Popular games published by company Centuri
Time Pilot is a multi-directional scrolling shooter and free-roaming aerial combat arcade game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, released by Konami in 1982, and distributed in the United States by Centuri. Debuting in the golden age of video arcade games, it is a time travel themed game that allowed the player's plane to freely move across open air space that can scroll indefinitely in all directions. The Killer List of Videogames included Time Pilot in its list of top 100 arcade games of all time. The player assumes the role of a pilot of a futuristic fighter jet, trying to rescue fellow pilots trapped in different time eras. The player must fight off hordes of enemy craft and defeat the mother ship (or "boss") present in every level. The background moves in the opposite direction to the player's plane, rather than the other way around; the player's plane always remains in the center.
In this shoot 'em up the player has to fight off four assault waves consisting of different enemy types until he reaches a huge UFO. After destroying the protective plates guarding the UFO's pilot in his cockpit the player can kill the pilot. The game starts anew with harder enemies.
An action/platform game in which the player controls a clown named Charlie who partakes in various circus attractions.
Moon Cresta is an arcade game released in 1980 by Nichibutsu. A moving starfield gives the impression of vertical scrolling, but the game is a fixed shooter in the vein of Namco's Galaxian. Incentive Software published a version of this arcade game for many 8-bit home computers of the time. Dempa also released a port of both Moon Cresta and Terra Cresta for the X68000. It was also released on the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on March 9, 2010 and PlayStation 4 (Arcade Archives) in 2014.
A racing game where the main character is the greed. Several cars battle each other on maze-like rooms trying to get the money bags and avoiding the dangers. In this game, everybody cares just about the money, showing that the money is the "route" of all evil.
Gyruss is a shoot 'em up video arcade game developed by Konami, and released in 1983. It was designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, who had earlier created Time Pilot for Konami. Gyruss was licensed to Centuri in the United States, and was ported to numerous games consoles and home computers. It follows in the tradition of space war games such as Space Invaders and Galaga. Gyruss was the second and last game Yoshiki Okamoto designed for Konami, after Time Pilot. Due to pay disputes, he was fired after the release of this game, and soon joined Capcom, where he would write 1942 and the first Street Fighter game. The game's background music is an electronic, fast-paced arrangement of J. S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565; this particular arrangement is similar in sound to "Toccata", a rock arrangement by the UK-based instrumentalist group Sky. Gyruss is notable for using stereo sound, which according to the bonus material for Konami Arcade Classics, was achieved by utilizing discrete audio circuits. The game used three microprocessors: two Z80 microprocessors and one 6809, as well as an 8039 microcontroller. For the sound, five AY-3-8910 PSG sound chips and a DAC. Gyruss was released in both upright and cocktail cabinets. R.Hirst "KOO", M.Jones, "BOX" and the Elliott Brother's are arguably considered some of the best Gyruss players of the 1990's.
Vanguard is a shoot 'em up game which leads the player through five different zones to the City of Mystery where the creature Gond awaits him which he has to kill. The five zones run horizontally as well as vertically and are filled with different enemies for each zone. Being hit by an enemy, a projectile or the walls results in losing a life. There are, however, collectable items which grant the player a short time of invincibility. Shooting differs somewhat from other shoot 'em ups: The player's ship is able to fire in all four directions depending on the direction the player steers his ship. However, in doing so, the ship flies in that direrction as well which may result in crashing into an obstacle. The ship is constantly running out of fuel which can be replenished by killing enemies. After defeating Gond the game starts anew on a higher difficulty level.
Loco-Motion is basically an updated version of a sliding block puzzle game where the player can move pieces horizontally or vertically within a frame to complete a picture. However, the presence of a constantly moving locomotive complicates matters. The player controls the playfield and the aim is to guide the locomotive around the tracks to collect the passengers waiting at the stations located around the edges of the screen. The player uses a joystick to slide a piece of the track into the vacant square. The locomotive is always moving, but the player has the option of making it move faster to get to the passengers more quickly by using a button next to the joystick. The player must avoid crashing the locomotive into the dead-end barricades (shown as a yellow 'X'), and also ensure that it does not run into the edge of the gap or a barrier at the playfield edge, either of which costs a life.
