Gyruss
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Centuri/Konami
Designer(s)	Yoshiki Okamoto
Release date(s)	1983
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Platform(s)	Arcade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Colecovision, NES
Input	8-way joystick 1 button
Arcade cabinet	Upright or cocktail
Arcade system(s)	2x Zilog Z80, Motorola 6809, 8039, 5x AY-3-8910, DAC
Arcade display	Raster, 224 x 256 resolution

Gyruss is a shoot-em-up video arcade game developed by Konami, and released in 1983. Yoshiki Okamoto was the designer of the game. The game was licensed to Centuri in the United States. It follows in the tradition of space war games such as Space Invaders and Galaga. Image File history File links A screenshot from the arcade game Gyruss. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Konami Corporation (コナミ) TYO: 9766 (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Centuri, based in Hialeah, Florida, was one of the top six suppliers of coin operated video game machinery in the United States. ... Konami Corporation (コナミ) TYO: 9766 (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Yoshiki Okamoto (born June 10, 1961 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a video game designer credited with designing a number of the most popular games in the industry. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Galaga, a famous shoot-em-up from 1981. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... The Atari 2600, released in October 1977, was the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. ... The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply Atari 5200, was a video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari as a replacement for the famous Atari 2600. ... The Commodore 64 is the best selling single personal computer model of all time. ... The ColecoVision was Coleco Industries second generation home video game console, released in August, 1982. ... NES redirects here. ... Joystick elements: 1. ... This arcade cabinet, containing Centipede, is an upright. ... An arcade system board is a standardized printed circuit board or group of printed circuit boards that are used as the basis for multiple arcade games with very similar hardware requirements. ... Zilog, often seen as ZiLOG, is a manufacturer of 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit CPUs, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series. ... The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Zilog from 1976 onwards. ... Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is a United States-based multinational communications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. ... The Motorola 6809 is an 8-bit* microprocessor from Motorola, introduced circa 1979. ... A monitor is an interface between the computer and the operator. ... Suppose the smiley face in the top left corner is an RGB bitmap image. ... A fixed shooter game, also known as a 2-D shooter or shoot-em-up (shmup for short), is a video game where the player has limited control of their character and the focus is almost entirely on annihilation of their enemies. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Konami Corporation (コナミ) TYO: 9766 (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yoshiki Okamoto (born June 10, 1961 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a video game designer credited with designing a number of the most popular games in the industry. ... Centuri, based in Hialeah, Florida, was one of the top six suppliers of coin operated video game machinery in the United States. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1981 (and also licensed to Midway). ...

The game's background music consists of portions of J. S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, in a modern rock style. Gyruss was the first arcade game to use stereo sound. Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. ... Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is the name of two different pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach for the organ: BWV 538 and BWV 565. ... Rock and roll (also spelled rock n roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Label for 2. ...

Gameplay

The gameplay is very similar to that of Galaga but with an added twist: the game is presented in a forced 3D perspective, with the player's ship facing 'into' the screen and able to move around the perimeter of an implicit circle—essentially, Galaga mapped onto a Tempest-like cylinder. This gameplay style is called a tube shooter, and Gyruss is one of the very few examples that exist. The familiar scrolling starfield of earlier space shooter games was arranged to fit the 3D perspective, with the stars coming into view at the centre of the screen and flying outward, giving the impression of the player's ship moving very fast through space. The rewrite of this article is being devised at Talk:3D computer graphics/Temp. ... Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1981 (and also licensed to Midway). ... Tempest is an arcade game by Atari, originally designed and programmed by David Theurer. ... Galaga, a famous shoot-em-up from 1981. ...

The majority of enemies are other spaceships, all of which must be destroyed before a level is completed. They appear either from the centre of the screen or from one of the edges, and move in swirling patterns. They can shoot the player's ship or destroy it by contact. They hover near the centre of the screen after completing their deployment pattern, and occasionally fly outwards and shoot at the player. If they are not destroyed by the player, the enemy ships gradually fly away one by one.

There are also several other types of enemies: satellites, asteroids and laser beam generators. These appear intermittently and soon disappear of their own accord if not destroyed by the player. An Earth observation satellite, ERS 2 For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). ... 253 Mathilde, a C-type asteroid. ... A LASER (acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an optical source that emits photons in a coherent beam. ...

