Phoenix Walkthrough - IGN FAQsPhoenix WalkthroughBoards Guide FAQs Cheats Proudly hosted by IGN FAQsDirect-link it! Get Email Alerts Add to Wishlist Add to Collection Playing Now +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | P H O E N I X | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ GAME: PHOENIX PLATFORM: ARCADE GENRE: ARCADE SHOOTER CREATOR: AMSTAR Licensed to CENTURI Copyright 1980 AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ: Kevin Butler AKA War Doc E-MAIL: kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com FAQ VERSION: 1.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS UNIT I: INTRODUCTION 1. Legal Stuff 2. Version Information 3. Acknowledgements 4. Welcome 5. Overview UNIT II: GAME INFORMATION 6. The Game 6.1 The Controls 6.2 The Playing Fields 6.3 Scoring 6.4 The Waves UNIT III: STRATEGIES 7. Playing the Game 7.1 Waves 1 and 2 7.2 Waves 3 and 4 7.3 Wave 5 UNIT IV: CONCLUSION 8. Conclusion _______________________________________________________________________________ To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following: 1. Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find. 2. Press CTRL-C 3. Press CTRL-F 4. Press CTRL-V 5. Press CTRL-F 5. You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter. _______________________________________________________________________________ ************** ********************************* U N I T I ********************************** ************** +=================+ | 1. LEGAL STUFF |============================================================ +=================+ This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advanced permission from the author. Use of this guide on any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by Kevin Butler. Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this work or to display it: www.gamefaqs.com www.cheats.de faqs.ign.com If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask. Save yourself the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask a simple "Can I post your guide on ?". If you wish to use info in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so. If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please e-mail me. If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please e-mail me. Just have Phoenix as the subject so I know it isn't another kooky vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have new friends. +=========================+ | 2. VERSION INFORMATION |==================================================== +=========================+ Version 1.0 11/03/03: A guide is born. +======================+ | 3. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |======================================================= +======================+ The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ possible: My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard) Amstar for making a great arcade game GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ +=============+ | 4. WELCOME |================================================================ +=============+ Welcome to my FAQ for Phoenix. Since the game has you continuously playing through waves until all your men are killed, there is no walkthrough per se. Instead it will be broken up into the game itself and strategies for survival. Input is appreciated along with constructive criticism. If you wish to e-mail me thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing things, other strategies, etc., feel free. Make sure you put Phoenix as the subject. If you don't, I'm liable to discard the e-mail as spam. +==============+ | 5. OVERVIEW |=============================================================== +==============+ Phoenix was a partnership game between Amstar and Centuri. Centuri tended to partner up with other companies such as SNK for Vanguard or Tehken for Pleiades. Amstar was a little known company who mostly produced arcade gambling games. Unfortunately, the video game crash of the early 80's claimed both of these companies as victims; Centuri in 1983 and Amstar in 1982. This was another game that one played on multiple playing fields. The scoring system was more unique in the fact it depended on things you did before you killed an enemy. Good luck defending against the invaders. *************** ******************************** U N I T II ********************************** *************** +==============+ | 6. THE GAME |=============================================================== +==============+ Phoenix is a two-dimensional, space shooter style game. While you are out patrolling in your sector, you run into an alien race. The race you are tangling with are the Phoenix race. Through a series of battles, you will eventually have to tangle with the Spacefortress. Of course, once you have successfully beaten back these attacks, there are more enemies in the wings waiting to eliminate you. It comes down to who has the stronger will to survive. ____________________ / 6.1 The Controls /__________________________________________________________ -------------------- The controls on this game are very easy. It may, though, take just a little bit of time to get used to them. - A left motion button - A right motion button - A fire button - A shield button __________________________ / 6.2 The Playing Fields /____________________________________________________ -------------------------- Phoenix actually consists of three playing fields. The first two fields are repeated so you actually will be playing on five fields. Each playing field happens in the same exact order as the waves progress. After you make it through wave 5, you go right back to wave 1 again. I have included an example of what these fields look like: +---------------+ | WAVES 1 AND 2 | +---------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | | | /\||/\ | | \/ | | | | /\||/\<-PHOENIX FIGHTER | | \/ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |/| |\| | | | | <-YOUR FIGHTER | | |/|_|\| | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---------------+ | WAVES 3 AND 4 | +---------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | | | _ _ | | / \/\/ \ | | //\ /\\<-PHOENIX BIRD | | \__/ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |/| |\| | | | | | | |/|_|\| | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------+ | WAVE 5 | +--------+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | /\||/\<-PHOENIX FIGHTER | | \/ | | _|_ | | _______|__________ | | / \ | | / +---+ \ | | _____/_______|_P_|<-ALIEN __\____ | | |________________________________|<-SHIELD | | \ / | | \ / | | \ / | | \ /<-HULL | | +-----------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |/| |\| | | | | | | |/|_|\| | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ You control your fighter through these five screens. _______________ / 6.3 Scoring /_______________________________________________________________ --------------- Scoring is a little complicated in this game due to the fact it depends on hits made and how close the Phoenix's are to your fighter. Phoenix fighters: 20, 40, or 80 points Phoenix birds : 50 or 100 points/egg 100 - 800 points/bird (depends on how many wings shot off and distance from fighter) Spacefortress : 1,000 - 9,000 points (depends on how close the Spacefortress is to your fighter when you kill the alien) You start the game with 3, 4, 5, or 6 lives. You are awarded bonus lives at 3,000 and 30,000 points, 4,000 and 40,000 points, 5,000 and 50,000 points, or 6,000 and 60,000 points. _________________ / 6.4 The Waves /_____________________________________________________________ ----------------- The waves in Phoenix are arranged in a specific order. After you complete wave 5, it cycles again back to wave 1. The only difference is in some of the scores and the enemies get faster. Below are what is in each wave: +---------------+ | WAVES 1 AND 2 | +---------------+ These are the Phoenix fighter waves. You will have to tangle with 16 Phoenixes per wave. +---------------+ | WAVES 3 AND 4 | +---------------+ These are the Phoenix bird waves. You will have to tangle with 8 birds per wave. +--------+ | WAVE 5 | +--------+ You get to deal with the Phoenix Spacefortress. In addition to the Space- fortress, you will also have to tangle with its 12 escorts. **************** ******************************** U N I T III ********************************* **************** +======================+ | 7. PLAYING THE GAME |======================================================= +======================+ When you start the game, your fighter will be in the middle at the bottom of the screen. You will see a formation of enemy fighters at the top of the screen. This is the beginning of wave 1. A quick note about the shield. It lasts a couple of seconds and takes about five seconds to regenerate again. _____________________ / 7.1 Waves 1 and 2 /_________________________________________________________ --------------------- - You will usually be attacked by multiple fighters at any one time. The movements of these fighters is pretty random. - In addition to dropping bombs on your fighter, Phoenix fighters also tend to try to ram your fighter. - After you clear out a few fighters, they will reassemble at the top of the screen. They will then move in synch with each other as they creep to the bottom of the screen. - Sometimes a Phoenix fighter will hover right above your ship. If you're quick, you can get off a quick shot and move away before a bomb can be dropped on you. - If multiple Phoenix fighters are at your level, use the shield to clear a path through them. ____________________ / 7.2 Wave 3 and 4 /__________________________________________________________ -------------------- - The Phoenixes in wave 3 enter the screen in a zig-zag pattern while the Phoenixes in wave 4 arrive in a cross-over pattern of four Phoenixes per side. - Once they get large, they start to do erratic zig-zag patterns across the screen. At the same time, they are dropping bombs toward your fighter. Your goal is to shoot off their wings. If you do this, it forces them to go straight down until the wing regenerates. They will still be dropping bombs, but at least they will be going straight down. - If at all possible, try to hit the Phoenixes when they are close to your ship. Doing this gets you more points. - In addition, try to shoot off both wings before destroying a Phoenix for more points. ______________ / 7.3 Wave 5 /________________________________________________________________ -------------- - Your goal on this wave is to cut through the hull and shield and take out the alien inside. - Start firing as rapidly as you can to quickly cut through the hull. It will take quite a few shots to get to the shield. - The shield rotates so you will have to hit it a lot of times in order to get a wide enough hole in it to hit the alien. - As all of this is going on, the Spacefortress is continually descending upon your ship. In addition, the escorts are constantly harassing you. - A good strategy is that once you have cut a path through the hull and shield, wait for the Spacefortress to be almost on top of your ship. When you take out the alien, you will get a lot more points. - Destroying the escorts does not end this wave. Once you complete wave 5, the cycle begins anew. **************** ******************************** U N I T IV ********************************* **************** +================+ | 8. CONCLUSION |============================================================= +================+ Looking at this game, it just seemed like another space shooter. Even the demonstration play didn't negate that observation. The only thing, before playing it, that made it look different was the fact that there were more enemies mentioned then what the demo showed. After we started to play the game, we realized there was much more to it then met the eye. The five waves concept was a pretty good idea and it definitely made the game a lot more enjoyable. The variable scoring was also interesting since it provided a challenge to the player to get the most amount of points from objects in the game. The Spacefortress proved to be a challenge just due to the fact that you had to go through several layers of it to get to the alien itself. A lot of quarters were put into this machine, but it was worth it. Unfortunately, it is very rare to find this machine anywhere. However, through the miracle of emulation, a whole new generation is realizing what we "old" folks enjoyed those many years ago. In addition, www.shockwave.com is bringing many of these classic games back. Check out their site to see what ones are there. I hope this guide helps you in being able to get the most amount of gameplay for this game. If you do have other ideas or thoughts, please e-mail me and share them. Who knows, maybe I'll start a Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough people ask the same questions. Anyway, thank you again for reading this guide. To see other FAQ's I have written please go to: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html ~~~ No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~ Submitted by War Doc - Created 11/10/03 See All Phoenix Walkthroughs and FAQs