1978-1983 arcade shooter countdown.
Smaller posts (1-2) from here on. Will finish in a few weeks.
#46 Tempest (1980)
I probably should've pretended that this was too much of a borderliner to mention because I don't even want to type about it. Tube shooters. The singlescreen on-rails shooter and Tempest is like the rotary dial version. Usually when an enemy reaches your zone in a singlescreen shooter, they will just loop back to top. I'm fine with that. Here they just start manically flipping around until their poor animations become hard to adjust to.
#45 Gyruss (1983)
Basically the same as the much later NES port, yet I enjoyed it less. Maybe the overall selection of NES games are worse than what we have here or maybe I was just focused on the Konami soundtrack. At least this has the decency to not add insult (binocular, pyramid) to an already unwanted shooting angle. Move around in a full circle, smoothly. A very basic game hidden in a visual gimmick.
#46 Tempest (1980)
I probably should've pretended that this was too much of a borderliner to mention because I don't even want to type about it. Tube shooters. The singlescreen on-rails shooter and Tempest is like the rotary dial version. Usually when an enemy reaches your zone in a singlescreen shooter, they will just loop back to top. I'm fine with that. Here they just start manically flipping around until their poor animations become hard to adjust to.
#45 Gyruss (1983)
Basically the same as the much later NES port, yet I enjoyed it less. Maybe the overall selection of NES games are worse than what we have here or maybe I was just focused on the Konami soundtrack. At least this has the decency to not add insult (binocular, pyramid) to an already unwanted shooting angle. Move around in a full circle, smoothly. A very basic game hidden in a visual gimmick.
Last edited by Rob on Fri May 01, 2009 12:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
#44 Espial (1983)
The hori-vert action and the awesomely puke-colored backgrounds say NES hopeful. This is a heavily Xevious-inspired game that feels much more like an NES game than the NES port of Xevious. Apparently some Toaplan roots (Orca), but you wouldn't be able to tell by playing it (aside from it being very bland, that is).
#43 Red Alert (1981)
If you can't beat the clock then it is your lone duty to destroy every MIRV warhead (not pictured, almost instant death). The third screen introduces the most severe nighttime blindness on the list, after the two lights are destroyed in one hit apiece. No matter, I was good enough to secure PEACE FOREVER, before it looped right back to an identical crisis. So pretty much 24. Aside from the hyper-serious plot with real world locations, countdowns to nuclear annihilation and not being able to see things on purpose, meh.
The hori-vert action and the awesomely puke-colored backgrounds say NES hopeful. This is a heavily Xevious-inspired game that feels much more like an NES game than the NES port of Xevious. Apparently some Toaplan roots (Orca), but you wouldn't be able to tell by playing it (aside from it being very bland, that is).
#43 Red Alert (1981)
If you can't beat the clock then it is your lone duty to destroy every MIRV warhead (not pictured, almost instant death). The third screen introduces the most severe nighttime blindness on the list, after the two lights are destroyed in one hit apiece. No matter, I was good enough to secure PEACE FOREVER, before it looped right back to an identical crisis. So pretty much 24. Aside from the hyper-serious plot with real world locations, countdowns to nuclear annihilation and not being able to see things on purpose, meh.
#42 Demoneye-X (1981)
I wasn't able to enjoy this as much as I'd like since it is missing a graphics layer that contains the DEMONEYE KING. Artist's rendering of what it'd be like to face the DEMONEYE KING to the far right (kind of, it's supposed to be the one with three eyes - that's regular old DEMONEYE-X). But it's easy enough to dodge the attacks and fill in the blanks, which reveals a simple single screen shooter without any gimmicks. The most interesting thing about it is seeing Irem's take on the genre beginning to form. The landscape looks alien rather than blank, you get three eyed tentacle monsters and that slowly smiling face on the title screen. Creepy stuff for '81, I'm sure (PC-EFX?).
I wasn't able to enjoy this as much as I'd like since it is missing a graphics layer that contains the DEMONEYE KING. Artist's rendering of what it'd be like to face the DEMONEYE KING to the far right (kind of, it's supposed to be the one with three eyes - that's regular old DEMONEYE-X). But it's easy enough to dodge the attacks and fill in the blanks, which reveals a simple single screen shooter without any gimmicks. The most interesting thing about it is seeing Irem's take on the genre beginning to form. The landscape looks alien rather than blank, you get three eyed tentacle monsters and that slowly smiling face on the title screen. Creepy stuff for '81, I'm sure (PC-EFX?).
