) and "Tekken 2" (1995 - Arcade, 1996 - PlayStation) : Winning at least seven rounds in Arcade Vs. mode will reveal the Galaxian flagship on the lower left (or right) hand corner of the screen. In order for this to work, "Number of Wins Shown By" must be set to Fruit.
* "Namco Classic Collection Vol.1" (1995) : The flagship makes an appearance in "Galaga Arrangement" as a Challenging Stage enemy in Space-Plant Zone (Stage 20) and normally in Space-Flower Zone (Stage 26). If killed normally, they are worth 150 points. If killed in Challenging Stage, they are worth 300 points.
* "Namco Classic Collection Vol.2" (1996) : The flagship appears in both "Pac-Man Arrangement" and "Dig Dug Arrangement". In "Pac-Man Arrangement", it makes its appearance in World 4-1 and 4-2 and is worth 5,000 points if Pac-Man eats it. In "Dig Dug Arrangement", it appears in Stages 17 and 18 and is worth 7,000 points if Dig Dug picks it up.
* "Pac-Man World" (1999) : The flagship appears again in a Pac-Man game. This time, the item must be collected in order to access the mazes.
* "Pac-Man World 2" (2002) and "Pac-Man World 3 (2005) : The flagship teleports Pac-Man to mazes. The point value will be the same as the points earned in the maze (if completed), plus 2000.
* "Namco Museum Battle Collection" (2005) : The arrangement versions of "Pac-Man" and "Dig Dug", later called "Pac-Man Remix" and "Dig Dug Remix" in the iOS version, feature the flagship. "Pac-Man Remix" features both the flagship, worth 3,200 points, and the red drone, worth 2,800 points, as fruit items, while on "Dig Dug Remix", the flagship is a vegetable item and is worth 7,000 points.
"Dig Dug - Digging Strike" (2005) : Just like the first "Dig Dug", the flagship appears as a vegetable on stage 13, except it's worth 6,000 points.
"Pac-Man Championship Edition" (2007) and "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX" (2010) : The flagship reappears, but is this time joined by the Galaga Boss, Queen Gaplus, and two drones, one each from "Galaga" and Galaxian.
Gary Whelan holds the official record for this game with 1,114,550 points, achieved August 24, 2006 at Dukinfield in the UK.
The game can be played while the main game loads in the Sony PlayStation's port of "Ridge Racer".
- UPDATES -
The only code difference between the original Namco version and the licensed Midway version is that the 'Bonus Galaxip' text is printed on a different line.
In Namco Set 2 :
* Lives dip switch can be set to 3 or 5 lives. The default is 3 lives.
* Extra life dip switch can be set to 4,000 (meaning a bonus Galaxip at 4,000 points), 5,000 points, 7,000 points, or None (meaning no bonus Galaxip at any time). The default is 4,000.
In Midway Set 2 :
* Extra life dip switch can be set to None, 3,000, 4,000, or 5,000. The default is None.
In the bootleg version :
* Extra life dip switch can be set to None, 20,000, 40,000, or 80,000. The default is None.
- SCORING -
Blue Galaxian: 30 points in formation, 60 points in flight
Purple Galaxian: 40 points in formation, 80 points in flight
Red Galaxian: 50 points in formation, 100 points in flight
Flagship: 60 points in formation, 150 points in flight
Flagship: 200 points in flight with one escort
Flagship: 300 points in flight with two escorts, Flagship killed before both escorts
Flagship: 800 points in flight with two escorts, Flagship killed after both escorts
* The maximum possible score shown is 999,990. Scores higher than this roll back to zero, but the high score will show the last score achieved before the rollover, which can vary from 999,990 to 999,200.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* The action starts immediately as soon as you start your game. The Galaxians will be set up in formation and your Galaxip will be placed in the middle of the bottom of the screen. The action starts immediately. You can only have one shot in the air at any time so plan your shots accordingly. The game starts off slowly with only 2 or 3 Galaxians attacking your Galaxip at one time. They will drop 3 to 4 laser shots. As the waves progress, more Galaxians will come after your Galaxip until you will usually have 10-15 at any one time swooping down on it.
Each wave starts out with the Galaxians in formation, in the following quantities (in order from top to bottom) :
Flagships : 2 (plus any that have escaped from battle in the previous wave, up to a maximum of 4 altogether)
Red Galaxians (Escorts) : 6 (in 1 row, directly below the flagships)
Purple Galaxians : 8 (in 1 row, directly below the red Galaxians)
Blue Galaxians : 30 (in 3 rows of 10, directly below the purple Galaxians)
Flagships and red Galaxians are special enemies : they create convoys. Flagships have other special properties (see below). Purple and blue Galaxians are regular enemies.
* The Galaxip can fire only shot on the screen at a time. It is possible to kill 2 enemies with one shot if they are flying extremely close to each other.
* Missiles shot at the formation which miss by going between columns or near an outer edge of a column, will cause the formation to pause its left-right movement for a very short moment. This will usually, but not always, prevent missed shots near the columns from hitting the enemies in the upper rows of the formation which might otherwise be hit by moving into the shot as it flies by.
* Enemies peel away from the formation and attack the Galaxip. Enemies fire at the Galaxip during their attack, but they can't fire after they pass an invisible horizontal line just above the Galaxip.
* Enemies always begin attack runs from the edges of the formation, never from the middle. This also applies to Flagships but it is not readily observable unless there are 3 or 4 Flagships present.
* A 'swarm' is triggered by either of 2 criterion :
1. The total number of enemies in formation is 3 or less.
2. The total number of blue and purple Galaxians in formation is zero. This can occur when there are many Flagships and red Galaxians still present in formation.
* When the 'swarm' starts, enemies that begin an attack do not return to formation : they keep attacking. Once started, a 'swarm' can only be ended by killing all of the enemies and/or letting them escape, or by the Galaxip getting hit.
* Before the 'swarm' starts, enemies that attack, which are not killed, return to the formation. Since these enemies were on the edge of the formation and able to attack once, they are very likely to attack again soon.
* When not in 'swarm', a maximum of 4 regular enemies can attack at any one time.
* Flagships and convoys can attack at any time as long as another convoy attack is not already commencing; only one convoy attack can happen at a time.
* A Flagship will always create a convoy with the maximum number of red escorts available to it, unless the 'swarm' has started.
* The Flagships 'capture' up to 3 red escorts while they are in formation : Whenever there is a Flagship in formation directly above an escort or above it to one side, that escort is captured and cannot attack on its own. This capture effect ends when a 'swarm' begins.
* The Flagships can escape from the battle only if all three red escorts under their place in the formation have been killed. Flagships that escape will appear on the next attack wave, up to a maximum of 4 Flagships at the start of any wave.
* When an attacking Flagship is killed, all enemies stop firing for a short period of time. If this kill occurs before the 'swarm', there will also be no new attacks from the formation during this period. These benefits never occur for killing a Flagship that is in formation.
* The flags which count the rounds show a maximum of round 48; rounds 48 and up are shown as round 48. However if round 256 is achieved, the flags start to roll over, but with some graphical glitches; the flags that were showing round 48 begin to get overwritten, one at a time. This results in the big 10-flags being cut in half by the regular flags which start to appear, until all 4 of the 10-flags are replaced by small ones. 16 single flags show during rounds 256+8 and 256+9 (rounds 264 and 265). The glitch ends at round 256+10 (266), which shows a single 10 flag.
