Astro Blaster
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| Astro Blaster | |
|---|---|
 Screenshot of Astro Blaster |
|
| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Gary Shannon, Barbara Michalec |
| Platform(s) | Arcade Game |
| Release date | 1981 (Arcade) |
| Genre(s) | Shooter game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Input methods | 4 Buttons |
| Cabinet | Vertical |
| Arcade system | Sega G80 Raster hardware |
| CPU | Z80 |
| Sound | Sound CPU : I8035 Sound Chips : SP0250 + samples |
| 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 fire and move left or right. 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. At the end of each sector, the player flies through an asteroid belt and can obtain extra fuel by shooting fireballs. After this, the mother ship is met, where the player docks and refuels for the next sector.
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.
According to Twin Galaxies, Gus Pappas holds the official record for this game with a maximum possible 299 100 points. [1]
[edit] Astro Blaster in Shenmue?
In Sega's 1999 Dreamcast epic, Shenmue, an Astro Blaster cabinet can be seen in the YOU Arcade in Dobuita, but it has an "out of order" label on it and is not playable. Its possible it was originally playable and had to be removed for some reason, but it is perhaps there simply for the sake of realism; Shenmue is set in 1986/87, so even then it would be considered an old game.
[edit] High Scores
The currently recognised (Twin Galaxies) high scores are held by Darren Barlett (UK, Mame Emulator) with 65,070 and Gus Pappas (USA, Arcade) with 299,100.
