Summary
- Release Year: 1985
- Platforms: BBC Microcomputer System
Bird Strike (1985)
Bird Strike is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by SNK in 1985. The player controls an airplane that must shoot down waves of birds while avoiding obstacles and enemy fire. Bird Strike was a commercial success, and it was ported to several home computers and consoles.
Gameplay
The player controls an airplane that flies across the screen, shooting down waves of birds. The birds come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and they each have their own unique attack patterns. The player must also avoid obstacles such as clouds, mountains, and buildings.
The player has a limited number of lives, and they lose a life every time they are hit by a bird or an obstacle. The player can earn extra lives by collecting power-ups that appear throughout the game.
Development
Bird Strike was developed by SNK, a Japanese video game company. The game was designed by Kazuyoshi Nishiyama, who also designed the classic arcade games Ikari Warriors and Guerrilla War.
Bird Strike was released in arcades in Japan in 1985. The game was ported to several home computers and consoles, including the NES, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Reception
Bird Strike was a commercial success, selling over 100,000 arcade cabinets worldwide. The game was also well-received by critics, who praised its fast-paced gameplay and challenging difficulty.
Bird Strike has been included in several compilations of classic arcade games, including SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 and Hamster Arcade Archives. The game is also available on the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Legacy
Bird Strike is considered to be one of the classic fixed shooter arcade games. The game’s fast-paced gameplay and challenging difficulty have made it a favorite of retro gamers for decades.
Bird Strike has also been influential in the development of other video games. The game’s use of parallax scrolling and multiple layers of gameplay was groundbreaking for its time, and it has been imitated by many other games since then.
Trivia
- Bird Strike was the first arcade game to use parallax scrolling.
- The game’s soundtrack was composed by Kazuo Sawa, who also composed the music for the classic arcade game Pac-Man.
- Bird Strike was ported to the NES in 1989, but the port was not released in North America.
Conclusion
Bird Strike is a classic fixed shooter arcade game that is still a lot of fun to play today. The game’s fast-paced gameplay and challenging difficulty make it a great choice for retro gamers and fans of arcade shooters.
Review Score
7.5/10
