Phoenix is a fixed shooter video game developed for arcades in Japan and released in 1980 by Taito. The player controls a space ship shooting at incoming enemies that fly from the top of the screen down towards the player's ship. There are five stages which repeat endlessly. The fifth is a fight against a large enemy spaceship, making Phoenix one of the first shooters with a boss battle, an element that would become common for the genre.
The game was created in Japan by an unknown developer. Following the game's release in Europe and Japanese arcades in 1980, Phoenix was distributed in the United States by Centuri, where it helped the company turn a profit after a loss the previous year. Atari, Inc. contracted the rights to develop a home port for the Atari 2600 and sued Imagic for their game Demon Attack, which they felt was too similar to Phoenix. The 2600 version was released in 1983.
The Atari port of Phoenix received positive reviews from contemporary video game publications such as Electronic Games, Electronic Fun with Computers and Games, and The Video Game Update with some reviews in Blip, JoyStik and Video Games felt it was not as strong as the similar game Demon Attack on the Intellivision. Retrospective reviews of the arcade game from Eurogamer and AllGame praised the game as expanding on formulas established in earlier shooter games.
Gameplay
Arcade gameplay of Phoenix featuring the boss mothership. Phoenix is one of the first shooter games to feature a boss battle.
Phoenix is a fixed-screen shooter, set in space.[2][3] The player maneuvers left and right to avoid objects such as missiles and charging enemies. A force field can be used by the player to protect them from these attacks. The force field only lasts a few seconds and then cannot be used for approximately five seconds after.[4]
There are five stages. The first begins with a wave of 16 small phoenixes that drop missiles to attack the players spaceship. A second wave includes more birds. The third wave introduces an enemy that appears in a group of eight. These enemies start as eggs than grow into blue phoenix birds that attack the ship. They need to be destroyed by being hit in the center, otherwise a shot will only destroy the bird's wing that can regenerate itself in a short time. The fourth stage features pink phoenix enemies, which can be destroyed similarly to the previous round. The fifth stage features a space fortress with a pack of small birds that attack the spaceship. The space fortress shoots missiles and approaches the player. After the space creature who pilots the ship is hit, the round is complete.[4]
Switches are available on the arcade machine to the operator of the machine that can adjust gameplay. These switches allow the number of initial lives in the game to range between three and six, while other switches control what score is required to earn an extra life.[5]
Development
An Italian arcade cabinet of Phoenix. The game was distributed in Japan and Europe before its release to American arcades.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several game companies made outer-space themed shooter games, which involved players destroying alien space fleets. These games generally shared the traits of enemies slowing approaching towards the player from the top of the screen and attacking the player. Phoenix was one of the games following this trend.[6]
Phoenix was initially developed in Japan.[7] Japanese creators of video games were often denied credit for work by their companies out of fear they would go and work for rivals.[8] The original developer of Phoenix is unknown.[9] The rights to the game for distribution were owned by several companies, including Amstar Electronics who were based in Phoenix, Arizona.[1][10]Centuri entered into a licensing agreement with Amstar Electronics to release Phoenix in the United States, Canada, and Central and South America.[10] Centuri had previously been Allied Leisure Industries, with Ed Miller becoming the company's president in 1980. Prior to working at Centuri, Miller had worked for Taito, where he had arranged a deal with to license Space Invaders (1978) to Bally Manufacturing.[11]
In 1982, Atari received a four-year contract to distribute all current and future Centuri arcade games outside of the arcade systems, and the first three games announced were ports of the games Vanguard (1981), Challenger (1981) and Phoenix.[12] The Atari port of the game was made by John Mraceck and Michael Feinstein. Mraceck was a junior at MIT at the time and made the game as part of his internship.[13] It was developed in mid-1982.[14] Mraceck said that they had to cut over one-third of their original code to fit the game on the cart.[15] The two developers were limited to 8 KB rom cartridge for the game.[14] The Atari 2600 version is missing elements from the arcade original, such as the ability to save high scores, the music, the star field background, numerals representing points when a bird is hit, the smaller birds appearing around the mothership, and has fewer enemies appear on the screen.[16][17] The music lost from the arcade version included "Romance de Amor", which is played when the game starts and "Für Elise" which is played when a player completes a level.[16][18]
Release
Phoenix was released in Japan in December 1980 where it was licensed to Taito.[19] The arcade version of the game was distributed in the United States by Centuri in January 1981.[1][20]
Phoenix was released for the Atari 2600 in February 1983.[21] Atari had the exclusive rights to produce Phoenix for home consoles and filed suit against the company Imagic, believing that their game Demon Attack (1982) was too derivative of Phoenix. A settlement was reached in January 1983, with Imagic still being allowed to release Demon Attack for the Atari 2600.[22]Phoenix was released for home computers and game systems in the compilation game Taito Legends (2005) for Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Windows PCs.[23][24]