Targ is a one or two player shooter game released by Exidy in 1980. Your town is invaded by Targ riders, you must manouvre the heroic vehicle Whummel to destroy them. From time to time, a Spectar comes into screen, and can be destroyed for extra bonus. Action takes place into a 9x9 grid, "Crystal City", where the player's vehicle must avoid and chase down 10 enemy wedge-shaped vehicles. When all enemies are destroyed, you are awarded an extra bonus and can access the following level. Two players can alternate in the game. You use a 4 way joystick to control the Whummel, and a pushbutton to fire at enemies. Progressing in the gameplay causes the Targs to become faster and smarter, for a fast and furious gameplay. A small trivia on the game and characters name: apparently, Targ stands for Target, Spectar stands for Special Target. This game has a sequel, always released in 1980, Spectar.
Guzzler is a coin operated arcade maze game developed and manufactured by Tehkan Ltd., and licensed to Centuri for United States distribution in 1983. It was released as a conversion kit, including a new marquee and control panel.
The actual game has you piloting a little space tank. The tank and its turret are controlled independently, which allows you to move in one direction while shooting in another. Your mission is to guard various space outposts from hordes of incoming enemy ships. Each level will have several outposts all clustered together in the center. If an enemy ship touches an outpost, then the outpost is destroyed. You can activate a long range scanner by using your second button. This allows you to locate enemies before they get close, that way you can fly off and get them before they even have a shot at the outposts.
The Pit is a 1982 action/strategy video game developed by AW Electronics, published by Centuri in the United States, Taito in Japan, and Zilec/Zenitone in the UK. The objective of The Pit is to descend into an underground labyrinth, retrieve a gem, and escape. A game similar to The Pit programmed by Chris Gray inspired Peter Liepa to create Boulder Dash
Pleiads is a multi-stage space shoot 'em up in which enemy ships fly at the player in waves in a similar fashion to games like Galaxian and Phoenix. Ships emerge from a mothership at the top of the screen and swoop downwards in a series of patterns which players must anticipate as they shoot the ships and avoid being obliterated by the Martian onslaught. There are four stages in the game. In the first stage the Earth space ship must defend the space station from Martian invaders who have the ability to transform from flying invaders, to walking invaders who build walls across the Earth city; these barriers must be destroyed. At the end of stage one the Earth space ship flies to the top of the screen to prepare to meet stage two. In the second stage the player encounters eight space monsters who must be hit directly on center to be destroyed before moving onto stage three. In this stage invaders emerge form a space ship at the top of the screen and swoop down on the player in sweeping attacks. In the final wave the player has to navigate through parked spaceships to dock on a landing pad as the screen scrolls downwards. Extra points can be gained in this stage by collecting flags as the player moves towards the landing corridor.
Venture up stream gathering fruits while avoiding various water-bound pests and obstacles. Eat power pills to attack critters.
Galaxian clone
You are shooting down enemy space ships while chasing them through a tunnel.
Badlands is a LaserDisc video game developed for the arcades by Konami in 1983 and released in 1984. It is plays similiar to other LaserDisc video games of the time such as Dragon's Lair and Space Ace, having players navigate through various animated sequences by pressing a single button at a precise moment.
The object is to drive safely down the road. Pick up enough fuel to stay alive while avoiding other vehicles that go by, grab as many bonus objects as possible including apples, cherries, bananas, acorns, live fish and money, and park your car in the garage. Driving while trying to pick up the goodies is difficult and you can crash very easily on the narrow roads. The pace of the game is frustrating because the hands move slowly while the car itself moves really fast, especially in the later rounds. If one of your hands hits a tree or any other foreign object in its quest for food, the car winces in pain for a few moments until it can use its hands again. You can get a bonus for putting used-up food into garbage cans. Grabbing fish which leap out of surrounding rivers is a safe bet, but most other bonuses are placed, so you can crash if you try to grab them. The best strategy is only to go for the fuel, since the car is a big gas guzzler and you can also get a bonus for leftover fuel at the end of the drive.
Rip-Off is a vector shoot 'em up released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. It is the first shoot 'em up arcade game to feature cooperative gameplay and the first game to exhibit "flocking" behavior. The objective is to prevent computer-controlled enemies from stealing eight canisters set in the center of the screen. One or two players control tank-like vehicles while game-controlled "pirate" tanks rush onto the field and attempt to drag the canisters off the edge of the screen. Enemies can be defeated by shooting or colliding with them. The game speed and difficulty increase with each successive wave until all the canisters have been taken ("ripped off").
Fixed screen space shooter
A quirky game from Konami where you have to get out of school by knocking other students out of their desks and avoid school staff.
