Astro Blaster
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Astro Blaster is a space-themed fixed shooter released in arcades by Sega in 1981. It was designed and programmed by Gary Shannon and Barbara Michalec.[1] The game uses speech synthesis and during attract mode a voice says "Fighter pilots needed in sector wars...play Astro Blaster!" It is the first video game to have a copyright registered in Japan.[2]
Gameplay
The player controls a ship which can fire and move left or right. The player must continuously monitor the onscreen temperature and fuel gauges. If the ship's laser overheats, it is disabled until it cools; and if fuel is depleted, the game ends regardless of how many lives the player has left. The player must battle through waves of enemies, which attack with varied formations and flight patterns. When a wave is destroyed, a new one appears. The Warp function is usable once per sector or life, temporarily slowing all enemy vessels and making them easier to shoot.
At the end of each sector, the player flies through an asteroid belt and can get extra fuel by shooting fireballs. Then the mother ship is met, where the player docks and refuels for the next sector.
The player is rewarded for completing each of 25 undisclosed tasks or "secret bonuses", such as shooting all enemies in a specific order or shooting all enemies without missing.[3]
Reception
In his 1981 book How to Master the Video Games, Tom Hirschfeld stated that Astro Blaster challenges players with 29 different attacks across six sectors, with each sector becoming progressively more difficult.[4]
Legacy
The 1981 Apple II game Threshold was inspired by seeing an Astro Blaster machine.[5]
An Astro Blaster cabinet can be seen in Shenmue.
Astro Blaster is one of five unlockable games in the PlayStation Portable version of Sega Genesis Collection.
The current[update]Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". world record high score was set in 1982 and is held by Gus Pappas with 299,100 points.[6]
References
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External links
- Template:Trim Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Killer List of VideogamesTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
- Astro Blaster at Arcade History
- Score rankings at Twin Galaxies
- Pages with script errors
- Pages with reference errors
- Articles using Infobox video game using locally defined parameters
- Articles using Wikidata infoboxes with locally defined images
- Pages with broken file links
- 1981 video games
- Arcade video games
- Arcade-only video games
- Fixed shooters
- Gremlin Industries games
- Multiplayer and single-player video games
- Multiplayer hotseat games
- Sega arcade games
- Video games developed in the United States
- Video games with time manipulation