Sky Fox (arcade game)

Exerizer[1] / Sky Fox

Developer(s) Nichibutsu
Publisher(s) Jaleco
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date(s) 1987
Genre(s) Shoot 'em up
Mode(s) Up to two players
Cabinet Vertical

Sky Fox is a 1987 arcade game developed by Nichibutsu that was originally published in Japan by Jaleco as Exerizer (in Japanese: エクセライザー) as a follow-up to Jaleco's 1983's Exerion and 1984's Exerion II: Zorni. It is a shoot 'em up setting the player in the role of a space ship pilot fighting against a female alien race and the space monsters under their control. The game was well received by Western game critics and its music was included in the 1988 soundtrack compilation Game Sound Jaleco -G.S.M. Jaleco 1-.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Sky Fox is that of a vertical shooter in the style of Galaxian, but with eight-way movement across the screen and parallax scrolling for the stars backgrounds. The game can be played by up to two players in alternating turns.

According to the English version of the game's arcade flyer, a mission was launched to defeat "the evil 'SKY FOX' and her fleet who have been colonizing planet after planet and now they are attacking Earth."[2] At the player's disposal to fight the approaching enemies, some of them made in pseudo-depth 2.5D graphics with scaled sprites, is a small space fighter capable of firing two types of projectiles: the unlimited but slow rockets and the fast laser shots that are limited by draining the ship's power. The power can be refilled and the ship itself upgraded by collecting the power ups that appear after destroying certain enemies.[3][4][5]

Similar as in Gorf, the game features several different types of waves (stages). The player progresses through most of them by either destroying all the enemies or alternatively just surviving their attacks for long enough time. For instance, one stage has a Galaga-style gameplay against rows of monsters led by four witches who are vulnerable only when they open their cloaks, while another features enemy warriors saddle perched on either serpent-like Chinese dragons or Western-style winged dragons. The dragons must to be hit repeatedly in the weak point of their heads to be killed, after which the riders themselves can be shot for a score bonus.[3][4][5]

Reception

The game was positively received upon its release. Italian edition of Zzap! called it a treat "for those who love the space shooter genre, ensuring a good fun for a sufficient period of time."[4] A review by Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games called it "a weird mish-mash of ideas from best-sellers of the past — the dragons have been borrowed from Space Harrier, and there are many scenes reminiscent of that golden oldie, Space Invaders." She complemented that colorful graphics and opined that "the game does offer a fast and relatively addictive shoot 'em up."[3]

According to a retrospective review in Retro Gamer, when compared to much of Jaleco's other arcade titles, Sky Fox "can be seen as a bit of diamond in the rough, as it's a nicely presented little-known vertical shooter that plays like a mixture of Galaxian and Space Harrier." The reviewer felt the game's need of "banking and consideration to attacking enemies is a neat mechanic, which, coupled with Sky Fox‍ '​s nice visuals and humorous enemy designs (bikini-clad dragon riders in space manage to be more off-the-wall than Space Harrier's enemies), makes it an enjoyable little shooter."[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game Flyers: Exerizer, Jaleco". Flyers.arcade-museum.com. 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
  2. ↑ "The Arcade Flyer Archive - Video Game Flyers: Sky Fox, Nichibutsu". Flyers.arcade-museum.com. 2002-01-07. Retrieved 2014-05-04.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Computer and Video Games 68, page 121.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Zzap! Italia 14, page 37.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Retro Gamer 79, page 65.

External links