* After wave 1, it is possible to kill any one enemy, even a Flagship, in a brand new formation by shooting at just the right time and place before the formation teleports in at the start of a new round.
* The Galaxians that come down in a smooth pattern are the easiest to kill plus their shots are easy to avoid. The hard ones to kill (usually the purple Galaxians) are the ones where the Galaxian 'bounces' from side-to-side dropping shots since those shots cover a very large area.
* The corners can be a death trap. When the Galaxians come down firing, their shots do not come straight down but they angle toward the direction that the Galaxian is traveling. In addition, the Galaxians have a tendency to 'charge' into the corners. You get the points if a Galaxian rams your Galaxip but you also lose your Galaxip in the process.
* The Flagships are the big points in the game. Try to avoid shooting the red Galaxians since they act as escorts for the Flagship. Wait until a Flagship comes down with two escorts. If you can't get aligned to take all three out quickly, let them pass. If you do get a good angle on them, you will have to fire quickly to pick off the two escorts first, then the Flagship. If you hit the Flagship first, you get significantly less points.
* Do not stop moving. If you do, you will be caught in a crossfire. The Galaxians tend to leave small areas of safety open between their shots. Also, make sure you are constantly hitting their formation to reduce their numbers (again, don't kill off the red ones).
* As you progress into the higher waves, the Galaxians tend to move quicker, fly more erratic patterns, and 'gang up' on your Galaxip. Plan accordingly for this.
- SERIES -
1. Galaxian (1979)
2. Galaga (1981)
3. Gaplus (1984) : also known in the USA as "Galaga 3"
4. Galaga '88 (1987)
5. Galaxian 3 Theatre 6 - Project Dragoon (1990)
6. Galaxian 3 Theatre 6 J2 - Attack Of The Zolgear (1994)
7. Galaga Arrangement (1995) : part of "Namco Classics Collection Vol.1"
8. Galaga - Destination Earth (2000, GBA, PC CD-ROM and PlayStation)
9. Galaga Arrangement (2005, PSP) : part of "Namco Museum Battle Collection"
10. Galaga Remix (2007, Wii) : part of "Namco Museum Remix"
11. Galaga Legions (2008, XBLA)
12. Galaga Legions DX (2010, PSN, XBLA)
13. Galaga 3D Impact (2011, Nintendo 3DS) : part of "Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions"
- PORTS -
NOTE: For ports released in North America, please see the Midway Upright model entry.
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Epoch Cassette Vision (aug.10, 1981)
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (sept.7, 1984) "Galaxian [Model NGX-4500]"
[JP] Nintendo Famicom Disk (jul.20, 1990) "Galaxian [Model NDS-GXN]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (june.21, 1996) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SLPS-00390]"
[AU] Sony PlayStation (1997) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SCES-00268]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (feb.1997) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SCES-00268]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jan.26, 2006) "Namco Museum Arcade Hits! [Model SLPS-25590]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (mar.24, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[EU] Sony PS2 (mar.31, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model SLES-53957]"
[EU] Nintendo GameCube (may.5, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary [Model DOL-G5NP-EUR]"
[JP] Nintendo Wii (dec.6, 2007) "Minna de Asobou! Namco Carnival [Model RVL-RNWJ-JPN]"
[EU] Nintendo Wii (apr.18, 2008) "Namco Museum Remix [Model RVL-RN2P]"
[KO] Nintendo Wii (apr.26, 2008) "Namco Museum Remix [Model RVL-RNWK-KOR]"
[AU] Nintendo Wii (may.1, 2008) "Namco Museum Remix [Model RVL-RN2P]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (may.15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (june.3, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[JP] Nintendo Wii [Virtual Console Arcade] (sept.29, 2009)
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
* HANDHELDS:
[UK] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 3 - Galaga & Galaxian [Model DMG-AGCP-UKV]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 3 - Galaga & Galaxian [Model DMG-AGCP-NOE]"
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Galaga & Galaxian [Model DMG-AGCJ-JPN]"
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy (nov.29, 1996) "Namco Gallery Vol.2 [Model DMG-AN2J-JPN]"
[JP] Nintendo GBA (dec.7, 2001) "Namco Museum [Model AGB-ANMJ-JPN]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (dec.7, 2001) "Namco Museum [Model AGB-ANMP-EUR]"
[JP] Sony PSP (feb.24, 2005) "Namco Museum [Model ULJS-00012]"
[KO] Sony PSP (may.2, 2005) as 'Old Galaga' in "Namco Museum [Model UCKS-45005]" : Marks the only ever official connection between the Galaxian and Galaga series
[EU] Sony PSP (dec.9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (oct.11, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMJ-JPN]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.29, 2008) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMP-EUR]"
* COMPUTERS:
[EU] Exidy Sorcerer
[JP] Apple II (1980) Star Craft Tokyo
[JP] Apple II (1981) "Alien Typhoon" by Star Craft
[EU] BBC B (1982) "Arcadians" by Acornsoft
[EU] Acorn Electron (1982) "Arcadians" by Acornsoft
[EU] Sinclair ZX81 (1982) "ZX Galaxians" by Artic
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982) by Artic
[EU] Commodore C64 (1983) "Galaxions" by Solar Software
[EU] Commodore C64 (1983)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1983) by Atarisoft
[UK] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1983) "Galactians" by DK'Tronics
[JP] MSX (1984)
[EU] MSX (1984) by Bug-Byte
[JP] Fujitsu FM-7 (1985)
[JP] Sharp X1 by Dempa
[JP] NEC PC-88
[EU] Atari ST (1993) "Galaxian" - PD / Shareware by Sinister Developments
[EU] PC [MS-DOS] (1996) "Galaxi" - PD / Shareware by Kurt W. Dekker
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1998, "Galaxians v1.3" by PD / Shareware - Kev Gallagher
[JP] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (dec.24, 1998) "Namco History Volume 4"
[AU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (mar.27, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (may.19, 2006) "Namco Museum - 50th Anniversary"
* OTHERS:
VFD tabletop game (1980) by Bandai
VFD tabletop game (19??) "Moon Alien", alt. name, by Bandai
VFD tabletop game [JP] (19??) "Beam Galaxian" by Bandai
VFD handheld game (1981) "Galaxian 2" by Entex (or Futuretronics) : called Galaxian 2 because it can be a two-player game.
[JP] VFD handheld game (1981) "Astro Galaxy" by Entex.
VFD handheld game (1981) "Astro Invader", Hales release by Entex
LCD Keychains handheld game (1997) by Bandai
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Refused [+] [X] Asteroids [Upright model] Update submitted by vecchiom
Asteroids (c) 1979 Atari, Incorporated.
Asteroids is a legendary, genre defining game - in an era replete with genre-defining classics - in which a single player takes control of a spaceship trapped in the middle of an asteroid belt. A number of large, slow-moving asteroids drift randomly around the play area and must be shot by the player. When shot, the asteroids will break into a number of smaller pieces which must also be shot until eventually, all of the asteroids and fragments will be destroyed and the next wave begins.
Asteroids introduced real-world physics to video games for the first time, with speed and inertia all adding to the player's problems. As well as the inertia of the player's ship - forcing the player to allow for the ship slowing down and speeding up whenever the Thrust button was utilized - shot asteroids would often send fragments flying in seemingly random directions, and at varying and unpredictable speeds.
