Description
Phoenix Atari 2600
Phoenix is a fixed shooter arcade video game released in December 1980 by Taito. It was then released in Europe, and then in the Americas by Centuri and Amstar Electronics in January 1981. The Phoenix mothership is one of the first video arcade game bosses to be presented as a separate challenge. It was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of Centuri’s most successful titles.
The player controls a spaceship that moves horizontally at the bottom of the screen, firing upward. Enemies, typically one of two types of birds, appear on the screen above the player’s ship, shooting at it and periodically diving towards it in an attempt to crash into it. The ship is equipped with a shield that can be used to zap any of the alien creatures that attempt to crash into it. The player cannot move while the shield is active and must wait approximately five seconds before using it again.
Phoenix Atari 2600
The player starts with three or six lives, depending on the settings. One life is lost whenever the ship is hit by any enemy or projectile while the shield is down. Each level has five separate rounds. The player must complete a round to advance to the next.
- Rounds 1 and 2 – The player must destroy a formation of alien birds. While in formation, some of the birds fly down kamikaze style, in an attempt to destroy the player’s spaceship by crashing into it. Hitting a birdlike enemy flying diagonally awards a bonus score. The birdlike enemies are yellow in round 1, and pink in round 2. The player’s spaceship is given rapid fire for round 2, where the birdlike creatures fly somewhat more unpredictably.
- Rounds 3 and 4 – Flying eggs float on the screen and seconds later hatch, revealing larger alien birds, resembling phoenixes, which swoop down at the player’s spaceship. The only way to fully destroy one of these birdlike creatures is by hitting it in its belly; shooting one of its wings merely destroys that wing, and if both wings are destroyed, they will regenerate. From time to time the birdlike creatures may also revert to the egg form for a brief period. The birdlike creatures are blue in round 3, and pink in round 4.
- Round 5 – The player is pitted against the mothership, which is controlled by an alien creature sitting in its centre. To complete this round, the player must create a hole in the conveyor belt-type shield to get a clear shot at the alien. Hitting the alien with a single shot ends the level and scores 400–8,200 points. The mothership fires missiles at the player’s ship, moves slowly down towards it, and has alien birds (from rounds 1 and 2) protecting it. Defeating all of the birds will produce a new wave.
Phoenix Atari 2600
The game continues with increasing speed and unpredictability of the birdlike creature and phoenix flights.
Another great retro game available at Escapist Gamer – Yars’ Revenge (Atari 2600)
