Space Firebird

Last updated
Space Firebird
Space firebird arcadeflyers.png
US arcade flyers by Nintendo (left) and Sega-Gremlin (right).
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Designer(s) Genyo Takeda [3]
Shigeru Miyamoto [3]
Composer(s) Hirokazu Tanaka [4]
Platform(s) Arcade game
Release
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Space Firebird [lower-alpha 1] is a 1980 arcade video game developed by Nintendo R&D1 and released by Nintendo in Japan and Europe. In America, the game was distributed by Far East Video. [6] Sega-Gremlin also released a version of the game in North America. [5] [2]

Contents

Gameplay

Players guide a ship through deep space while encountering spherical objects that appear to look like a bunch of comets or shooting stars. They suddenly shapeshift into large creatures called Firebirds as the player gets closer to them and start attacking the ship in ever more complex looping formations. As a Space Ship Commander, players must seek out and destroy three kinds of Firebirds in three missions. The names of the Firebirds are Gulls, Eagles and the Mighty Emperor (or simply "Emperor"). The Emperor is destroyed by four hits, the Eagle with two hits and the Gull with one hit. The Eagles drop bombs that are aimed at sabotaging the ship controlled by players. When hit, the bomb scatters deadly shrapnel. To avoid this from happening, players must destroy the bomb from directly beneath it before it crashes. Besides shooting missiles, the main ship also uses the warp mode that can only be used once in every level to escape impending danger and/or to strike out at a flock of birdlike creatures. When activated, the ship thrusts into space with a protective shield that deflects enemy fire and makes the ship invincible. Players also use this for close range combat.

Shooting every Firebird in a wave awards 1000 points and displays a "Perfect!" message.

Legacy

A year later, a remake of Space Firebird titled Space Demon [lower-alpha 2] was released by Fortrek. In this arcade game, a spacecraft larger than the one in Space Firebird becomes lost and falls victim to the horrifying Space Demon and its accomplices. Players have to battle their way through the Demon's forces by shooting all of the satanic enemies including the Space Demon itself as they appear on the screen. Like Space Firebird, Space Demon also allowed players to make the main ship dodge from left to right and use the Warp Shield once every mission to zoom ahead and take out enemies by ramming into them.

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: スペースファイアーバード
  2. ↑ Japanese: スペース デーモン

Related Research Articles

<i>Gyruss</i> 1983 video game

Gyruss is shoot 'em up arcade video game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto and released by Konami in 1983. Gyruss was initially licensed to Centuri in the United States for dedicated machines, before Konami released their own self-distributed conversion kits for the game. Parker Brothers released contemporary ports for home systems. An enhanced version for the Family Computer Disk System was released in 1988, which was released to the North American Nintendo Entertainment System in early 1989.

<i>Stargate</i> (1981 video game) 1981 video game

Stargate is a side-scrolling shooter game released for arcades 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.

<i>Flying Shark</i> 1987 video game

Flying Shark, known as Sky Shark in North America, is a 1987 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in Japan, Romstar in North America and Electrocoin in Europe. Controlling the titular biplane, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The plane has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear the screen of enemies when fired. It was the third shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their eighth video game overall.

<i>Star Wars</i> (1983 video game) 1983 video game

Star Wars is a first-person rail shooter designed by Mike Hally and released as an arcade video game in 1983 by Atari, Inc. It uses 3D color vector graphics to simulate the assault on the Death Star from the 1977 film Star Wars. There are three connected gameplay sequences: combat against TIE fighters in space, flying across the surface of the Death Star, and the final trench run. The sequence repeats with added complications and the Death Star regenerating for each. The player's X-Wing fighter has a shield which only protects against damage a certain number of times, then the next hit ends the game. Speech synthesis emulates actors from the film.

<i>Image Fight</i> 1988 video game

Image Fight is a 1988 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Irem. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine (Japan-only), Sharp X68000 (Japan-only), and FM Towns (Japan-only) in 1990.

<i>Space Dungeon</i> 1981 arcade game

Space Dungeon is a multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Taito in 1981. Designed and programmed by Rex Battenberg, it was available both as a conversion kit and full arcade cabinet. An Atari 5200 port was released in 1983.

<i>Earth Defense Force</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Earth Defense Force is a 1991 horizontal scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Jaleco. Originally an arcade game, the game was later released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Super Earth Defense Force, dropping the two-player cooperative gaming mode while adding graphics and selectable weapons. The SNES version was released in Japan on October 25, 1991, and in North America in January 1992. The SNES version was eventually released on the Wii Virtual Console in Europe on October 29, 2010, in Japan on January 11, 2011, and in North America on July 14, 2011. It is included in Nintendo Switch SNES Online as of September 5, 2019.

<i>Sky Fox</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

Sky Fox is a 1987 arcade video game developed by Jaleco and licensed to Nichibutsu. It was originally released in Japan and Europe as Exerizer (エクセライザー) as an indirect follow-up to Jaleco's 1983's Exerion and 1984's Exerion II: Zorni. It is a fixed shooter, setting the player in the role of a space pilot fighting against female alien invaders and space monsters under their control. The game was mostly well-received by Western game critics, albeit some criticized it for its depiction of women.