As well as the ever-present asteroids, flying saucers also make a regular appearance. These move horizontally and diagonally around the screen, firing at the player's ship, and must be quickly destroyed. They are destroyed when hit by the player's shot, when hit by a saucer's shot or when they collide with an asteroid.
- CAST OF CHARACTERS -
Spaceship - This is you, the player. You can rotate 360 degrees, fire bullets, thrust forward in any direction, and hyperspace to safety if you feel you are in danger.
Large Asteroid - These are the large rocks that fill the screen at the beginning of each stage. Hitting one with a bullet will break it apart into two Medium Asteroids.
Medium Asteroid - Slightly smaller than Large Asteroids, but faster moving. Shooting one of these will result in two Small Asteroids.
Small Asteroid - These are the smallest and fastest rocks on the screen. If a bullet hits one of these, it will vaporize.
Large Saucer - Large flying saucers appear on the screen from time to time, randomly firing shots around the screen. They pose a minor threat.
Small Saucer - The smaller flying saucers are deadlier than the large variety. They are much more precise with their shots, and are more likely to kill you. Eliminate them quickly or get out of their range.
- TECHNICAL -
Upright model dimensions:
25.25 in. (64.14 cm) wide
32 in. (81.28 cm) deep
71.87 in. (182.54 cm) high.
Upright cabinet monitor: 19in. B/W
The Asteroids upright cabinet was identical in construction to the "Lunar Lander" cabinet. It was a black upright with sideart that featured a scene of a starship in a blue field of asteroids (with several red explosions thrown in for good measure). The marquee featured almost identical graphics to the side-art (with the addition of the familiar yellow 'Asteroids' logo). The control panel was a busy looking red, white, and blue affair that had no joysticks (only buttons). While the monitor bezel had kind of a nebula scene printed on it (this did not really seem to match the rest of the machine).
Two different sets of coin doors were made on this title, with early cabinets having a unique design that was soon abandoned in favor of the same one that Atari had been using on Lunar Lander.
Game ID : 035127-035145
Main CPU : MOS Technology M6502 (@ 1.512 Mhz)
Sound Chips : Discrete circuitry.
Buttons : 5
= > RIGHT, LEFT, FIRE, THRUST, HYPERSPACE
- TRIVIA -
Asteroids was released in November 1979 in the USA.
Asteroids was a much celebrated arcade game that captured the imaginations of millions of players, while capturing a good many quarters as well.
Originally called 'Cosmos', Asteroids' original design brief was a simple copy of Cinematronics' "Space Wars"; with asteroids littering the play-field purely for visual effect. 'Cosmos' was also once known as 'Planet Grab', in which the player had to claim a planet by touching it with their spaceship. 'Cosmos' allowed players to blow up the planets and duel with another ship, Space Wars-style. Only in Asteroids, which arrived two years later, did Atari engineer Lyle Rains, introduce the concept of free-floating rocks.
On June 17, 1980, Atari's Asteroids and Lunar Lander were the first two video games to ever be registered in the Copyright Office.
The first 200 Asteroids machines were actually Lunar Lander cabinets; Asteroids was so successful that Atari cut Lunar Lander's production run and released the 200 aforementioned machines, complete with their original Lunar Lander cabinet art.
Asteroids remains Atari's bestselling arcade game of all time, with approximately 56,565 units produced (47,840 upright and 8,725 cocktail) in total.
* Remembrances from the Video Game Masters : Working on Asteroids was so intense that Lyle Rains and Ed Logg often dreamt about their work.
Lyle Rains : 'In the course of my work I have always found that there are times during the development process when the project gets to me in such a way that I'm eating, drinking, sleeping, and breathing the project. When I close my eyes the images of the screen are there and I dream about them at night. There is something just very intense when you live with a project like that day and night, for months at a time. When we were working on Asteroids, I would play Asteroids for a number of hours in the evening, then I'd go home and I'd close my eyes, and as I was drifting off to sleep I'd see the asteroids floating around the screen.'.
Ed Logg : 'I was shooting the asteroids all night long; I'd just play the game over and over and over in my head, just as if you were playing it in real life. To a certain extent, I play a lot of the games in my mind long before I ever write them because you have to get all the interactions down pat before you can start programming. I know what it's going to look like before I even get there.'.
* Popular from the Start : a good barometer of a game's future success was how popular it was within the labs at Atari. The software developers often had to chase people away from their Prototype machines when they arrived at their desks in the morning or returned from lunch.
Lyle Rains : 'The development on the really good games gets bogged down, because people want to play them all the time. I was in the lab quite often playing Asteroids, as were many other people.'.
On the overall popularity of Asteroids, Steve Calfee said : 'A lot of people really liked it. Somehow, there's something about people, they like to clean spaces. With Asteroids it's easy to measure your accomplishment, you're breaking big rocks into little rocks and then the little rocks into nothing. It's sort of a metaphor for life.'.
Rich Adam recalled his own first encounter with Asteroids : 'I'll never forget going into the lab and seeing that game for the first time. It was like an adrenaline rush. I'm out flying this spaceship and it's the miraculous escape. I've got this situation where I've got tons of these boulders flying around the screen, I have almost nowhere to go. I get to blast my way out of it and cheat death one more time; that's a good fantasy, you've got all these things flying around and yet you're able to survive.'
Howard Delman described what it was like creating the sounds for Asteroids : 'In those days there were no all-purpose sound chips like we have now, so I had to create a hardware circuit for each sound. I would string together electrical circuits that would produce an output wave-form that corresponded to the wave-form of the sound. When put through an amplifier and a loud-speaker, it would sound like whatever I was trying to create. The boom-boom-boom background sound was sort of meant to be like a heartbeat, and the idea was that as the game progressed, the sound speeded up, and the player's heart would speed up, too. You know, stress!'.
* The Great 25-Cent Escape : On the intensity of playing Asteroids, Ed Rotberg recalled : 'Asteroids was just so intense in the fact that you had a concept of all around fantasy. You had to keep your eyes constantly in motion around the screen because the danger could be coming from any direction, at anytime, and it was always so imminent. In Asteroids it was just you out there, trying to survive. It's an incredibly intense game. The tuning in terms of how fast the spaceship turns and how fast the bullets move and how far they go and how fast the asteroids can go, just all the tuning that Ed Logg put into that, is real artistry.'.
Asteroids is considered, artistically, to be a video-game masterpiece. Ed Logg opines : 'The simple fact that the spaceship in Asteroids continues to move after you cut thrust, providing a wee glimpse of the Newtonian mechanics of actual space flight, triggered the imaginations of many users'.
Rich Adam said : 'Asteroids fulfilled the fantasy of being out in space, with no gravity, and free floating. The spaceship had a very elegant grace. A lot of motion in the game had grace, even the way the boulders floated around.'.
And the game's epic quality was noted by Ed Rotberg : 'What Asteroids allows players to do is to put themselves in an incredible predicament, and then extricate themselves from it. You feel like a hero coming out of it.'.
