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Astro Fighter

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1979 video game Not to be confused with Astro Blaster.
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1979 video game
Astro Fighter.
Developer(s)Data East
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
  • JP: September 1979
  • NA: November 1979
  • EU: January 1980
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Astro Fighter (Japanese: アストロファイター, Hepburn: Asutoro Faitā) is a space shoot 'em up game released for arcades in 1979. The cabinet was released in three different styles: upright/standard, cocktail, and cabaret. It was developed and distributed by Data East in Japan and was distributed in North America by Sega/Gremlin.

Gameplay

The player's ship (white) shooting at descending attackers

Astro Fighter consists of four waves of enemy craft flying from the top of the screen toward the bottom, and a refuelling stage, which are then repeated with increasingly higher difficulty. The player's task is to eliminate the four successive waves of different types of attacking craft, while avoiding being hit by missiles and bombs, and then refuel by shooting the 'GS' ship before repeating the process. DIP switch settings on the CPU board allow the user/operator to define gameplay options. Depending on these settings the player may start with 3, 4, 5, or 6 lives. The switches also define when a bonus life is awarded. This can be either none (no bonuses awarded), or when the player reaches a score of either 5000, 7000, or 10000. 300 bonus points are received for shooting each 6 falling bombs and for 950 bonus points are awarded for hitting the GS ship accurately on the first shot. A bonus of 10,000 points is given for getting through 4 waves and refuelling by using exactly 2 shots more than the minimum needed.

Reception

In North America, it was the fourth top-grossing video game on the Play Meter arcade charts from September to October 1980. Play Meter later listed it as the fourth highest-grossing arcade video game of the year in the United States (below Asteroids, Galaxian and Space Invaders).

In a 2007 retrospective review, Chris Wilkins of Eurogamer rated the game 8 out of 10, with praise towards the level design, boss battles and difficulty level.

References

  1. "L.A. Distrib Holds 6th Annual Show" (PDF). Cash Box. 1979-12-15. p. 41.
  2. ^ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 114. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  3. "Overseas Readers Column: Data East Celebrated Its 10th Anniversary" (PDF). Game Machine. No. 286. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 July 1986. p. 26.
  4. "ライセンス一覧表". Data East. Archived from the original on 2001-04-23.
  5. Meades, Alan (2022-10-25). "Copyright Defenders and the British Videogame Crash" (PDF). Arcade Britannia: A Social History of the British Amusement Arcade. The MIT Press. pp. 145–68. doi:10.7551/mitpress/12420.003.0010. ISBN 978-0-262-37234-3.
  6. "Play Meter Equipment Poll". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 19. October 15, 1980. p. 24.
  7. "The Winners of '80". Play Meter. Vol. 6, no. 21. November 15, 1980. p. 30.
  8. Wilkins, Chris (25 October 2007). "Astro Fighter". Eurogamer. Retrieved 7 December 2023.

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