Phoenix

Phoenix is a 1980 arcade fixed shooter, published in Japan by Taito and in the United States by Centuri — where it helped turn the company profitable after a loss-making year. The Atari 2600 version you will find here was released in 1983 under Atari's label.

The basis is a fixed shooter in the Space Invaders tradition: your ship moves along the bottom edge of the screen while waves of enemies descend. But Phoenix added two things that pushed the genre along. The first is the shield — a button that makes you briefly invulnerable while also blocking your own fire. Deciding when to use it is the entire tactical layer.

The second and more important thing arrives in the fifth stage. There you face a huge mother ship with its own structure, which you have to shoot apart piece by piece to reach the alien inside. That makes Phoenix one of the first games with what we now call a boss — a concept that within a few years was standard in the genre. The five stages then repeat endlessly and rising difficulty is the only form of progression.

There is a well-known legal footnote too: Atari held the home rights and sued Imagic over Demon Attack, which it considered too similar. Contemporary critics, awkwardly, often rated Demon Attack above the Phoenix port itself.

The 2600 version is competent but thinner than the cabinet — fewer colours and a simpler mother ship. It still plays well: the loop is short, the rules are clear and the pace is quick. As a historical exhibit, Phoenix is required viewing.