There was a modified version of Asteroids that was given the nick-name "Turtleroids"; this was part of a long series of practical jokes against the vice-president of marketing for Atari who was feeling jaded in his feeling towards a game concept called 'Turtle Races'. One day, Ed switched the PROMs of the golden edition of Asteroids in the lobby of Atari so that the little and big UFOs were replaced by turtles, thus providing them with a constant reminder. Another practical joke involving Asteroids was a slight modification in the prototype of the game, because Owen Rubin (initials ORR on most Atari high score tables) kept filling up the high score tables when the programmers were not around. So, they modified the program to replace Owen's initials with Ed's own to keep him away.
In a monumental display of overconfidence on the part of the Atari programmers, Asteroids rolls over at only 99,999 points. Several players during days-long marathon games have scored over 100,000,000...
Asteroids keeps track of up to 255 extra men. If the player has too many, the game may slow down, probably due to the processor having to draw all the extra men on the screen.
John McAllister holds the official record for this game with 41,838,740 points on April 5, 2010.
The default high score screen of "Cyberball 2072" features names of many Atari arcade games, including ASTEROID.
Asteroids inspired a catchy hit song by Buckner and Garcia called 'Hyperspace' released on the 'Pac-Man Fever' album.
An Asteroids unit appears in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', in the 1983 movie 'WarGames', in the 1983 movie 'Terms of Endearment', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks', in the 1984 movie 'Night of the Comet', in the 1984 movie 'The Iceman', in the 1985 movie 'Remo Williams - The Adventure Begins', in the 1985 movie 'Pee Wee's Big Adventure', and in the 1983 movie 'The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie - Strange Brew'.
An upright Asteroids unit appears in the 38 Special music video 'Caught Up In You'.
Known licensed releases:
Asteroids (Taito Corp.)
Asteroids (Sega)
Meteor (Hoei)
Super Meteor (Hoei)
Known unlicensed releases:
Asterock (Sidam)
Asteroide (Maxenti)
Meteor (Omni)
Meteorites (VGG)
Planet (Alca)
Hyperspace (unknown)
- UPDATES -
Revision 1 has an invulnerability glitch, which allows players to hide the ship in the upper corners of the screen (in the score) and be invulnerable to collisions.
Revision 1 also has a bug which affects thrusting. If the ship reaches full velocity moving down or left, and continues thrusting while rotating to the opposite direction, the ship will not slow down from the full velocity that has been reached in the original direction.
Revision 2 says '1979 Atari' at the bottom of the title screen, instead of the 'Asteroids by Atari' that was displayed in Revision 1. Also, the invulnerability glitch of Revision 1 is corrected.
Revision 4 :
1) allows small saucer to use wrap-around feature,
2) allows small saucer to fire immediately when entering the playing area, and
3) prevents the intermittent loss of 3rd initial on 10th highest score.
- SCORING -
Large Asteroids : 20 points.
Medium Asteroids : 50 points.
Small Asteroids : 100 points.
Large Flying Saucer : 200 points.
Small Flying Saucer : 1,000 points.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
When you start the game, your spaceship will be in the middle of the screen with four large asteroids heading toward your ship. After all the rocks are destroyed, the next round begins. The number of initial large asteroids depends on the round number:
Round 1: 4
Round 2: 6
Round 3: 8
Round 4: 10
Round 5 and up: 11
Your job is to blast those rocks. However, when you blast them, they break up into two medium rocks. Blasting a medium rock gives you two small rocks. Note : There is an exception to this rule. The game program only allows 26 asteroids on the screen at any one time. If the screen already contains 26 asteroids of any size, then when you shoot a large asteroid it breaks up into only one medium asteroid, and when you shoot a medium asteroid it breaks up into only one small asteroid. You can completely destroy a large asteroid with only three shots instead of seven when the screen is filled up like this.
Destroy the fastest-moving asteroids first. The slower asteroids are easier to avoid and you can deal with them later.
In addition, you have to contend with large and small flying saucers. Remember that you get most of your points by shooting these. On the first few screens, you can sit in the middle and blast rocks to your hearts content. There isn't that much danger since the large saucer doesn't track and only fires random shots. Keep in mind of a few things when shooting :
1) You can have four shots on the screen at any one time. This is useful for when you are blasting rocks at close range. You can pretty much drill them to dust.
2) Your shots 'wrap around' the screen. This means any shot that goes past the edge of the screen will reappear on the opposite side traveling the same direction. The saucers also have 'wrap around' shots.
* Try to keep a few defensive shots in reserve. Sometimes, it isn't wise to fire all four shots at once. Without a shot or two in reserve, you are vulnerable if you need to protect yourself from an unexpected asteroid or flying saucer.
* After 10,000 points, the small saucer becomes a permanent part of the game. You can no longer sit in one place since the small saucer is able to track your ship and take you out with the first or second shot.
* Use hyperspace only in very desperate situations. Something like having four asteroids coming at you at once with nowhere to escape would be a good reason. Eight times out of ten, hyperspace will either put your ship in danger (from a saucer, a plummeting asteroid, or saucer fire) or when you appear somewhere else, your ship will blow up.
* Although there is danger from the rocks and saucers, you can also be a danger to yourself. Use the thrust carefully or you will find yourself careening out of control on the screen. Some players get really good, however, moving around and shooting.
* For those desired high scores, you can use the hunting trick. It goes something like this :
1) After 10,000 points, the small saucers appear. They are worth 1,000 points apiece. First, blast every rock until you have one small rock left.
2) Go sit in the upper left or right corner of the game screen.
3) If the small saucer appears from the side you are on, you can blast it before it gets off a shot. If it appears on the opposite side, use the shot 'wrap around' to take care of it. Some people have done this for hours on end and racked up scores in the millions. Of course, it takes a long time at 1,000 points a pop.
4) Also keep in mind that the small saucer can wrap shots so you may have to move out of danger.