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escadrille
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#44 Espial (1983)Rob wrote:Orange and purple look so good together and I like how they can't fit a 5 digit score on one line.nimitz wrote:Better than Espial at least :lol: .
For a second I thought I was looking at Microsoft Flight Simulator with beer glasses on
tje 88 is for how many bottles you have to pass around before this starts looking good, also how many times it wishes it was Area 88.
#41 Mariner (1981)
I'm going to give Mariner the benefit of the doubt and figure it was the first submarine Scramble clone and maybe even that Battle of Atlantis was copying this instead of Scramble, but Mariner still has the same love of single pixel enemy bullets. Made worse by blending perfectly with the slick looking bubble (star) effects. The only other challenge pre-multiple loops are the chance placements of indestructible enemies. But it does have a few improvements over Scramble. The torpedoes shoot directly towards the ground instead of hanging in the water for a few hundred yards, there is more horizontal space to move in and it has bosses. Albeit all the same and pretty bad. They tried, though, and trying to improve upon something that worked is good enough for #41.
#40 Black Widow (1982)
A somewhat unique and twitchy arena shooter that loses my interest as soon as the "grenade bugs" start mixing in. Their ridiculous blast radius covers a quarter of the screen (right) and they aren't set apart for that kind of damage. Arena shooters aren't for thinking or hesitation.
I'm going to give Mariner the benefit of the doubt and figure it was the first submarine Scramble clone and maybe even that Battle of Atlantis was copying this instead of Scramble, but Mariner still has the same love of single pixel enemy bullets. Made worse by blending perfectly with the slick looking bubble (star) effects. The only other challenge pre-multiple loops are the chance placements of indestructible enemies. But it does have a few improvements over Scramble. The torpedoes shoot directly towards the ground instead of hanging in the water for a few hundred yards, there is more horizontal space to move in and it has bosses. Albeit all the same and pretty bad. They tried, though, and trying to improve upon something that worked is good enough for #41.
#40 Black Widow (1982)
A somewhat unique and twitchy arena shooter that loses my interest as soon as the "grenade bugs" start mixing in. Their ridiculous blast radius covers a quarter of the screen (right) and they aren't set apart for that kind of damage. Arena shooters aren't for thinking or hesitation.
Last edited by Rob on Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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PC Engine Fan X!
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The color vector-based Black Widow arcade cabinet got a very limited production run courtesy of Atari Games. The actual cabinet sports two joysticks (i.e. Robotron 2084 setup). It's been shown from time to time at the California Extreme show. I recall my one of my local arcades having a Black Widow cab back in 1984-1985. ^_~
You can play Black Widow on the PSX with a dual shock controller setup on the Atari Anniversary Edition Redux disc.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
You can play Black Widow on the PSX with a dual shock controller setup on the Atari Anniversary Edition Redux disc.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
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Dragoforce
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#39 Vanguard (1981)
Scramble's first challenger in the scrolling, almost stage-based style we've all grown very tired of (bring on Geometry Wars 3). Instead of Scramble's strobe light approach to "level" graphics, we see an actual attempt to make things appear unique. But in each of these sections you usually only get one enemy pattern repeated 3-4 times, which kind of creates a feeling of running blindly through an infinitely looping Super Mario Bros. castle. Multi-direction shooting and flashes of Salamander make this one not bad.
#38 Helifire (1980)
It took about four loops before they seemed to care that I was still playing. The helicopters are not a real threat. The first two sets move slowly in a close group so you can just match their movement and pick off the leftmost helicopters one by one. The yellow helicopters are on their own and much faster, so they are harder and more enjoyable to hit. The real threats are the torpedoes and the trails of mines they leave behind. It can be almost impossible to slip through unless you get lucky. For your troubles you get to rescue hula girl from Bikini Island, which is the best ending of the list. One of the least challenging entries, but still enjoyable.
