Phoenix
Developer(s)	Amstar
Publisher(s)	Centuri, Taito
Release date(s)	1980
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Platform(s)	Arcade game
Input	Either joystick (2-way) with 2 buttons, or 4 buttons (depends on cabinet)
Arcade cabinet	Upright, cocktail, and wall-mounted

Phoenix is a popular shoot 'em up arcade game created and manufactured by Amstar Electronics (which was located in Phoenix, Arizona) in 1980, and licensed to Centuri for US distribution, and to Taito for Japanese distribution. Image File history File links Phoenix_(arcade_game). ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Video game publishers are companies that publish video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. ... Centuri, based in Hialeah, Florida, was one of the top six suppliers of coin operated video game machinery in the United States. ... Taito may mean: Taito Corporation, a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... This is a listing of computer and video game genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ... Galaga, a famous shoot-em-up from 1981. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... This arcade cabinet, containing Centipede, is an upright. ... Galaga, a famous shoot-em-up from 1981. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... Official language(s) English Capital Phoenix Largest city Phoenix Area  Ranked 6th  - Total 113,998 sq mi (295,254 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 0. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Centuri, based in Hialeah, Florida, was one of the top six suppliers of coin operated video game machinery in the United States. ... The Taito Corporation (タイトー株式会社, taitou kabushikigaisha) TYO: 9646 is a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware. ...

Description

Like many arcade games of that era, Phoenix is an outer space-themed fix shooter. Gameplay is somewhat predictable: each level has two types of alien birds that fire at your ship, and a mothership that is guarded by many of the same alien birds. This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ...

The player's spaceship moves horizontally at the bottom of the screen. In addition to the missiles, the ship is equipped with a shield that can be used to zap any of the alien creatures that attempt to crash into the spaceship. However, the player cannot move while the shield is active, and must wait for a short period (approximately five seconds) before using it again.

Phoenix was one of the first full color arcade games, along with Galaxian, so at the time it stood out. Also, it has distinctive shooting sounds that have become very familiar to fans of the genre. Most importantly, the Phoenix mothership was the first video arcade game boss where the boss was presented as a separate challenge. Galaxian is an arcade game that was released by Namco in 1979. ... Flag Ship from the video game Gorf In video games, a boss (sometimes called a guardian) is a particularly large or difficult computer-controlled character that must be defeated at the end of a segment of a game, whether it be for a level, an episode, or the very end...

Phoenix is a very popular game for graphing calculators; it is one of the most common programs for the TI-83, TI-84, and TI-86 models. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The TI-83 (original design) The TI-83 series of graphing calculators is manufactured by Texas Instruments. ... TI-86 The TI-86 is a programmable graphing calculator introduced in 1997 and produced by Texas Instruments. ...

Gameplay

Each level has five separate rounds. The player must successfully complete a round before advancing to the next one.

• 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. The birds are yellow in round 1, pink in round 2. The player's spaceship is given rapid fire for round 2, where the birds fly somewhat more unpredictably.

• Rounds 3 and 4 – Larger alien birds, resembling phoenixes, swoop down at the player's spaceship. The only way to fully destroy one of these birds 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.

• Round 5 – The player is pitted against the mothership, which is controlled by an alien-like creature sitting in its center. To successfully complete this round, the player must first fire away at the hull and a conveyor belt-type shield to get a clear shot at the alien. Destroying the alien – only one shot is required – ends the level. The mothership fires missiles at the player, and has the alien birds (from rounds 1 and 2) protecting the ship.

The game continues, with the difficulty increasing per level. Kamikaze pilot Hachiro Hosokawa during World War II. He survived the war, because he belonged to a covering fighter squadron. ... The phoenix from the Aberdeen Bestiary. ...

Clones

• Griffon was released by Videotron in 1980.
• Falcon was released by BGV. in 1980.
• Vautour was released by Jeutel in 1980 in France.
• Batman Part 2 was released in 1981.
• Condor was released by Sidam in 1981.
• Galaxian

Bootlegs

• Phoenix was released by T.P.N in 1980
• Phoenix was released by IRECSA, G.G.I Corp in 1980

Sequels

The official sequel to Phoenix was called Pleiads (onscreen) or Pleiades (on the Centuri manufactured marquee) and was developed by Tehkan in 1981, and licensed to Centuri for US distribution. Tecmo, Ltd. ...

The Flagship level in the Midway game Gorf has been compared to the boss stage in Phoenix. Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher known for such game series as Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam and Spy Hunter. ... Gorf is an arcade game, released in 1981 by Midway. ...

Trivia

Most Phoenix games will be in a standard Centuri woodgrain cabinet, but several other cabinets exist, due to this game being sold by multiple companies at the same time. These use sticker sideart (which covers the upper half of the machine), and glass marquees. The control panel is made up entirely of buttons, no joysticks are present. The monitor in this machine is mounted vertically, and the monitor bezel is relatively unadorned. Phoenix uses a unique wiring harness, which isn't known to be compatible with any other games.

Matt Gotfraind holds the official record for this game with 987,620 points [citation needed]

Ports

Atari later bought the home video game console rights to Phoenix. The Imagic game Demon Attack closely resembled Phoenix, so Atari sued Imagic but lost their lawsuit. The home version of Phoenix is one of the better arcade ports of the time. For the concept Atari (当たり) in the board game of Go, see Atari (go term). ... Imagic was a third-party maker of games for the Atari 2600 and other early video game consoles in the early 1980s. ... Demon Attack player under attack by alien creatures Demon Attack is a video game title by Imagic released for the Atari 2600 game console in 1982. ... In computer science, porting is the adaptation of a piece of software so that it will function in a different computing environment to that for which it was originally written. ...

In 2005, Phoenix was released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and the PC as part of Taito Legends. The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. ... PS2 redirects here. ... A stylised illustration of a modern personal computer A personal computer (PC) is usually a microcomputer whose price, size, and capabilities make it suitable for personal usage. ... Taito Legends is a compilation of 29 arcade games released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC in October 2005. ...

External links

• Phoenix at the Killer List of Videogames
• Arcade History Database entry
• MAME world
• Java Version (pseudo SFX and too-fast gameplay)