- SERIES -
1. Asteroids (1979)
2. Asteroids Deluxe (1981)
3. Space Duel (1982)
4. Blasteroids (1988)
5. Asteroids (1998, PC, PS; 1999, GBC; 2000, Mac)
6. Asteroids Hyper 64 (1999, N64)
7. Asteroids Gunner (2011, App Store)
- STAFF -
Designed by : Lyle Rains
Programmed by : Ed Logg
Sound & Vector generator display system : Howard Delman
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1981) "Asteroids [Model CX2649]"
[US] Atari 2600 (1981) "Asteroids [Model 49-75163]"
[EU] Atari 2600 (1988) "Asteroids [Model CX2649P]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Asteroids [Model CX5201]"
[US] Atari 7800 (1986) "Asteroids [Model CX7802]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (dec.31, 1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SLUS-00339]"
[EU] Sega Saturn (1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model T-25413H-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (june.30, 1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model T-9706H]"
[US] Nintendo SNES (aug.1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SNS-AW7E-USA]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (dec.1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SLES-00466]"
[EU] Nintendo SNES (feb.26, 1998) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SNSP-AW7P-EUR]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLUS-01427]"
[US] Sega Dreamcast (jul.2, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition [Model T-15130N]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (mar.1, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLES-03808]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (nov.26, 2004) "Atari Anthology"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.18, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model SLES-53061]"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] [US] [EU] (nov.28, 2007)
Microsoft XBOX 360 [US] (jan.3, 2009) "Jordan's Asteroids [XBOX Indie Games]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1,2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (nov.1,2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1992) "Asteroids [Model DMG-AN-GPS]"
Nintendo Game Boy [UK] (1992) "Asteroids [Model DMG-AN-UKV]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (feb.1992) "Asteroids [Model DMG-AN-USA]"
Atari Lynx [US] (1994) "Super Asteroids & Missile Command [Model PA2093]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 1 - Asteroids & Missile Command [Model DMG-AMCP-NOE]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (jul.1995) "Arcade Classic No. 1 - Asteroids & Missile Command [Model DMG-AMCE-USA]"
Nintendo Game Boy [UK] (1995) "Arcade Classic No. 1 - Asteroids & Missile Command [Model DMG-AMCP-UKV]"
[US] Nintendo GBA (mar.25, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Advance [Model AGB-AAVE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (feb.14, 2003) "Atari Anniversary Advance [Model AGB-AAVP-EUR]"
[UK] Nintendo DS (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-UKV]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (mar.11, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.16, 2005) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (june.30, 2005) "Atarimix Happy 10 Games [Model NTR-ATAJ-JPN]"
[US] Nintendo GBA (aug.21, 2005) "3 Games in One! Yars' Revenge - Asteroids - Pong [Model AGB-B64E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (sept.23, 2005) "3 Games in One! Yars' Revenge - Asteroids - Pong [Model AGB-B64P]"
[AU] Nintendo DS (nov.2007) "Retro Atari Classics [Model NTR-ATAE-AUS]"
[US] Sony PSP (dec.19, 2007) "Atari Classics Evolved [Model ULUS-10325]"
[AU] Sony PSP (mar.7, 2008) "Atari Classics Evolved"
[US] Nintendo DS (nov.2, 2010) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.24, 2011) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.1 [Model NTR-BR6E-USA]"
* COMPUTERS:
[US] Apple II (1980)
[US] Atari 800 (1981) "Asteroids [Model CXL-4013]"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1981) "Star Blaster"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1981) "(Color) Meteoroids"
BBC B [EU] (1982) "Meteors" - Acornsoft
[EU] Acorn Electron (1983) "Meteors - Acornsoft
Tandy Color Computer [EU] (1983) "Microbes"
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1985) "Asteroid Attack" - Your Computer (UK Magazine) Type-in issue Nov '85, page 82
[US] Commodore C64 [EU] (1987) "Arcade Classics"
PC [MS Windows 3.1x, 3.5"] [US] (1993) "Microsoft Arcade"
PC [MS Windows 95, CD-ROM] [US] (1995) "HemiRoids", part of "Windows Arcade Pack"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.13, 1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.9, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (dec.14, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2003) "Asteroids & Super Breakout"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.10, 2005) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Replay]"
[US] Steam (mar.24,2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"
* OTHERS:
Mobile phones [US] [Motorola T720] (2002)
Mobile phones [US] (june.13, 2003)
[US] Nokia N-Gage (2005) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. I"
Mobile Phones [US] (jan.1, 2005) "Atari Legends Vol. 1"
[EU] Nokia N-Gage (oct.13, 2005) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. I"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (jan.12, 2009) [Model 30288996]
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (nov.14, 2009) [Model 338486176]
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (mar.9, 2011) "Asteroids Classic [Model 423360672]"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (jul.18, 2011) "Asteroids Classic HD [Model 450542089]"
Apple Store [US] (2012) "Atari Greatest Hits"
Google Play [US] (2012) "Atari Greatest Hits"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (feb.11, 2012) "Asteroids - Classic Arcade Game [Model 498899103]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
Game's F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Asteroids Help file from Microsoft Arcade
Command.dat by Procyon Lotor
Accepted [+] [X] Space Invaders [Model 739] Update submitted by vecchiom
Space Invaders (c) 1978 Midway Mfg. Co.
Export version manufactured by Midway under license from Taito. For more information about the game itself, please see the original Taito upright model entry; "Space Invaders".
- TECHNICAL -
Game ID : 739
[Upright model]
Buttons : 3 (LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE)
(The US upright model had no joystick)
- TRIVIA -
Space Invaders was released by Midway Manufacturing, under license by Taito, in October 1978 in the USA.
The Space Invaders phenomenon stunned many conservative adults of the time who were convinced that video-games soured the minds of their youngsters. Residents of Mesquite, Texas, pushed the issue all the way to the Supreme Court in their efforts to ban the illicit machines from their Bible-belt community. A number of reported incidents of juvenile crime began to surface shortly after the game's release, adding to its 'controversy'. A girl was caught stealing $5,000 from her parents and gangs of youths were reported to have robbed grocery stores just so they would have money to play the game.
Of the reported 350,000 units produced world wide, about 65,000 units were produced in the U.S. alone.
Technology journalist Jason Whittaker credited the game's success to ending the video game crash of 1977, which had earlier been caused by Pong clones flooding the market, and beginning the golden age of video arcade games. According to The Observer, the home console versions were popular and encouraged users to learn programming; many who later became industry leaders.
Space Invaders inspired a catchy hit song by 'Uncle Vic' called 'Space Invaders' released over the spring to summer-time period of 1980. The Pretenders also released an instrumental song called 'Space Invaders' on their debut album in 1980.
A Space Invaders unit appears in the 1980 movie 'Midnight Madness', in the 1982 movie 'Jekyll & Hyde... Together Again', in the 1982 movie 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High', in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks', in the 1984 movie 'The Iceman', in the 1991 movie 'Terminator 2 - Judgment Day', and in the 1998 sitcom 'That 70's Show'; Season 4, Episode 8 (Donna's Story).
An upright unit of the Midway release of Space Invaders appears in the ZZ Top music video, 'Legs'.
- SERIES -
1. Space Invaders (1978, ARC)
2. Space Invaders Deluxe (1979, ARC)
3. Space Invaders II (1980, ARC)
4. Return of the Invaders (1985, ARC)
5. Super Space Invaders '91 (1990, ARC)
6. Space Invaders DX (1994, ARC)
7. Space Invaders '95 - Attack of the Lunar Loonies (1995, ARC)
8. Space Invaders (1999, PS)
9. Space Invaders 25th Silver Anniversary (2003, ARC)
10. Space Invaders Revolution (2005, DS)
11. Space Invaders Evolution (2005, PSP)
12. Space Invaders Extreme (2008, DS/PSP)
13. Space Invaders Extreme 2 (2009, DS)
14. Space Invaders Frenzy (2017, ARC)
- PORTS -
NOTE: For ports released in Japan, please see the Taito upright model entry.
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1980) "Space Invaders [Model CX2632]"
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Space Invaders [Model CX5204]"
Atari XEGS
DynaVision [BR] (198?)
