Astro Blaster
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| Astro Blaster | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of Astro Blaster |
|
| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Gary Shannon, Barbara Michalec |
| Release date(s) | 1981 (Arcade) |
| Genre(s) | Shooter game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Game |
| Input | 4 Buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Vertical |
| Arcade system(s) | Sega G80 Raster hardware |
| Arcade CPU(s) | Z80 |
| Arcade sound system(s) | Sound CPU : I8035 Sound Chips : SP0250 + samples |
| Arcade display | Raster, 224 x 256 pixels, 65 colors |
Astro Blaster is a shoot 'em up arcade game released by Sega in 1981. The player controls a ship (bearing a resemblance to the Battlestar Galactica) which can move left or right, and fire red bolts upward. 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. Every three waves, the player flies through an asteroid belt of some kind, and can obtain fuel for their ship by shooting oncoming fireballs. After this, a large ship is met, where the player can dock and refuel for the next set of waves.
[edit] Trivia
Astro Blaster had several hidden bonuses in the game, worth various points for executing certain moves: In sector 1, first wave, shoot all enemies from left to right, bottom to top. In sector 1, second wave, shoot all enemies from left to right. In sector 1, third wave, shoot all enemies from left to right. In sector 1, fourth wave, shoot all enemies from right to left, before the enemies wrap around to the other side of the screen. In every asteroid level (just before docking with the mother ship) shoot the fireballs to get a few seconds worth of extra fuel. If you pass the asteroid level without reaching fuel status marginal or losing a life, you also gain a bonus. If you reach fuel status marginal, all enemies are worth double points. If you finish the asteroid level and don't have to move at all to dock with the mother ship, you get a bonus. If you almost brush the "claw" of the mother ship while docking you get a "paint scraper" bonus. These bonuses are also present in many of the later stages.
Game tips:
^Save your warp (a ten-second slowdown of the action) for the enemies that slowly drop down towards the player, scrolling across the screen and wrapping around to the other side of the screen. If you don't have the warp when you face them, you had better be a great shot, or they'll soon collide with you. ^Don't waste your shots! As you fire your lasers the cannon heats up, and can overheat, forcing you to wait about 5 seconds to cool off before you can fire again. ^Don't screw up when you dock; not only will you crash but your game will end no matter how many ships are in your stock. ^Learn to wipe out the enemies as quickly as you can. The longer you take, the quicker your fuel supply dwindles.
- Astro Blaster utilized speech synthesis, novel for its time, and as such the game attracted players by stating 'Fighter pilots needed in sector wars, play Astro Blaster'. During game play, the game gave you different advice such as 'Alert, alert, aliens in sector 1, man your battle stations', 'Fuel status marginal', or 'Warp activated, 10, 9, 8, ...' to name a few. Astro Blaster wasn't the first game to introduce speech synthesis in a game, that honor goes to "Berzerk". Astro Blaster, though, challenged the player to go through seven sectors with a varying amount of waves within each sector.
- It is also thought by some that the first game to introduce speech synthesis was Stratovox, by Taito, in 1980 (a rather forgettable space invaders-type game, where you rescue humans that alien ships attempt to steal from you, accompanied by humans and aliens saying things like "Lucky!" or "Help!" or "We'll be back!").
- Gus Pappas holds the official record for this game with a maximum possible 299 100 points. [1]
