@LarrysSciFiTop Seven Sci-Fi Arcade Games
Top Seven Lists
Why seven? We could make up a crazy theory about how we love prime numbers here, or of our intense respect for Terry Nation's vision in Blake's 7, but that would just be a lie. Basically it's just that we're too lazy to do all the work of a top ten list. And since 70% is still passing for most schools, we went with that.
Arcade Games
The following opinions are by Larry Coffey
Number Seven - Star Wars
Released: 1983
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
The scenario is taken from the first Star Wars movie, Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope. You pilot an X-wing fighter, destroying targets and advancing levels until you get an opportunity to destroy the Death Star. It's a fun game that featured primitive colored 3D graphics. The cockpit version gave it a more immersive feel, making it a very popular game in its day.
Number Six - Tron
Released: 1982
Publisher: Bally Midway
Another video game with its basis in a popular film, Tron consisted of four different subgames similar to those featured in the movie. A popular game at arcades, it eventually generated more revenue than the original film.
Number Five - Zaxxon
Released: 1982
Publisher: Sega
This popular and fun game used a "fake 3D" perspective (isometric projection) to allow a player to fly a craft through a series of levels avoiding obstacles, dodging missiles, and blowing up targets. Found in most arcades (and bars) in its heyday, Zaxxon spawned several sequels and platform ports which never matched the success of the original.
Number Four - Battlezone
Released: 1980
Publisher: Atari, Inc.
This unique looking game used real 3D, but due to the constraints of the processing power and cost of memory of the day was limited to wireframe models. That didn't reduce its popularity any though, in fact the wireframe models gave it its charm. Many of the consoles came with a periscope viewer which gave the game an immersive quality.
The gameplay itself was pretty simple. The idea was to maneuver around solid cubic or pyramid-shaped objects (though transparent due to the wireframe) and destroy enemy tanks. Periodically an enemy UFO will appear. Naturally you were supposed to blow that up too.
Number Three - Defender
Released: 1980
Publisher: Williams Electronics
This wildly popular game featured a spaceship that had to destroy waves of alien ships while protecting stranded astronauts on the planet surface. No attempt at 3D was made in the development of this purely 2D side-scroller. Nevertheless, the graphics were excellent (for the day) and game play was intense.
Number Two - Asteroids
Released: 1979
Publisher: Atari Inc.
This immensely popular, widely emulated, and hugely influential game seemed to be in every arcade, bar, and pizza parlor in America at one point. It was black and white, but that didn't deter the game play which was simple: blast rocks to bits, then blast the bits. Every now and then a UFO would appear and you would do what became the standard for arcade games - shoot it. Once a field of rocks were cleared, you'd get a new field, more dense, naturally.
Number One - Space Invaders
Released: 1978
Publisher: Midway/Taito
Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, this game was essentially the model for almost all arcade games that followed. Its immediately recognizable screen has become an icon of the gaming industry as a whole.
We won't waste pixels nor insult anyone's intelligence by describing the gameplay. Anybody who'd be this far into this website has seen it. Simply put: Space Invaders set the standard and therefore is the #1 Sci-Fi Arcade Game in this universe (and probably many others).
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
- Missile Command by Atari Inc.
- Phoenix by Centuri/Taito
- MechWarrior 4 by Tsunami Visual Technologies
- BattleTech VR by Virtual World Entertainment
- Space Duel by Atari Inc.
- Tempest by Atari Inc.
