Page 18 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #4

chunks of deadly material. Plus, you are
awarded a variable bonus of 50 to 200
points (obviously drawing inspiration
from the "mystery ship" in Space Invad-
ers).
There is a good side to all this. The
programmers realized that with such
pace Firebird is a game that by Kyle Snyder formidable forces against you, they had bet-
seemed to taunt ter balance the playing field. In-
me for several stead of just the standard missiles
su
S mers. From to fire, a second offense is gener-
m
the summer of '81 through ously provided. The "warp" button
sometime in '83, I would al- on the control panel ignites your
ways run across a Space rocket engines and enables a
Firebird machine when I either protective shield that surrounds
didn't have a quarter or didn't your base. However, your craft
have the time to stop and the screen, firing missiles upwards at an only holds enough fuel to make one full
play. The 7-11 on the corner had one for a ever changing army of flying creatures. But pass from the bottom of the screen to the
while, and Marie's Restaurant had one for a there was something about Space Firebird top of the screen, where you fly off and
short time as a replacement for their Pac- that drew me in more than any other game "wrap around" to the bottom again. Perhaps
Man machine, which was getting repaired. of its type. that part of the universe was suffering
Even our local A&P grocery store had a First, when the game begins, your ears through a gas hike like we are right now! No
Space Firebird for about a year, but by that are treated to sounds that can best be de- matter. This warp function allows you to
time my mother favored Safeway, and I scribed as an electronic re-creation of an guide your ship directly into the swarm of
never got to go into the A&P to see what it office water cooler. This is not a bad thing. firebirds, obliterating any nasties that you
was about. This sound is one of the most charming in collide with.
This troubled me. I believed that I knew the classic arcade universe. Your eyes An additional defensive maneuver has
everything there was to know about the move toward the top of the screen, where been programmed in as well. As you ap-
games of that era, but I had to shrug and some tiny red spots emerge and become proach either side of the screen, your ship
admit ignorance of this simple wood-grained the first wave of the enemy firebirds. The will angle upward slightly, allowing you to
cabinet with the red and orange marquee. first thing you notice is that these avians slide past the missiles and diving birds that
Later on, I found salvation. have varying degrees of armor and plum- attempt to trap you. It's a nice touch that
The summer of '85 included my atten- age, based on rank. The vast majority of the separates this "invasion" game from all the
dance at a "Summer Science Camp" at the birds are identified as "gulls." Gulls are small others of that era.
local community college. Sure, we had great red or blue birds that are felled with one well During that summer science camp, I
times like the scavenger hunt in the woods timed shot from your base. These privates quickly became the best player at Space
("Is that a sparrow's feather??? THIRTY in the bird army are responsible for most of Firebird and regularly advanced up to the
POINTS!!!"), and the time we got to dissect the clusters of red bombs shot back down at twentieth level or so. I probably could've
little formaldehyde-soaked foot-long sharks. you. played for longer, but lunch break at camp
This is where I learned that a shark's heart The gulls report directly to the Eagles; was only so long.
(at least that particular species...) is a (not rock legends Glenn Frey and Don I have recently found that Nintendo pro-
beautiful light blue color. But I digress. Henley) larger birds with multiple colored grammed the original Space Firebird ma-
This community college had a game feathers that take two direct hits to extin- chines (presumably for Asian release), but
room that stemmed off from the cafeteria. It guish. The attack formations usually consist that Sega/Gremlin licensed the title for re-
had several ping-pong tables, a pool table, of anything from three to eight gulls, with lease in America. Funny that at one point in
and about ten arcade games. Among them, one or sometimes two eagles along for good video game history, Nintendo and Sega
you guessed it, Space Firebird! I was finally measure. They swoop and dive in elegant actually cooperated in a business venture.
able to quench my long-standing thirst for patterns, sometimes incorporating loops into Space Firebird was never adapted for
the game that had eluded me for so long! their avian flight. Without warning, the whole any home video game systems then or now,
Space Firebird was one of the many group will dive into the path of the player's and can only be played as a downloaded
Space Invaders inspired "slide and missile base. Best to get the hell out of the ROM for MAME. I recommend you give it a
shoots" that populated arcades of the early way, or blast them as they circle round the try whenever you can.
80's. You had your player-controlled gun top of the screen. If you can manage to Personally, I
ship that moved left and right at the base of am negotiat-
squeeze off a few rounds as they circle
overhead, you will get 20 points per ing with the
gull and 50 per eagle. This can add up college to buy
quite quickly. that same
Occasionally, an Emperor firebird Space Fire-
will appear to challenge the player. bird machine I
The golden emperors are the generals played 15 sum-
in the firebird fleet. They tend to fly mers ago.
slowly and low, taunting the player. As They've had it
you would expect from a general, they in storage for
are heavily armored and laborious to the past 10
kill. It takes four shots to destroy an years, along
Emperor, but at 100 points, it's well with old
worth the risk. books and file
As the game progresses, the birds cabinets.
periodically release brightly colored Just an at-
nuclear bombs, which slowly fall into tempt to bring
your zone of movement, sending a an old friend
deep warning echo from the speakers home.
of the game. These bombs detonate
automatically when about an inch from
your range, sending shrapnel in all
directions. Shooting the bomb high in
the sky still rains down shrapnel, but
you have an extra second to dodge the
Classic Gamer Magazine Summer 2000 18