Blaster is a first-person rail shooter video game, released for arcades by Williams Electronics in 1983. It was developed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar. A vague sequel to Robotron: 2084, the game is a shoot 'em up set in outer space. The goal is to destroy enemies, avoid obstacles, and rescue astronauts in twenty levels, to reach paradise.

<i>The Astyanax</i> 1989 video game

The Astyanax, known in Japan as The Lord of King (ザ・ロード・オブ・キング), is a side-scrolling action game developed by Aicom released for the arcades by Jaleco. A home version for the Nintendo Entertainment System, simply titled Astyanax, was released shortly after the arcade version but the NES version is decidedly different from its arcade predecessor in terms of story.

<i>B-Wings</i> 1984 video game

B-Wings is a vertically scrolling shooter first released as an arcade video game by Data East in 1984. A version was released in 1986 for the Family Computer. It was Data East's very first home release for the console.

<i>Space Fever</i> 1979 arcade game

Space Fever is a 1979 arcade game by Nintendo R&D2. Some sources claim that Ikegami Tsushinki also did programming work on Space Fever. It was released in both monochrome and color versions. The gameplay is similar to Space Invaders, which had been released by Taito in 1978. In America, the game was distributed by Far East Video.

<i>TwinBee</i> 1985 video game

TwinBee is a vertically scrolling shooter released by Konami as an arcade video game in 1985 in Japan. Along with Sega's Fantasy Zone, released a year later, TwinBee is credited as an early archetype of the "cute 'em up" type in its genre. It was the first game to run on Konami's Bubble System hardware. TwinBee was ported to the Family Computer and MSX in 1986 and has been included in numerous compilations released in later years. The original arcade game was released outside Japan for the first time in the Nintendo DS compilation Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits. A mobile phone version was released for i-mode Japan phones in 2003 with edited graphics.

<i>BlaZeon</i> 1992 video game

BlaZeon is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game released by Atlus in 1992 and was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the same year. The game's most distinguishable feature is that players come equipped with a device that allows them to freeze and control certain robots.

<i>Major Havoc</i> 1984 video game

Major Havoc is an arcade action game released by Atari, Inc. in 1984. A vector-based upright arcade cabinet, Major Havoc consists of several smaller game experiences played in succession, including a fixed shooter, platform game, and a lunar lander sequence. It was developed by Owen Rubin with some levels designed and tuned by Mark Cerny, who joined the development team approximately a year into the game's development.

<i>Exerion</i> 1983 video game

Exerion is a fixed shooter video game developed and published by Jaleco for arcades in September 1983, and licensed to Taito for manufacture and distribution of the game in North America. The player controls a starship and must fire at enemies on the screen while avoiding projectiles. The game uses a pseudo-3D scrolling background, giving a sense of depth, and the player's ship has a sense of inertia while it is being controlled with the joystick.

<i>Section Z</i> 1985 arcade game

Section Z is a horizontally scrolling shooter by Capcom, released as an arcade video game in 1985. A home version was published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987.

<i>Space Invaders Extreme</i> 2008 video game

Space Invaders Extreme is a re-vamped incarnation of the classic arcade game Space Invaders. The DS and PSP versions were released to mark the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders which saw its original arcade release in 1978. An HD version of the game has been remastered by Backbone Entertainment for Xbox Live Arcade with new four-player multiplayer modes and visualizer backgrounds by Jeff Minter, it was released on 6 May 2009 as a wrap-up to the 30th anniversary. The game is played at a fast pace with an electronic soundtrack and sound effects.

<i>Space Gun</i> (video game) 1990 first-person shooter arcade game

Space Gun is a 1990 first-person shooter arcade game released by Taito. The game is set aboard a crippled space station that has been overrun by hostile alien creatures. The objective is to rescue human crew members while destroying the alien creatures. The game lets the player shoot limbs off the creatures, resulting in blood splatters.

<i>Space Invaders DX</i> 1993 fixed shooter arcade game

Space Invaders DX is a 1993 fixed shooter arcade game developed and published in Japan by Taito. It has been re-released for several consoles since, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PC Engine Super CD, and Sega Saturn — several of these conversions use the name Space Invaders: The Original Game. The player assumes control of a laser base that must fend off waves of incoming enemies, who march down in formation towards the bottom of the screen. It is the fifth entry in the long-running Space Invaders series. DX contains four variations of the original Space Invaders, in addition to a multiplayer mode and a "Parody Mode" that replaces the characters with those from other Taito franchises. Home ports of DX received mixed reviews for their high price point and general lack of content.

References

  1. ↑ McFerran, Damien (2018-02-26). "Feature: Shining A Light On Ikegami Tsushinki, The Company That Developed Donkey Kong". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  2. 1 2 3 "Space Firebird". The Arcade Flyer Archive. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Iwata Asks: Punch-Out!! - Investigating a Glove Interface". Nintendo. 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  4. ↑ Hirokazu Tanaka official composition list, accessed 2011-05-05
  5. 1 2 3 Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 57, 131. ISBN   978-4990251215.
  6. ↑ "Space Firebird arcade flyer" . Retrieved 2021-08-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.