Missing game note: N-Sub (1980). Released in the same year, but looks like something that would've been released in '77 or '78 (see Destroyer). Plays as old as it looks. This makes me appreciate the smooth control and precision of Helifire. I bet there is no hula girl, either. This would've placed somewhere near the bottom of the list.
Scramble's first challenger in the scrolling, almost stage-based style we've all grown very tired of (bring on Geometry Wars 3). Instead of Scramble's strobe light approach to "level" graphics, we see an actual attempt to make things appear unique. But in each of these sections you usually only get one enemy pattern repeated 3-4 times, which kind of creates a feeling of running blindly through an infinitely looping Super Mario Bros. castle. Multi-direction shooting and flashes of Salamander make this one not bad.
#38 Helifire (1980)
It took about four loops before they seemed to care that I was still playing. The helicopters are not a real threat. The first two sets move slowly in a close group so you can just match their movement and pick off the leftmost helicopters one by one. The yellow helicopters are on their own and much faster, so they are harder and more enjoyable to hit. The real threats are the torpedoes and the trails of mines they leave behind. It can be almost impossible to slip through unless you get lucky. For your troubles you get to rescue hula girl from Bikini Island, which is the best ending of the list. One of the least challenging entries, but still enjoyable.
Missing game note: N-Sub (1980). Released in the same year, but looks like something that would've been released in '77 or '78 (see Destroyer). Plays as old as it looks. This makes me appreciate the smooth control and precision of Helifire. I bet there is no hula girl, either. This would've placed somewhere near the bottom of the list.
#37 Black Hole (1981)
The black hole in the title refers to the disc-like gates you can slide through. I guess? Have to be really careful with groups of these things, as in not trying to slide through any of them, because they will change direction whenever they please. If it looks like you can slide through 2-3 gates, it's a gamble. A few hundred points gamble, and any element of gambling means this is one of the more interesting scoring systems so far. The second screen is just the same guy with a different line of defense - it has itself a reflect barrier. You have to wait for the orbs to line up a certain way before shooting at it, or the less advanced strategy of just slowly tapping left or right.
#36 Space Invaders (1978)
#35 Space Invaders Part II (1979)
#34 Space Invaders II (1980)
As popular as Space Invaders was, not many games copied it as shamelessly as I had expected. There might be a Space Invaders stage in Gorf, but other developers found something worth repeating in Galaxian's evolution of Space Invaders. The advancing alien horde was replaced by individual or smaller groups of dive bombers. Even better were games that did away with chipping at the enemy block. A solid foundation for games to come, but Taito did little to build on it. The two immediate sequels only scraped off the/some mold and replated the original. Though Space Invaders II is the only game here with actual pvp, so that's gotta be the best since you can shoot the other guy.
The black hole in the title refers to the disc-like gates you can slide through. I guess? Have to be really careful with groups of these things, as in not trying to slide through any of them, because they will change direction whenever they please. If it looks like you can slide through 2-3 gates, it's a gamble. A few hundred points gamble, and any element of gambling means this is one of the more interesting scoring systems so far. The second screen is just the same guy with a different line of defense - it has itself a reflect barrier. You have to wait for the orbs to line up a certain way before shooting at it, or the less advanced strategy of just slowly tapping left or right.
#36 Space Invaders (1978)
#35 Space Invaders Part II (1979)
#34 Space Invaders II (1980)
As popular as Space Invaders was, not many games copied it as shamelessly as I had expected. There might be a Space Invaders stage in Gorf, but other developers found something worth repeating in Galaxian's evolution of Space Invaders. The advancing alien horde was replaced by individual or smaller groups of dive bombers. Even better were games that did away with chipping at the enemy block. A solid foundation for games to come, but Taito did little to build on it. The two immediate sequels only scraped off the/some mold and replated the original. Though Space Invaders II is the only game here with actual pvp, so that's gotta be the best since you can shoot the other guy.
I always liked Vanguard when I'd play a few credits at the pizza place as a kid... that machine might've been pretty old too I guess, this was in the late 80s. I had no idea it's from one year before I was born. The colourful graphics were pretty nice even then.
