Phoenix (1980 video game)
1980 video game / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Phoenix is a fixed shooter video game developed for arcades in Japan and released in 1980 by Taito. The player controls a space ship shooting at incoming enemies that fly from the top of the screen down towards the player's ship. There are five stages which repeat endlessly. The fifth is a fight against a large enemy spaceship, making Phoenix one of the first shooters with a boss battle, an element that would become common for the genre.
Phoenix | |
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Publisher(s) | |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Atari 2600 |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
Mode(s) | 1-2 players alternating turns |
The game was created in Japan by an unknown developer. Following the game's release in Europe and Japanese arcades in 1980, Phoenix was distributed in the United States by Centuri, where it helped the company turn a profit after a loss the previous year. Atari, Inc. contracted the rights to develop a home port for the Atari 2600 and sued Imagic for their game Demon Attack, which they felt was too similar to Phoenix. The 2600 version was released in 1983.
Phoenix received positive reviews from video game publications such as Electronic Games, Electronic Fun with Computers and Games, and The Video Game Update.