Satellites materialise in a group of three just in front of the player after the ordinary enemy ships have finished deployment. They gyrate in small circles and shoot at the player. If the player has the basic weapon when the satellites appear the middle one will be a sun-like object - if destroyed, the player's ship gets a better weapon. There is only one upgrade possible and if the better weapon has already been gained then all satellites are identical. This is not always easy, as the satellites' shots do not need to travel far to hit the player's ship, and the player only has a few seconds to destroy them before they fly away.

Asteroids fly straight outwards from the centre of the screen at regular intervals. They always fly just to the left or right of the player's ship, so unless the ship moves it will be never be hit by an asteroid. They cannot be destroyed but a small points bonus is given for shooting at them.

Laser beam generators occasionally fly straight outwards from the centre of the screen. They consist of two generator segments with a laser beam between them; destroying either generator deactivates the beam. The player's ship is destroyed by contact with either the generators or the beam.

The player begins the game "2 WARPS TO NEPTUNE". After completing each level, the player is one warp closer to a planet. Each time a planet is reached, the player's ship is seen flying towards it and then a short bonus round is played, where the player can shoot enemy ships for bonus points without worrying about being destroyed by them. After reaching Neptune, the player is then three warps from Uranus, and progresses through Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and finally Earth, taking three warps to reach each planet. Atmospheric characteristics Surface pressure ≫100 MPa Hydrogen - H2 80% ±3. ... This article lacks information on the importance of the subject matter. ... Adjectives: Uranian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 120 kPa (at the cloud level) Composition: 83% Hydrogen 15% Helium 1. ... Adjective Saturnian Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 140 kPa Hydrogen >93% Helium >5% Methane 0. ... Adjectives: Jovian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 20–200 kPa[3] (cloud layer) Composition: ~86% H2 ~13% Helium 0. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ...

After completing Earth's bonus stage, the player must travel through the very fast "3 WARPS TO NEPTUNE" level before returning to the start of the game. Thus, the game runs in a circle, just like the player's ship.

Ports

Gyruss was ported to numerous operating systems and consoles. In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed (e. ... An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. ... video game consoles A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer. ...

Early Ports

Gyruss was ported to many early systems, including the Atari 5200, Commodore 64 and Colecovision. There was also a surprisingly faithful Atari 2600 port. The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply Atari 5200, was a video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari as a replacement for the famous Atari 2600. ... The Commodore 64 is the best selling single personal computer model of all time. ... The ColecoVision was Coleco Industries second generation home video game console, released in August, 1982. ... The Atari 2600, released in October 1977, was the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. ...

NES and Famicom

NES Title Screen (Left) and FDS Title Screen (Right)

Gyruss was also slighty remade for the Famicom Disk System in Japan, and later the NES in North America, released by Konami's subsidiary Ultra Games. In these versions of the game, the gameplay is still largely the same, but there are several revisions. Despite the revisions, the game was still well received in North America. Revisions include: Image File history File links Gyruss_Title_NES.PNG‎ Gyruss (NES Version) ©1988 Konami NES and FDS Titles Screens. ... Image File history File links Gyruss_Title_NES.PNG‎ Gyruss (NES Version) ©1988 Konami NES and FDS Titles Screens. ... The Famicom Disk System, attached to a late-model AV Famicom The Family Computer Disk System (FCD) was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral to their overwhelmingly popular Family Computer (Famicom) console in Japan. ... NES redirects here. ... Founded in 1987 as a subsidiary of Konami, Ultra was a video game company created in an effort to get around Nintendos draconian licensing rules. ...

• Updated graphics
• The music from the arcade version of the game was slightly remixed, and several additional tracks were added.
• The player starts off at "Three Warps To Neptune" instead of "Two Warps"
• The player can use a super phaser attack in addition to the normal guns
• There are additional enemies, including boss fights when the player reaches each planet
• Bonus stages after each planet's boss is defeated, for a chance to gain additional powerups
• There is a definite "ending" to the game. In the NES version, it's a brief text about the Universe being at peace. In the FDS version, there is a full ending sequence with credits.
• In addition to the satellites providing the usual double guns and bonus points, they can also provide extra phasers, a smart bomb, and even an extra life
• Instead of the arcade's looping 24 stages, there are 39 looping. In the arcade, the player starts from Neptune and proceeds to Earth. On the NES version, the player travels through the entire solar system, including the Sun and Pluto, which is no longer considered an official planet of the solar system.