ColecoVision [US] (aug.9, 2003) "Space Invaders Collection"
[EU] Sony PS2 (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLES-53438]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[US] Sony PS2 (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends [Model SLUS-21122]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (oct.25, 2005) "Taito Legends"
[KO] Sony PS2 (jul.18, 2006) "Taito Legends [Model SLKA-15056]"
* HANDHELDS:
Nintendo Game Boy [AU] (1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-AUS]"
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-NOE]"
Nintendo Game Boy [UK] (1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-UKV]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (oct.1994) "Space Invaders [Model DMG-SP-USA]"
[EU] Sony PSP (oct.6, 2006) "Taito Legends Power-Up [Model ULES-00473]"
[US] Sony PSP (may.17, 2007) "Taito Legends Power-Up [Model ULUS-10208]"
* COMPUTERS:
Exidy Sorcerer [EU] (1978) "Invaders"
Microtan 65 [EU] (1980) "Space Invasion"
TI99/4a [US] (1981) "TI Invaders [Model PHM 3053]" by Texas Instruments
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1981) "Space Assault"
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1981) "Color Space Invaders"
Commodore Vic 20 [US] "Avenger"
[US] Commodore C64 (1982) "Avenger [Model C-64 621]"
[EU] Commodore C64 (1982) "Avenger"
BBC B [EU] (1982) "Super Invaders" by Acornsoft
Sinclair ZX-Spectrum [EU] (1982) "Spectral Invaders" by Bug-Byte
Sinclair ZX-Spectrum [EU] (1982) "Space Raiders" by Sinclair Research
Sinclair ZX-Spectrum [EU] (1982) "Invaders" by Artic Computing (UK)
Oric [EU] (1983) "Oric Invaders" by Arcadia Software
Tandy Color Computer [US] (1985) "Super Vaders"
[EU] [US] Commodore C64 (1987) "Arcade Classics"
Tandy Color Computer 3 [US] (1988) "Space Intruders" : wave 9 is similar to wave 5 of "Phoenix".
[EU] Commodore Amiga (1988) "Amoeba Invaders" : included in the cover disk that came with the ST/Amiga Format Magazine (nov.1988, Issue number 5).
[EU] Atari ST (1989)
Sinclair ZX-Spectrum [EU] (1993) "Invaders" by Design Design Software (UK) : published exclusively on magazine covertape, appeared on side A of covertape "Your Sinclair issue 85: Christmas Collection 2".
PC [MS-DOS] (1997) "Champ Invaders" - CHAMProgramming
VTech Laser-VZ [AU] "Vz Invaders"
[US] Apple II "Apple Invader"
PC [MS Windows] [EU] (oct.14, 2005) "Taito Legends"
PC [MS Windows] [US] (nov.10, 2005) "Taito Legends"
* OTHERS:
LED handheld game [US] (1980) black version by Entex
LED handheld game [US] (1981) grey version by Entex
LCD handheld game [US] (1982) by Tiger Electronics
LCD handheld game with calculator [US] (1982) by Tiger Electronics
LCD handheld game [US] (larger LCD) (1984) by Tiger Electronics
LCD handheld game [EU] (1999) by Systema
Arcade Legends : Space Invaders TV Game [US] (2004) by Radica Games
Mobile Phones [US] (2007) "3D Space Invaders"
Mobile Phones [US] (2007) "Space Invaders Trilogy"
[US] "Atari Flashback 4" (nov.13, 2012) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 5" (oct.1, 2014) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 6" (sept.15, 2015) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 7" (oct.1, 2016) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 8" (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
[US] "Atari Flashback 8 Gold Edition" (sept.22, 2017) by AtGames
- SOURCES -
Game's picture.
Refused [+] [X] Space Invaders [Trimline model] Update submitted by vecchiom
Space Invaders (c) 1978 Taito America Corp.
Trimline model. For more information about the game, please see the original Taito Corp. Upright entry.
- TECHNICAL -
[Trimline model]
- TRIVIA -
Space Invaders was released by Taito America in July 1978 in the USA.
- SOURCES -
Machine's picture.
Refused [+] [X] Space Invaders Update submitted by vecchiom
Space Invaders (c) 1978 Taito.
Space Invaders is quite simply the most influential video-game of all time. A single player moves an armed 'laser base' left or right along the bottom of the screen and shoots the endless waves of aliens marching relentlessly down the screen towards earth.
There are four buildings (shields) at the bottom of the screen that the player can hide behind, but these will eventually be destroyed by either enemy missiles or by direct contact with the invaders themselves. The player's shots will also destroy the shields.
The aliens' descent quickens as they are eliminated, making them harder to hit. A flying saucer will fly across the top of the screen at regular intervals and can be shot to earn extra points.
- TECHNICAL -
Main CPU : Intel 8080 (@ 1.9968 Mhz)
Sound Chips : SN76477 (@ 1.9968 Mhz)
Players : 2
Control : 2-way Joystick
Buttons : 1 (FIRE)
- TRIVIA -
Space Invaders was released in June 1978 in Japan. It was also available as a cocktail model known as "T.T Space Invaders".
The development of Space Invaders only took three months, but developing the programming environment alone took almost six months.
Space Invaders was so popular in Japan that it caused a yen shortage and more coins had to be minted. Many regular produce and goods stores in Japan removed their products and converted into Space Invaders parlors overnight, complete with giant speakers broadcasting the 'thump-thump-thump' of the marching invaders. A true classic in every sense of the word.
As one of the earliest shoot'em ups, Space Invaders set precedents and helped pave the way for future titles and for the shoot'en up genre. Space Invaders popularized a more interactive style of gameplay with the enemies responding to the player controlled cannon's movement, and was the first video game to popularize the concept of achieving a high score, being the first to save the player's score. While earlier shooting games allowed the player to shoot at targets, Space Invaders was the first in which targets could fire back at the player. It was also the first game where players were given multiple lives, had to repel hordes of enemies, could take cover from enemy fire, and use destructible barriers, in addition to being the first game to use a continuous background soundtrack, with four simple diatonic descending bass notes repeating in a loop, which was dynamic and changed pace during stages, like a heartbeat sound that increases pace as enemies approached.
Space Invaders contains the first attract mode with a sense of humor. It would first display 'PLAY SPACE INVADERS' with the 'Y' in 'PLAY' upside-down, and an invader would come along taking the offending upside-down 'Y' and carrying it off the screen, and then coming back with the 'Y' right side up and putting it back in place. The invader would then disappear from the screen. The attract mode would also display 'INSERT CCOIN' and an invader would come along and bomb the offending extra 'C'.
There are exactly 55 invaders per screen and exactly 11 different in-game sounds.
Space Invaders was the first arcade game to work its way out of seedy arcades and into pizza parlors and ice cream shops.
An upright unit of the Taito release of Space Invaders appears in the Nazareth music video 'Holiday'.
Export (Licensed) releases:
"Space Invaders [Model 739]"
"Space Invaders [Model 775]"
- UPDATES -
Clone "CV Version" uses the same color monitor and color generator board as "Space Invaders Part II", where anything not black will turn red during the explosion of the player's laser base once the player has been hit by enemy fire (during actual gameplay only, not during attract mode).
- SCORING -
Large Invader : 10 points.
Medium Invader : 20 points.
Small Invader : 30 points.
UFO : 50 to 300 points.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* When you start the game, your laser base will be in the bottom left corner of the screen, below the buildings. Your goal is to blast the invaders into dust. Keep in mind that once the invaders make it to either the right or left edge of the screen, they will drop down a row and head in the opposite direction. You should plan your strategy to prevent them from making it to an edge.
* A good strategy is to start blasting out the columns on the opposite edge of movement. This is if the invaders are moving right, they start blasting out the leftmost columns first. This way, their return trip is longer and you have more time to deal with them.
* Do not attempt to hit the invaders dead center. They fire their laser bombs from dead center and your shots will collide, wasting your shot and letting them move closer to an edge.
* Speaking of shots, you can only have one shot out at a time so make it count.