The arcade game was popular in Europe and Japan.[29] At the end of 1981, Centuri reported revenues of USD$61.4 million with a profit of 7.5 million. In comparison, the company's previous year gross was $5.9 million with a loss of $4.5 million.[12]Phoenix was the best selling of Centuri's titles by 1982.[11] The Atari 2600 version sold over 600,000 units.[13]
The Video Game Update referred to the Atari 2600 adaptation as a good translation of the arcade classic.[30] In Electronic Games, Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz wrote that the game was favorably compared to other Atari 2600 releases such as Vanguard, Yars' Revenge (1982), and Demons to Diamonds (1982), noting the quality in graphics and control, and stating it "is perhaps the finest invasion title ever produced for the 2600!"[31] Noel Steere of Electronic Fun with Computers and Games praised the game, stating it was a "perfect arcade adaptation" with beautiful sound, which made up "for the sin of Pac-Man".[26] The game received a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Videogame" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards.[32] Some critics compared the game to Imagic's Demon Attack. Jim Gorzelany of JoyStik found that the gameplay and challenge was too watered down compared to the original arcade game and Imagic's game.[28] Phil Wiswell of Video Games found that Atari's versions of both Phoenix showcased that Atari could still make both fun and graphically-appealing games, while finding the game still suffered in comparison to the Intellivision release of Demon Attack.[33] An anonymous reviewer in Blip magazine concurred that the Intellivision version of Demon Attack was superior, but found that final battle with the mothership in Phoenix allowed Atari's game to stand on its own.[34]
In a retrospective review by Brett Alan Weiss of AllGame the game was awarded a five out of five rating, referring to it as a "one of the most impressive games the "slide-and-shoot" genre has to offer, bested only by Galaga (1981) in terms of sheer enjoyment and replayability" and said that "finely balanced" shooting action combined with "colorfully" animated graphics made Phoenix a classic in shooter genre.[3] In his book The Video Game Guide (2013), Matt Fox compared the game to Galaxian (1979), stating that Phoenix took its gameplay "a few screens further".[23] Chris Wilkins of Eurogamer complimented the arcade game for expanding the gameplay of the shooter genre, specifically with the boss character and that the game was addictive as it "never fails to invoke the "one more go" desire in the player."[27] In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the arcade version of Phoenix at #69 on their list of "Top 100 Video Games", saying that it was one of the better Space Invaders variations.[35] Discussing the game in Retro Gamer, Nick Thorpe compared the game to Space Invaders, finding Phoenix "considerably advanced" due to its difficulty to predict behaviors of enemies and final boss fight while also noting that it lacked some elements from modern shooters, such as power-ups and a larger enemy variety.[36]
Brett Weiss included the Atari 2600 port of Phoenix in his book The 100 Greatest Console Video Games 1977-1987 (2014).[16] He wrote that the Atari port had rich graphics, crisp sound and excellent gameplay, preserving the feel of original arcade game.[37]Retro Gamer included the Atari 2600 port of the game in their list of the top 25 games for the system in 2008.[38]
Phoenix was one of the first shooter games to have a boss battle.[1] Bosses would come to typify the shooter genre following the release of the game.[39] Games that borrowed elements from Phoenix include Space Vultures, Gorf (1981), Pleiades (1981), and Condor Attack (1983).[40][41][42] Bootleg versions of Phoenix were released in arcades as Condor, Griffon, Vautour, and Batman Part 2.[43]
Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as the player controls a set of water buckets to catch them. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade video game Avalanche (1978). Kaboom! was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber. It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after it was released. The game was later ported by Paul Wilson for the Atari 5200 system.
Berzerk is a video game designed by Alan McNeil and released for arcades in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago. The game involves a Humanoid Intruder who has to escape maze-like rooms that are littered with robots that slowly move towards and shoot at the Humanoid. The player can shoot at the robots to try and escape the room. Along with the robots, a smiley face known as Evil Otto appears to hunt down the player within each room.
Miner 2049er is a 1982 platformer game developed and published by Big Five Software in December 1982. It is set in a mine, where the player controls the Mountie Bounty Bob. The player controls Bounty Bob through multiple levels of a mine, with the goal of traversing all of the platforms in each level all while avoiding enemies and within a set amount of time.
Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who dive down towards the player in an attempt to hit them.
Crystal Castles is an arcade video game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. The player controls Bentley Bear who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies, some of whom are after the gems as well.