This version of the game was included in the Majesco TV Game Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced. This isn't to be confused with the Game Boy Advance game of the same name, which featured an actual programming of the arcade Gyruss. Major features of the Solar System (not to scale, from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, a comet, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth & Moon, and Mars. ... The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. ... Adjectives: Plutonian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ... Majesco Entertainment is a video game developer founded in 1986. ...

Modern ports

The GBA port, in Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced

Faithful versions of Gyruss can be played in modern compilations. Gyruss has a perfect emulation in Konami Arcade Classics for the PlayStation. There is also a very faithful implementation in Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced for the Game Boy Advance. In addition, there is the Konami Live! Plug and Play PC controller that includes Gyruss with an online scoreboard, as well as five other Konami titles. The game has also been announced as a Spring 2007 addition to XBox Live Arcade with enhanced graphics. Image File history File links GyrussGBA.PNG‎ Gyruss ©1983, 2002 Konami Konami Collector Series: Arcade Advanced compilation. ... Image File history File links GyrussGBA.PNG‎ Gyruss ©1983, 2002 Konami Konami Collector Series: Arcade Advanced compilation. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Konami Arcade Classics was an arcade compilation released in 1999 for the PlayStation. ... The Sony PlayStation ) is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid-1990s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is an online service operated by Microsoft that is used to distribute video games to Xbox and Xbox 360 owners. ...

Trivia

• Gyruss is one of the first non-vector games with pseudo-3D graphics.
• Gyruss was the 2nd (and last) game Yoshiki Okamoto designed for Konami. Due to pay disputes, he was fired after the release of this game, and soon joined Capcom.
• The 2004 videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas contains a playable homage to Gyruss, called They Crawled from Uranus! It is much simpler than the game it is based upon, featuring a static background and only one kind of enemy.
• Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2 contains a remix of the Gyruss music as a playable song.
• Neptune is visited in the NES Gyruss prior to Pluto (which was commonly known to be the furthest planet in the solar system), as between 1979 and 1999, Neptune was in fact the most distant planet, since its orbital path is intersected by the highly elliptical orbit of Pluto. Ironically, the arcade version of Gyruss features Neptune as the furthest planet, and the player never reaches Pluto, making it scientifically accurate by the current definition of the solar system.

Example showing effect of vector graphics on ppm scale: (a) original vector-based illustration; (b) illustration magnified 8x as a vector image; (c) illustration magnified 8x as a raster image. ... Yoshiki Okamoto (born June 10, 1961 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a video game designer credited with designing a number of the most popular games in the industry. ... Konami Corporation (コナミ) TYO: 9766 (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ... For the original NASA meaning, see capsule communicator. ... Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the fifth video game in the Grand Theft Auto series. ... Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 2, or DDR Ultramix 2, is the eighth home version of Dance Dance Revolution to be released in the United States. ... Atmospheric characteristics Surface pressure ≫100 MPa Hydrogen - H2 80% ±3. ... NES redirects here. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 0. ... Atmospheric characteristics Surface pressure ≫100 MPa Hydrogen - H2 80% ±3. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 0. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 0. ...

See also

• Time Pilot
• Konami
• Ultra (company)
• Yoshiki Okamoto

Time Pilot is a 1982 arcade game by Konami and distributed in the US by Centuri, designed by Yoshiki Okamoto. ... Konami Corporation (コナミ) TYO: 9766 (NYSE: KNM) (SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling computer and video games. ... Founded in 1987 as a subsidiary of Konami, Ultra was a video game company created in an effort to get around Nintendos draconian licensing rules. ... Yoshiki Okamoto (born June 10, 1961 in Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a video game designer credited with designing a number of the most popular games in the industry. ...

External links

• Gyruss at the Killer List of Videogames
• Gyruss at MobyGames
• The Centuri Arcade Database
• Konami Digital Entertainment USA Home