* Use your buildings to your advantage. 'Peek' around buildings to get shots and blast a hole in the middle of your buildings to give you protection while you knock out columns of invaders. Keep in mind, this protection will only last about two columns before the invaders blow open a hole wide enough to destroy your laser base.
* Every other wave of invaders starts one row lower. Eventually, the waves will start one row above your buildings. Be prepared to do some fast shooting to keep them from getting any lower because once they reach your level, the game is over.
* When you are down to taking out the last invader on a wave, that invader will zip across the screen. The strange thing is that the invader travels faster going left to right than going right to left. Keep this in mind when trying to shoot it.
* The mystery saucer (or UFO) will appear at random times. If you have a good shot at it, try to hit it. Don't go out of your way, however, to go after it; it isn't worth the risk or time wasted.
* The Hidden Message Trick : To get the hidden message, you must do the following :
1) When the demo starts, you need to press the following keys at the same time on the machine : LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE, 1P START, 2P START.
2) Continue to press these keys rapidly as fast as you can.
3) If you are successful, the message ('TAITO CORP') will appear under the high score.
* Shot Counting Trick : To get 300 every time you hit the mystery saucer. It is named the 'Furrer Trick' named after Eric Furrer who perfected it. To do this trick, perform the following :
1) Once the new level begins, start counting the shots from your base.
2) When you have fired 22 shots, stop shooting and wait for the mystery saucer.
3) Use the 23rd shot to blast the mystery saucer.
4) After this, start counting shots again, this time count only to 14.
5) Use the 15th shot to hit the mystery saucer.
6) Continue using the 14 shot rule until the level is finished.
7) At the next wave, start with the 22 shot rule, then use the 14 shot rule to finish that wave.
8) Remember, all shots count regardless of hits or misses.
* Eric Furrer writes : Here's a variant of the Counting Trick that most people don't know and it's the exact trick I used to play that darn game for 36 hours over 20 years ago. The shot count trick works great for level 1,2,3 but you can't use 22-14-14 counts for mystery ships on the 4th wave because the invaders are too low. If you wait around for the ship after 22-14, then the invaders will be down too quick and you will surely die. Most players at this point do a 22 count and abandon the remaining 14 counts and just clear the board. This slows point accumulation.
My solution is simple and the shot count works in progressions as well : On the 4th wave count 22, wait, and clobber the 300. Now instead of counting 14, shoot the 29 invaders in the bottom rows and get the ship. Now the invaders are high enough to do two more 14's.
Here's the grid for rolling the machine's score in about 6 minutes by the forth wave using 29. Otherwise, you'd have to wait until the 5th wave. Seems minor, but it saves 30 seconds per roll, which could mean a 30 minute lead against a good player on a head to head speed match, a difference of about 50,000 points!
1st wave - 22, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14 (bonus = 3000 + 990 = 3990 first wave)
2nd wave - 22, 14, 14, 14 (bonus = 1200 + 990 = 2190 total score now = 6180)
3rd wave - 22, 14, 14, 14 (bonus = 1200 + 990 = 2190 total score now = 8370)
4th wave - 22, 29, 14 (bonus = 900 + 990 = 1890 total score now = 0260 or 10260) (if you counted 22, 14, you couldn't get the 3rd 14 without severe risk of death row)
5th wave - 22, 29, 14 (same as 4th wave)
6th wave - 22, 14
7th wave - 22 14
8th wave - 22
9th wave - 22
Then back to the first wave!!
- SERIES -
1. Space Invaders (1978, ARC)
2. Space Invaders Part II (1979, ARC)
3. Return of the Invaders (1985, ARC)
4. Majestic Twelve - The Space Invaders Part IV (1990, ARC)
5. Space Invaders DX (1994, ARC)
6. Akkanvader (1995, ARC)
7. Space Invaders Virtual Collection (1995, Virtual Boy)
8. Space Invaders X (2000, PS)
9. Space Invaders Anniversary (2003, ARC)
10. Space Invaders DS (2005, DS)
11. Space Invaders - Galaxy Beat (2005, PSP)
12. Space Invaders Extreme (2008, DS/PSP)
13. Space Invaders Extreme 2 (2009, DS)
14. Space Invaders Frenzy (2017, ARC)
- STAFF -
Designed & programmed by: Tomohiro Nishikado
- PORTS -
NOTE: For ports released outside Japan, please see the Midway upright model entry.
* CONSOLES:
[JP] Atari 2600 (1983)
[JP] Sega SG-1000 (1985) "Space Invaders [Model G-1045]"
[JP] Nintendo Famicom (apr.17, 1985) "Space Invaders [Model 01 TF-4500]"
[JP] Nintendo Virtual Boy (dec.1, 1995) "Space Invaders - Virtual Collection [Model VUE-VSPJ-JPN]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (jul.28, 2005) "Taito Memories Joukan [Model SLPM-66057]" : Color version
[JP] Sony PS2 (aug.25, 2005) "Taito Memories Gekan [Model SLPM-66092]"
* HANDHELDS:
[JP] Bandai WonderSwan (1999)
[JP] Sony PSP (may.12, 2005) "Space Invaders Pocket [Model ULJM-05015]"
* COMPUTERS:
[JP] MSX (1985)
[JP] Sharp X68000 (1989)
[JP] NEC PC-9801 (1992)
* OTHERS:
[JP] VFD handheld game (19??) by Gakken
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc
Refused [+] [X] Super Breakout Update submitted by vecchiom
Super Breakout (c) 1978 Atari.
Super Breakout allows the player(s) to select any one of three different action-packed Super Breakout games by turning the game select knob on the control panel to the desired game. The three available Super Breakout modes are the following:
* Double Breakout : before serving the ball, the Double Breakout playfield contains 52 orange bricks (4x13) at the top of the screen and 52 green bricks (4x13) immediately below the orange brick wall.
Two paddles are displayed at the bottom end of the screen. When the Serve pushbutton is pressed, two balls are served. If the first ball served is missed, it counts as a missed serve and goes against the player's allotted serves per game. Otherwise the second ball is served. If the second ball served is missed after striking the first served ball, the player may continue with the first ball.
* Cavity Breakout : before serving the ball, the Cavity Breakout playfield contains 44 orange bricks and 52 (4x13) green bricks located immediately below the orange brick wall. At approximately 3 columns in and 2 rows down into the orange brick wall, from both the left and the right side of the wall, two cavities appear. These two cavities occupy the space of 4 bricks (a 2x2 brick area).
One paddle is provided in this game, and only one ball is served, unlike in Double Breakout. When enough bricks are removed to release a captive ball from its cavity, the score doubles for each brick removed by any of the two balls in the playfield (as long as the served ball and the freed ball both remain active in the playfield). If the third ball is freed and all three balls are played in the playfield, the score triples. If any one of the balls is missed and lost, the score returns to double points. If the second ball is missed and only one ball remains in the playfield, points are then scored as normal.
* Progressive Breakout : before serving the ball, the Progressive Breakout playfield contains 4x13 brick walls (one blue and the other green). The blue brick wall, which consists of 52 bricks, is at the top. Then occurs a space equivalent to this wall. In the middle of the screen is a green brick wall consisting of 52 bricks.