光あふれる 未来もとめて, whoa~oh ♫
[THE MIRAGE OF MIND] Metal Black ST [THE JUSTICE MASSACRE] Gun.Smoke ST [STAB & STOMP]
#33 Galaxy Wars (1979)
Manages the impossible task of making a late 70s single screen shooter even slower. You are now in control of every shot fired, a missile moving at a speed safe enough for a Super Famicom port. Does have an acceleration button, but maxes out at almost as slow as it was before you pressed it. If you crash or get blown up before you reach your targets, that's a lost life. Any other explosion means one step closer to clearing the screen and earning bonus points. The scoring system seems really straightforward - get more points for hitting enemies dead center, but I haven't found an explanation for the occasional 600 point hit. For people who just wanted to shoot the bonus UFOs in Space Invaders.
Third screen for consistency.
Manages the impossible task of making a late 70s single screen shooter even slower. You are now in control of every shot fired, a missile moving at a speed safe enough for a Super Famicom port. Does have an acceleration button, but maxes out at almost as slow as it was before you pressed it. If you crash or get blown up before you reach your targets, that's a lost life. Any other explosion means one step closer to clearing the screen and earning bonus points. The scoring system seems really straightforward - get more points for hitting enemies dead center, but I haven't found an explanation for the occasional 600 point hit. For people who just wanted to shoot the bonus UFOs in Space Invaders.
Third screen for consistency.
Last edited by Rob on Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Black Hole would almost be fun if the ship had a slightly smaller hitbox. The "scoring" system is kinda fun. But the size of the black holes combined with the huge ship hitbox makes for a very anal gameplay.
edit2 : tried again and got 15K, I'm done for today
#37 Black Hole (1981) NIM - 15,380
The game gets semi-fun when you understand how to control the black holes. Some kind of weird risk-reward milking.
edit2 : tried again and got 15K, I'm done for today
#37 Black Hole (1981) NIM - 15,380
The game gets semi-fun when you understand how to control the black holes. Some kind of weird risk-reward milking.
Last edited by nimitz on Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:19 pm, edited 4 times in total.
#32 Astro Fighter (1979)
No Black Hole scoring system to prop this one up, just a solid single screen shooter with multiple enemy sets and an (as always, when there is one) easy boss. But this is '79, so I cut it some slack. This game really dooms you for making a mistake, like allowing an enemy to reach the bottom of the screen. Not because it immediately kills you, but because it resets the enemy wave while the fuel (timer) empties and pushes you up a level. This gives you less room to clear the remaining sets and running out of fuel is an every remaining ship penalty. Watch out for the diagonal bullets and hope your gun doesn't jam as an enemy sprints for the doom switch.
#31 Sinistar (1982)
Riding on the roars and cool factor of the most menacing old school boss, Sinistar. The inertia is unwanted, but I'll concede that, yeah, how else are they supposed to stop? This isn't like those sluggish vector games. If you complete the tedious task of bumper mining enough pixel-sized Sinibombs while the enemies are circling and bullet spamming, you then return the favor by spamming your Sinibombs while timidly avoiding Sinistar's mouth. There's enough to satisfy in the sound effects and in destroying Sinistar to last some credits, i.e. too chaotic for me.
No Black Hole scoring system to prop this one up, just a solid single screen shooter with multiple enemy sets and an (as always, when there is one) easy boss. But this is '79, so I cut it some slack. This game really dooms you for making a mistake, like allowing an enemy to reach the bottom of the screen. Not because it immediately kills you, but because it resets the enemy wave while the fuel (timer) empties and pushes you up a level. This gives you less room to clear the remaining sets and running out of fuel is an every remaining ship penalty. Watch out for the diagonal bullets and hope your gun doesn't jam as an enemy sprints for the doom switch.
#31 Sinistar (1982)
Riding on the roars and cool factor of the most menacing old school boss, Sinistar. The inertia is unwanted, but I'll concede that, yeah, how else are they supposed to stop? This isn't like those sluggish vector games. If you complete the tedious task of bumper mining enough pixel-sized Sinibombs while the enemies are circling and bullet spamming, you then return the favor by spamming your Sinibombs while timidly avoiding Sinistar's mouth. There's enough to satisfy in the sound effects and in destroying Sinistar to last some credits, i.e. too chaotic for me.