Phoenix (video game)

1980 video game

Phoenix

Arcade flyer for Phoenix

Publisher(s)|

* JP: Taito
* NA: Centuri

Platform(s)| Arcade, Atari 2600
Release|

December 1980

* Arcade
* December 1980 (Japan)
* January 1981 (United States)
* Atari 2600
* February 1983

Genre(s)| Fixed-screen shooter[1]
Mode(s)| 1-2 players alternating

Phoenix is an video game developed for arcades in Japan and released in 1980 by Taito. The game is a Fixed-screen shooter where the player controls a space ship, and must shoot at incoming enemies that fly from the top of the screen down towards the enemies.

Following the games release in Europe and Japanese arcades in 1980, the game was distributed in the United States by Centuri, where it helped make the company turn a profit, where their previous year was a loss. Atari contracted the rights to develop a home port of Phoenix for the Atari 2600 and sued Imagic for their game Demon Attack which they felt was too similar to Phoenix.

Phoenix received positive reviews from video game publications such as Electronic Games, Electronic Fun with Computers and Games, and The Video Game Update. Phoenix was one of the first shooter games to feature a boss battle, a gameplay element that would become normal for the shooter genre following the release of the game.

## Gameplay[edit]

Phoenix is a shooter game set on a fixed screen set in space.[2] 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 forcefield only lasts a few seconds, then can not be used for approximately five seconds after.[3]

There are five stages in the game. The first begins with a wave of 16 small phoenixes that drop missiles to attack the players spaceship. A second wave includes further birds. The third wave introduces a new 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 they will only destroy the birds wing which can regenerate itself in a short time. A fourth stage appears which features pink phoenix enemies, which appear and 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.[3]

Operational switches are available on the arcade machine that can adjust gameplay. These allow the number of initial lives in the game to range between three to six, while other switches control what score is required to earn an extra life.[4]

## Development[edit]

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.[5]

Phoenix was initially developed in Japan.[6] It is not known who the original developer of Phoenix. [7] The rights to the game for distribution were owned by several companies, including Amstar Electronics who were based in Phoenix, Arizona.[8][9] Centuri Inc entered into a licensing agreement with Amstar Electronics to release it the United States, Canada, and Central and South America.[9] Centuri had previously been Allied Leisure Industries, with Ed Miller becoming the companies president in 1980. Prior to working at Centuri, Miller had worked for Taito where he had arranged a deal with to license Space Invaders to Bally Manufacturing.[10]

In 1982, Atari received a four-year contract to distribute and market all current and future Centuri arcade games outside of the arcade systems, with the first three games announced being ports of the games Vanguard, Challenger and Phoenix.[11] The Atari port of the game was made by John Mraceck and Michael Feinstein. Mracek was a junior at MIT at the time and made the game as part of his internship.[12] It was developed in mid-1982.[13] The Atari 2600 version misses elements from the Arcade original, such as the ability to save high scores, the music (the arcade version features two pieces of music. When the game starts, "Romance de Amor" is played and "Für Elise" is played when a player completes a level.[14][15]), the star field background, numerals representing points when a bird is hit, the smaller birds appearing around the mothership, and fewer enemies appear on the screen at once in the home version.[14][16] Mraceck stated that they had to cut over one-third of their original code to fit the game on the cart.[17] The two developers were limited to 8KB rom cartridge for the game.[13]

## Release[edit]

Phoenix was released in Japan on December 1980 where it was licensed to Taito by TPN.[18] The arcade version of the game was distributed in the United States by Centuri in January 1981.[8][19]

Phoenix was released for the Atari 2600 in February 1983.[20] Atari had the exclusive rights to produce Phoenix for home consoles and filed suit against the company Imagic, believing that their game Demon Attack 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.[21] Phoenix was released for consoles in the compilation game Taito Legends for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Windows PCs.[22][23]

## Reception and legacy[edit]

The final level featuring a large space ship final boss. Phoenix was one the first shooter games to feature a boss character.

Prior to its release in the United States, the game was released in Europe and Japanese markets where it was very popular.[24] At the end of 1981, Centuri reported revenues of $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.[11] Phoenix was the best selling of Centuri's titles by 1982.[10] The Atari 2600 version sold over 600,000 units.[12]

The Video Game Update referred to the Atari 2600 adaptation as a "very good translation of the arcade classic."[25] In Electronic Games, Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz wrote that the game favorable was the other recent Atari 2600 releases such as Vanguard, Yars' Revenge, and Demons to Diamonds noting the quality in graphics and control, stating it "is perhaps the finest invasion title ever produced for the 2600!"[26] 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".[27] The game received a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Videogame" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards.[28]

In a retrospective review by Brett Alan Weiss (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 in terms of sheer enjoyment and replayability" and concluded that "Finely balanced shooting action combined with colorfully animated graphics make Phoenix a true classic among shooters."[2] In 1995, Flux magazine ranked the arcade version of Phoenix at #69 on their list of "Top 100 Video Games", stating it was one of the better Space Invaders variations.[29] Discussing the game in Retro Gamer, Nick Thorpe compared the game to Space Invaders, finding Phoenix "considerably advanced" noting the difficult to predict behaviors of enemies and final boss fight while noting it lacked some elements from modern shooters, such as power-ups and a larger enemy variety.[30] The publication included the Atari 2600 port of the game in their list of the top 25 games for the system.[31]

Phoenix was one of the first shooter games to have a boss battle.[8] Bosses would come to typify the shooter genre following the release of the game.[32] Games that would borrow elements from Phoenix include Space Vultures, Gorf (1981), Pleiades (1981), and Condor Attack (1983).[33][34][35] Phoenix was also bootlegged and released into arcades under titles the titles Condor, Griffon, Vautour, and Batman Part 2.[36]