Demon Attack is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down and attack the player in different sets of patterns.
Starmaster is a video game written for the Atari 2600 by Alan Miller and published in June 1982 by Activision. The game involves the player travelling through space attacking enemy starfighters who are invading starbases. The player traverses through a map called the galactic chart to destroy all the enemies and survive against oncoming enemy attacks and crashing with meteors.
Robot Tank is a first-person shoot 'em up written by Alan Miller for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. It is similar in design to Atari, Inc.'s Battlezone tank combat arcade video game and more so to its 2600 port. Robot Tank adds different systems which can individually be damaged—instead of the vehicle always exploding upon being shot—and weather effects.
Atlantis is a fixed shooter video game released by Imagic in August 1982 for the Atari 2600. The game is set in the fabled city of Atlantis where the cities are under attack by invading Gorgon vessels who plan to destroy the city. The player controls sentries to fire a counter attack.
River Raid is a video game developed by Carol Shaw for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls a fighter jet over the River of No Return in a raid behind enemy lines. The goal is to navigate the flight by destroying enemy tankers, helicopters, fuel depots and bridges without running out of fuel or crashing.
Targ is a maze shoot 'em up developed by Exidy and released as an arcade video game in 1980. It depicts vehicular combat in a future world. It was released in North America by Exidy in June 1980 and in Japan by Sega in July.
Freeway is an action video game written by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1981. In the game, one or two players control chickens who cross a ten-lane highway filled with traffic. The goal is to set a high score in an allotted time. Every time a chicken gets across a point is earned for that player. Depending on the difficulty mode, a chicken is forced back a lane or sent back to the bottom of the screen when hit by a vehicle.
Vanguard is a scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by TOSE. It was released by SNK in Japan and Europe 1981, and licensed to Centuri for manufacture in North America in October and to Zaccaria in Italy the same year. Cinematronics converted the game to cocktail arcade cabinets in North America.
Megamania is a fixed shooter video game developed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600. It was published by Activision in 1982. In the game, a pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare where his ship is being attacked by food and household objects. Using the missile launcher from their space cruiser, the pilot fends off the attackers. The game was later released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.
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.
Space Cavern is a 1982 fixed shooter video game for the Atari 2600 developed and released by Games by Apollo. Players control a spaceship commander who has landed on a planet and must defend the ship against its hostile creatures. Games by Apollo founder Pat Roper was impressed by the game Demon Attack and tasked Apollo member Dan Oliver with making a game very similar to it.
Yars' Revenge is a 1982 fixed shooter video game developed by Howard Scott Warshaw and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. Set in the Razak solar system, it focuses on the conflict between the Yars, a fly-like humanoid alien race, and the Qotile, who have destroyed their habitable planets. The player controls a Yar tasked with destroying the Qotile's energy shield, and finishing off the enemy with the Zorlon cannon.
A vertically scrolling video game or vertical scroller is a video game in which the player views the field of play principally from a top-down perspective, while the background scrolls from the top of the screen to the bottom to create the illusion that the player character is moving in the game world.
Space Jockey is a horizontally scrolling shooter designed by Garry Kitchen of James Wickstead Design Associates for the Atari VCS. It was published under the Vidtec brand of U.S. Games in 1982 as the initial release from the company. The game shipped on a 2K cartridge at a time when most VCS games were 4K. There are 16 game variations.
Space Invaders is a 1980 video game based on Taito's arcade game Space Invaders (1978) for the Atari 2600. It was developed and released by Atari, Inc. and designed and developed by Rick Maurer. The game is based on the arcade game in which a player operates a laser cannon to shoot at incoming enemies from outer space. Maurer's version has unique graphics and offers some gameplay variations. These include a two-player mode and variations that allow for invisible enemies and moving shields, and for enemies shots to zig zag and potentially hit players.
Gorzelany, Jim (July 1983). "The Home Front". JoyStik. Vol.1, no.6. Publications International.
Hickey, Jr., Patrick (2021). The Minds Behind Shooter Games: Interviews with Cult and Classic Video Game Developers. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN978-1-4766-8273-0.
Horowitz, Ken (2018). The Sega Arcade Revolution: A History in 62 Games. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN978-1-4766-7225-0.
Horowitz, Ken (2020). Beyond Donkey Kong. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN978-1-4766-8420-8.
Kunkel, Bill; Katz, Arnie (January 1984). "Arcade Alley: The Arcade Awards, Part 1". Video. 7 (10). Reese Communications. ISSN0147-8907.
Lerner, Neil (2014). "The Origins of Musical Style in Video Games, 1977-1983". In Neumeyer, David (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Film Music Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-532849-3.
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