The brick walls move or 'scroll' toward the paddle at a rate determined by the number of hits on the ball. As the bricks are knocked out and the walls progressively creep up on the player's paddle, new bricks enter the playfield at a progressively faster rate. Four rows of bricks are always separated by four rows of blanks.
As the brick walls scroll down, their colors change, indicating a new point score for that brick at that instant of time.
- TECHNICAL -
This title was most commonly available in an upright dedicated cabinet, although cocktail versions were also available. The machine featured a cartoon rendering of gameplay on both the side art and the marquee (done up mostly in yellow and brick red). The control panel was decorated with a few stripes and featured a single spinner control along with one button. The game was displayed on a black and white open frame monitor that had a color overlay installed to simulate color. This overlay made the different rows of bricks appear to be different colors.
Game ID : 033442-033455
Main CPU : MOS Technology M6502 (@ 375 Khz)
Sound Chips : DAC (@ 375 Khz)
Screen orientation : Vertical
Video resolution : 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh : 60.00 Hz
Palette colors : 2
Players : 2
Control : paddle
Buttons : 1
- TRIVIA -
Super Breakout was released in September 1978 in the USA.
Approximately 4,800 units were produced.
This game is also known as "Super Knockout" (licensed to Subelectro).
- SCORING -
* Double Breakout Mode (the maximum score for this mode is 2,694) :
Orange brick row 1 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 2 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 3 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 4 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 1 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 2 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 3 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 4 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield).
* Cavity Breakout Mode (the maximum score for this mode is 3,384) :
Orange brick row 1 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield), 21 points (3 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 2 : 7 points (1 ball in playfield), 14 points (2 balls in playfield), 21 points (3 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 3 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield), 15 points (3 balls in playfield).
Orange brick row 4 : 5 points (1 ball in playfield), 10 points (2 balls in playfield), 15 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 1 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield), 9 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 2 : 3 points (1 ball in playfield), 6 points (2 balls in playfield), 9 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 3 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield), 3 points (3 balls in playfield).
Green brick row 4 : 1 points (1 ball in playfield), 2 points (2 balls in playfield), 3 points (3 balls in playfield).
* Progressive Breakout Mode (the maximum score for this mode is infinite, however the score flips at 9,999 going back to 0) :
Blue brick : 7 points.
Orange brick : 5 points.
Green brick : 3 points.
Yellow brick : 1 point.
- TIPS AND TRICKS -
* Ball Speed : Besides the slowest ball speed, right after the serve, there are three possible speed-ups. The first speed-up after the serve occurs on the 4th hit, and a second faster speed-up occurs on the 8th hit. The third occurs after the 12th hit and the fourth occurs when a highpoint (either a 5- or 7-point) brick is hit, regardless of previous speed. Ball speed is restored to slowest value at the beginning of each serve.
* Ball Direction : When the ball intercepts the paddle it will rebound in any of four directions, depending on which portion of the paddle was hit (divide the paddle in four equal portions). This is still the case after the paddle has been reduced to half its normal size. Note that the ball is not allowed to move in a direction perpendicular to the front surface of the paddle or perpendicular to the edge of the paddle. These directions change with the number of hits of the balls. Just like the ball speed changes occur at the 4th, 8th and 12th ball hits.
- SERIES -
1. Breakout (1976)
2. Breakout Deluxe (1976)
3. Super Breakout (1978)
4. Breakout 2000 [Model J9093E] (1997, Atari Jaguar)
5. Breakout (2000, Sony PlayStation, PC CD-ROM; 2001, Macintosh)
6. Breakout Boost (2011, App Store)
- STAFF -
Designed and programmed by: Ed Logg
- PORTS -
* CONSOLES:
[US] Atari 2600 (1978) "Super Breakout [Model CX2608]"
Mattel Intellivision [US] "Brickout!" : release cancelled
[US] Atari 5200 (1982) "Super Breakout [Model CX5203]"
Atari XEGS
DynaVision [BR] (198?)
[EU] Sega Master System (1992) "Arcade Smash Hits [Model MK-27032-50]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (dec.31, 1996) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SLUS-00339]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (dec.1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SLES-00466]"
[US] Nintendo SNES (aug.1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SNS-AW7E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo SNES (feb.26, 1998) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model SNSP-AW7P-EUR]"
[EU] Sega Saturn (1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model T-25413H-50]"
[US] Sega Saturn (june.30, 1997) "Arcade's Greatest Hits - The Atari Collection 1 [Model T-9706H]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLUS-01427]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (mar.1, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Edition Redux [Model SLES-03808]"
[US] Sega Dreamcast (jul.2, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition [Model T-15130N]"
[US] Microsoft XBOX (nov.16, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model 26084]"
[US] Sony PS2 (nov.22, 2004) "Atari Anthology [Model SLUS-21076]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX (nov.26, 2004) "Atari Anthology"
[EU] Sony PS2 (feb.18, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model SLES-53061]"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX (aug.4, 2005) "Atari Anthology [Model B7X-00001]"
[US] [EU] Microsoft XBOX One (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 (nov.1, 2016) "Atari Flashback Classics Vol.2"
* HANDHELDS:
[EU] Nintendo Game Boy (1996) "Arcade Classics - Battlezone & Super Breakout [Model DMG-ABSE-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo Game Boy (oct.1996) "Arcade Classics - Battlezone & Super Breakout [Model DMG-ABSE-USA]"
Nintendo Game Boy Color [US] (dec.1998)
[US] Nintendo GBA (mar.25, 2002) "Atari Anniversary Advance [Model AGB-AAVE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (feb.14, 2003) "Atari Anniversary Advance [Model AGB-AAVP-EUR]"
[US] Nintendo GBA (aug.15, 2005) "3 Games in One! Super Breakout - Millipede - Lunar Lander [Model AGB-B62E-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (sept.2, 2005) "3 Games in One! Super Breakout - Millipede - Lunar Lander [Model AGB-B62P-EUR]"
[US] Sony PSP (dec.19, 2007) "Atari Classics Evolved [Model ULUS-10325]"
[AU] Sony PSP (mar.7, 2008) "Atari Classics Evolved"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.8, 2011) "Atari Greatest Hits Vol.2 [Model NTR-BR7E-USA]"
* COMPUTERS:
Atari 400 [US] (1979) "Super Breakout [Model CXL-4006]"
BBC B [US] (1982) "Acornsoft Breakout" - Acornsoft
[EU] Atari ST (1987)
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.13, 1999) "Atari Arcade Hits 1"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (jul.9, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (dec.14, 2001) "Atari Anniversary Edition"
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2003) "Asteroids & Super Breakout" by SelectSoft
[US] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.11, 2003) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Model 25069J]"
[EU] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (june.10, 2005) "Atari - 80 Classic Games in One! [Replay]"
[US] Steam (mar.24, 2016) "Atari Vault [Model 400020]"
* OTHERS:
Mobile Phones [US] (oct.30, 2004)
[US] Nokia N-Gage (2005) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. I"
[EU] Nokia N-Gage (oct.13, 2005) "Atari Masterpieces Vol. I"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (oct.11, 2008) [Model 291296852]
Apple Store (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
Android Market (2011) "Atari Greatest Hits"
Apple iPhone/iPod [US] (feb.18, 2011) "Super Breakout Ultra [Model 416010994]"
- SOURCES -
Game's ROM.
Game's picture.