## See also[edit]

* Video games portal

* Golden age of arcade video games

## References[edit]

1. ^ Montfort & Bogost 2009, p. 96.
2. ^ a b Weiss.
3. ^ a b Centuri 1982, p. 3.
4. ^ Centuri 1982, p. 8.
5. ^ Horowitz 2018, p. 31.
6. ^ Davis 1982.
7. ^ Retro Gamer, p. 34.
8. ^ a b c Horowitz 2020, p. 43.
9. ^ a b Cashbox 1981a, p. 42.
10. ^ a b The Jackson Sun.
11. ^ a b Corderi 1982.
12. ^ a b Hickey, Jr. 2021, p. 52.
13. ^ a b Hickey, Jr. 2021, p. 54.
14. ^ a b Weiss 2014, p. 164.
15. ^ Lerner 2014, p. 333.
16. ^ Weiss 2011, p. 89.
17. ^ Hickey, Jr. 2021, p. 55.
18. ^ Akagi 2006, p. 42.
19. ^ Cashbox 1981c, p. 37.
20. ^ "Availability Update". The Video Game Update. Vol. 1, no. 12\. March 1983.
21. ^ Crookes, p. 54.
22. ^ Fox 2013, p. 214.
23. ^ Dahlen 2010, p. 40.
24. ^ Cashbox 1981a, p. 46.
25. ^ "Critically Speak... Atari 2600-Compatible". The Video Game Update. Vol. 1, no. 10\. January 1983.
26. ^ Katz & Kunkel 1983, p. 42.
27. ^ Steere 1983, p. 59.
28. ^ Kunkel & Katz 1984, p. 42.
29. ^ Amrich et al. 1995, p. 31.
30. ^ Thrope, p. 18.
31. ^ Jones & Hunt, pp. 24–25.
32. ^ Montfort & Bogost 2009, p. 130.
33. ^ Weiss 2011, p. 16.
34. ^ Weiss 2011, p. 47.
35. ^ Burton.
36. ^ Retro Game 2006, p. 77.

### Sources[edit]

* "Classic Moments: Phoenix". Retro Gamer. No. 172.
* "Video Games Market Booms, and the Japanese Want a Share". The San Francisco Examiner. 25 December 1981. p. C2 - via Newspapers.com.
* "Phoenix: Adam Miller's Challenger Enters Video Wars". The Jackson Sun. 17 January 1982. p. 6B.
* Phoenix Service Manual. Hialeah, Florida, United States: Centuri. 1982. 364-62-0100 A.
* Akagi, Masumi (2006). "海外編" [Overseas Edition]. アーケードTVゲームリス 国内 • 海外編 ( 1971 - 2005 )ト [Arcade TV Game List Domestic/Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. ISBN 978-4990251215.
* "Coin Machine". Cashbox. Vol. 43, no. 18\. Cash Box Pub. 19 September 1981c.
* "Centuri, Amstar Announce Licensing Pact for 'Phoenix'". Cashbox. Vol. 42, no. 35\. Cash Box Pub. 24 January 1981a.
* Amrich, Dan; Barbagallo, Ralph; East, Mark; Hudak, Chris; Kitts, Jeff; Meston, Zach; Yang, Jeff (April 1995). "The Top 100 Video Games". Flux. No. 4\. Harris Publications. p. 31\. ISSN 1074-5602.
* Burton, Richard. "Back to the Eighties: The Latest New from April 1981". Retro Gamer. No. 118\. Imagine Publishing. p. 14.
* Corderi, Victoria (19 February 1982). "Home Video Addicts to Get Centuri's Games". The Miami News. p. 10A.
* Crookes, David. "Imagic". Retro Gamer. No. 161.
* Dahlen, Chris (2010). Mott, Tony (ed.). 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2090-2.
* Davis, Dick (3 March 1982). "Another Video Game Candidate:". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 3-E.
* Fox, Matt (2013). The Video Game Guide. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 9780786472574.
* Hickey, Jr., Patrick (2021). The Minds Behind Shooter Games: Interviews with Cult. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4766-8273-0.
* Horowitz, Ken (2018). The Sega Arcade Revolution: A History in 62 Games. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4766-7225-0.
* Horowitz, Ken (2020). Beyond Donkey Kong. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 9781476684208.
* Jones, Darran; Hunt, Stuart. "Top 25 Atari 2600 Games". Retro Gamer. No. 46\. p. 32.
* Katz, Arnie; Kunkel, Bill (June 1983). "Programmable Arcade". Electronic Games. Vol. 1, no. 16.
* Kunkel, Bill; Katz, Arnie (January 1984). "Arcade Alley: The Arcade Awards, Part 1". Video. Reese Communications. 7 (10). ISSN 0147-8907.
* 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. ISBN 978-0-19-532849-3.
* Montfort, Nick; Bogost, Ian (2009). Racing the Beam. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01257-7.
* "Phoenix (Taito, 1980)". Retro Game (in French). No. 3\. Paris, France: Japan Culture Press. 2006.
* Steere, Noel (April 1983). "Hits & Missiles". Electronic Fun with Computers and Games. Vol. 1, no. 6.
* Thrope, Nick. "Phoenix". Retro Gamer. No. 238.
* Weiss, Brett (2011). Classic Home Video Gmaes, 1972-1984. McFarland & Company, Inc.
* Weiss, Brett Alan. "Phoenix". AllGame. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
* Weiss, Brett (2014). The 100 Greatest Console Video Games 1977-1987. Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-4618-7.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Phoenix (video game).

* Phoenix at the Killer List of Videogames
* Phoenix at Arcade History
* Phoenix entry at the Centuri.net Arcade Database
* Phoenix for the Atari 2600 at Atari Mania

Authority control databases: National |

* France
* BnF data

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