Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade video game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.
The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console - the only one ever designed and released for the home market, that was developed by Smith Engineering and manufactured and sold by General Consumer Electronics. It was first released for the North America market in October 1982 and then Europe and Japan in 1983. Originally produced by General Consumer Electronics, it was later licensed to Milton Bradley after they acquired the company. Bandai released the system in Japan.
Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill the other players' characters as many times as possible. The deathmatch may end on a frag limit or a time limit, and the winner is the player that accumulated the greatest number of frags.
Battlezone is a first-person shooter tank combat game released for arcades in November 1980 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a tank which is attacked by other tanks and missiles. Using a small radar scanner along with the terrain window, the player can locate enemies and obstacles around them in the barren landscape. Its innovative use of 3D graphics made it a huge hit, with approximately 15,000 cabinets sold.
Scramble is a horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game released in 1981. It was developed by Konami and manufactured and distributed by Leijac in Japan and Stern in North America. It was the first side-scrolling shooter with forced scrolling and multiple distinct levels, and it established the foundation for a new genre.
Star Castle is a vector graphics multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. The game involves obliterating a series of defenses orbiting a stationary turret in the center of the screen. The display is black and white with the colors of the rings and screen provided by a transparent plastic screen overlay.
Ikari Warriors, known as Ikari in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released for arcades by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. At the time there were many Commando clones on the market. What distinguished Ikari Warriors were rotary joysticks and a two-player cooperative mode. The rotary joystick controls were in turn based on SNK's earlier TNK III (1985). Ikari was originally intended to be an official licensed adaptation of the film Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), but SNK were initially unable to acquire the rights to the film.
Stargate is a horizontally scrolling shooter released as an arcade video game in 1981 by Williams Electronics. Created by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar, it is a sequel to Defender which was released earlier in the year. It was the first of only three productions from Vid Kidz, an independent development house formed by Jarvis and DeMar. Some home ports of Stargate were renamed to Defender II for legal reasons.
Choplifter is a military themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to Atari 8-bit computers the same year and also to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers.
Starhawk is a 1979 vector arcade game designed and programmed by Tim Skelly and manufactured by Cinematronics. Starhawk is a shoot 'em up unofficially based on the Star Wars: Episode IV trench run, one of the first arcade games to blatantly use concepts from Star Wars. The game was unique at the time for its pseudo-3D graphics. It was distributed in Japan by Sega, and was later ported for the Vectrex home system in 1982.
Jackal, also distributed under the title of Top Gunner, is an overhead run and gun video game released for arcades by Konami in 1986. The player must maneuver an armed jeep in order to rescue prisoners of war (POWs) trapped in enemy territory.
Mine Storm is a multidirectional shooter similar to Atari, Inc.'s 1979 Asteroids arcade game. Designed and programmed by John Hall, it was published in 1982 by General Consumer Electronics as the built-in game for the Vectrex system. Although not provided on a physical cartridge, a Mine Storm screen overlay and manual were included with each system to support the built-in game.
Space Wars is a shooter game released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1977. It is based on the PDP-1 game Spacewar! (1962) but instead uses vector graphics for the visuals. The hardware developed for Space Wars became the platform for most of the vector-based arcade games from Cinematronics. It was distributed in Japan by Taito in 1978, and a Vectrex port was published in 1982.
Forgotten Worlds, titled Lost Worlds in Japan, is a side-scrolling shooter video game by Capcom, originally released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1988. It is notable for being the first title released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware.
Rambo III is a series of video games based on the film Rambo III (1988). Like in the film, their main plots center on former Vietnam-era Green Beret John Rambo being recalled up to duty one last time to rescue his former commander, Colonel Sam Trautman, who was captured during a covert operation mission in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan. Taito released an arcade video game based on the film. The console versions were developed and published by Sega, the IBM PC compatible version was developed by Ocean and published by Taito, and Ocean developed and published the other home computer versions: Atari ST, Amiga, Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC.
Aztarac is a scrolling multidirectional shooter with color vector graphics. It was developed by Tim Stryker (1954–1996) and released in arcades by Centuri in 1983. The player commands an intergalactic race of mutant humans whose mode of transport is a tank. Its turret is independently controlled, allowing the player to move in one direction while shooting in another. The mission is to guard space outposts from hordes of incoming enemy ships. Aztarac's color vector graphics were impressive at the time of release, and a circular plastic lens over the screen accentuates the visuals. Few machines were produced, though the exact number is unclear. Centuri only developed two vector games; Aztarac was the second.
Sneakers is a fixed shooter video game for the Apple II written by Mark Turmell and published by Sirius Software in 1981. A version for Atari 8-bit computers was released the same year. Sneakers was Turmell's first published game. He later was the lead designer and programmer of 1993's NBA Jam.
Cosmic Avenger is a scrolling shooter developed by Universal and released as an arcade video game in July 1981. It is part of the first wave shooters with forced horizontal scrolling which followed Konami's Scramble and Super Cobra from earlier in the year. It was released the same month as Vanguard. The final installment in Universal's Cosmic series, players take control of the Avenger space fighter and, as in Scramble, use bullets and bombs against enemy air and ground forces. The world is one continuous level made up of different areas.
Rip Off is a multidirectional shooter with black and white vector graphics written by Tim Skelly and released as an arcade video game by Cinematronics in 1980. It was the first shooter with cooperative gameplay and an early game to exhibit flocking behavior. A port for the Vectrex was published in 1982.
Solar Quest is a monochrome vector arcade game created by Cinematronics in 1981. It was designed and programmed by Scott Boden, who previously worked on Star Castle. It had a home release for the Vectrex system in 1982.
