Phoenix Arcade Game and Atari 2600 Conversion

Origin of Phoenix

Any lover of retro arcade games will remember their first – the one that got them hooked. For me this is Phoenix from Centuri, a game I first came across in the early 80’s.

I was 11, on holiday in Spain with my parents, and in the bar of the hotel were two arcade games. The first was Pacman, which was all the rage, but after a couple of tries I just didn’t get it. The other was Phoenix, resplendent in a cabinet with huge alien graphic on the side. With the attract mode running, you could see all of the 5 different waves of gameplay, including the huge boss level at the end, and I knew I just had to get to that 5th level.

25 Spanish Pesetas later (this being before currency integration and the Euro) and I was committed, this was how I was going to spend the rest of my holiday.

But who created Phoenix?

The classic Phoenix arcade cabinets were launched in 1980 by Centuri, a US based arcade game distributor that had a relationship with Amstar Electronics, whose name is shown on the game screen. So Amstar had the game developed for them in the US, but it wasn’t their game, it was licenced from Tekhan (who also released the sequel Pleiades) in Japan. But Tekhan didn’t actually develop the game, and the true origin of Phoenix is subject to debate. The name “Hiraoka” is mentioned in relation to the original development, but little is known about this company so the ultimate source of the game code remains a mystery.

What isn’t a mystery is the success of the title for Centuri, who after nearly going bust in 1980 with over $4m losses, sold an estimated 13,000-15,000 Phoenix cabinets, helping them return to profitability in 1981.

The Phoenix Arcade Cabinet

The design of the Phoenix cabinet by Centuri was classic early 80’s, with a fairly standard upright format and dedicated control panel, marquee and side-art. The cabinet featured the distinctive wood effect vinyl on the sides, much like the wood effect on an Atari 2600 or a contemporary hi-fi system.

The titular “Phoenix” featured heavily in the artwork, mirroring the large birds seen in 2 of the 5 stages. Where most verticals shooters would feature a left-right joystick there were 2 buttons to control your player ship, with another 2 for “fire” and “shield” actions.

As well as the standard upright cabinet produced by Centuri, there was also dedicated cocktail cabinet, featuring similar graphics and the ability for 2 players to go head to head across the table.

Phoenix Arcade Gameplay

The novelty of Phoenix was the use of multiple alien attack scenarios within one game, making up 5 stages in total. There was no traditional end to the game, but unlike other arcade games that just looped back to the first screen with no fanfare, Phoenix actually had a “boss level”, which made completing each loop more rewarding. If you could make it that far, as the game could be quite unforgiving until you learned the enemy attack patterns.

Level 1 Slow Bullets

A classic vertical shooter, the first 2 waves are reminiscent of Galaxians, with alien ships in formation at the top of the screen, and then swooping down to dive bomb your vessel, shooting all the way. The first screen allowed you one laser blast at a time, and care had to be taken to take out the aliens accurately.

Try and take out as many as you can while they are still in formation, as once they start dive bombing they are so much harder to hit – and also pepper you with missiles.

If they reach the bottom of the screen they can lurk unseen underneath you or wait alongside you, ready to launch at your player ship. They can also loop around the screen, off one side and onto the other.

Level 2 Fast Bullets

The second stage of Phoenix allowed multiple bullets, and you could wipe out most of the aliens in the first few seconds before they start dive-bombing. Like the first screen, the last aliens would try and ambush you by lurking next to your ship at the bottom of the screen.

Keep away from the bottom-lurkers, and eventually they will fly off, but if cornered use the shield to take them out safely.

Be careful with the shield, particularly when dealing with dive-bombing birds, as they can sometimes breach an active shield and result in cheap and frustrating loss of life. You’ll live longer by avoiding the dive bombers completely and moving out of their way.

Level 3 & 4 Eggs & Birds

Waves 3 and 4 are al most identical, with large alien eggs slowly hatching into winged Phoenix, whilst swooping across and down the screen. Placing your ship on the left hand side meant that you could shoot them as they slowed down to change direction, and avoid the first bombs from the birds. Miss the body and the wings are destroyed, hit the body and get a bonus. Wait too long and the birds dive at you.

Your best bet is to stay on the left or right and take out as many as you can before they start diving, once you get the hang of it you can clear this screen in seconds. But if the birds start diving, get out of the way, as the shield is often breached.

Blue birds attack in Stage 3, purple in Stage 4.

Level 5 Beating the Centuri Phoenix Boss Level

Battle your way past the 2 waves of blue and purple phoenix, and you have made it to the boss level, siren sound effect announcing arrival of the huge mothership. Aliens from the first levels defend the massive saucer with rotating forcefield, which must be blasted through to get to the Octopus-like boss. You need to shoot at the middle of the ship, whilst avoiding bombs from both the boss and the diving alien defenders, surviving long enough to break through the shield and destroy the ship in a huge slow motion explosion.

For maximum bonus points, wait for the ship to drop almost to the bottom before shooting the Octopus. The game then loops back to stage 1.

The first time I managed to beat the boss was a pivotal moment, the first time I felt I had mastered a game – I was the guy everyone was watching to get tips before they tried to play themself. Over the course of two weeks I improved my technique, learned the attack patterns, found the helpful glitches, and developed flourishes in my gameplay. By the end of the holiday I could complete 3 rounds of 5 waves on one credit, only let down by the sometimes iffy collision detection.

Phoenix Home Conversions

Atari 2600 (1983)

Unlike many other arcade games of the period, Phoenix had only one official port, released in 1983, for the Atari 2600. Despite the graphical limitations of the popular Atari 2600 console, the home port of Phoenix was a faithful if not graphically identical conversion. All 5 levels remain intact, with similar enemy attack patterns albeit with fewer alien birds on screen at once. The boss level was always going to be tricky to deliver however, with the Atari’s sprite count being too limited to allow enemy ships as well as a large animated octopus mothership. Despite these differences, the Phoenix port was well received in period and remains playable today.

“One of the better arcade-to-Atari 2600 conversions.” Electronic Games Magazine, 1983

Demon Attack (1982)

As well as the official Phoenix port for the Atari 2600, third-party developer Imagic released similarly themed game entitled Demon Attack, featuring swooping bird-like aliens, a year before the Atari release. Atari didn’t appreciate the similarities to the original Phoenix (for which they have the exclusive licence) and sued Imagic, resulting in a settlement that permitted Imagic to release the game on multiple formats.

There were also a number of unofficial home ports for early 80’s home computers including the ZX Spectrum (Pheenix) and BBC Micro (Eagle Empire).

Phoenix was not the first arcade game, or the most innovative, or even that popular with other retro gamers, but as my first it will always bring back fantastic memories of the early 80’s arcade scene.

Phoenix Arcade Game Review

Origin of Phoenix

But who created Phoenix?

The Phoenix Arcade Cabinet