Popular games published by company Firebird
Elite is a space trading video game, written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell and originally published by Acornsoft for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in September 1984.Elite's open-ended game model, and revolutionary 3D graphics led to it being ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system, and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of "Elite". Elite was one of the first home computer games to use wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden line removal. It added graphics and twitch gameplay aspects to the genre established by the 1974 game Star Trader. Another novelty was the inclusion of The Dark Wheel, a novella by Robert Holdstock which gave players insight into the moral and legal codes to which they might aspire.
The game is largely based on the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. Set in 1945, British agent Rick Dangerous travels to the Amazon jungle to search for the lost Goolu tribe. His plane crashes in the jungle, and Rick must escape from the enraged Goolu. When the game starts Rick finds himself in a cave running from a rolling boulder, a famous scene from the Indiana Jones movie. Armed with a pistol and dynamite, Rick must fight hostiles and evade countless traps in three more levels. The second level is set inside a pyramid in Egypt. In level three, Rick must venture to the Nazi stronghold of Schwarzendumpf castle to rescue captured Allied soldiers. The rescued soldiers tell him that the Nazis are planning a missile attack on London. Therefore, in the last level Rick must infiltrate their secret missile base.
In the game, each player controls one of the two Bubble Dragons, Bub and Bob. The player can move along platforms, as well as jump to those above and to the side, similar to most platform games. The player can also blow bubbles. These can trap enemies, who are defeated if the bubble is then burst by the player's spiny back. Bubbles that contain enemies can be popped at the same time resulting in different foods being projected around the level. Each enemy trapped in a bubble equates to a different food. Food is consumed and transferred to points (an increasing scale of 1000 points is awarded for each enemy burst in tandem with another meaning: one enemy burst equals one food item worth 1000 points, two enemies burst equals two food items worth 1000 and 2000 points, three enemies burst equals three food items worth 1000, 2000 and 4000 points, and so on), which results in earning lives. These same bubbles also float for a time before bursting, and can be jumped on, allowing access to otherwise inaccessible areas. Players progress to the next level once all enemies on the current level are defeated. Enemies turn "angry" — becoming pink-colored and moving faster — if they are the last enemy remaining, escape from a bubble after being left too long or a certain amount of time has been spent on the current level. A monster will also become angry if either player collects a skull (the only negative item in the game), and the monster is hit by the resulting comet crossing the screen (however, this is a rare occurrence). After a further time limit expires, an additional invincible enemy appears for each player, actively chasing them using only vertical and horizontal movements. These do not need to be defeated to complete the level, and disappear once a player's life is lost. Contact with enemies and their projectiles (rocks, lasers, fireballs, etc.) results in death.
Sabreman must search out the lost sections of the Wulf amulet in this colourful flick screen maze game whilst fighting off the many beasts, and the Wulf itself, that inhabit the jungle before making his final escape.
Sky Shark (released in Japan as "Hi Sho Zame", and in Europe as "Flying Shark")is a military-themed vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game in which players take control of the titular biplane through five increasingly difficult levels in order to defeat an assortment of military enemy forces like tanks, battleships, airplanes and artillery as the main objective. The title initially appears to be very standard, as players control their plane over a constantly scrolling background and the scenery never stops moving until a runway is reached. Players have only two weapons at their disposal: the standard shot that travels a max distance of the screen's height and three bombs. The bombs are powerful weapons capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its blast radius. Various items are scattered through every stage that appear by destroying certain enemies: Shooting down colored waves of enemy planes spawn items like "S" power-up icons, point bonuses and extra lives. Certain enemies on the ground spawn "B" icons that increases the player's bomb stock when destroyed. Every time the player lands at a runway beyond the first takeoff, the amount of bombs multiply 3000 points to the player's total score. Players are given three lives initially and bonus lives are awarded at 50000 points and thereafter. The game employs a checkpoint system in which a downed single player will start off at the beginning of the checkpoint they managed to reach before dying. Getting hit by enemy fire will result in losing a live, as well as a penalty of decreasing the plane's firepower to his original state and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. Completing the last stage restarts the game with the second loop increasing in difficulty. In April 2020, M2 announced a new version of Flying Shark as part of their M2 ShotTriggers publishing label. It was first announced to be released on the Nintendo Switch.
Star Drifter is an Action Adventure game, developed and published by Firebird, which was released in Europe in 1985.
Become a park ranger in this side scrolling Commodore 64 title.
The task in Dark Sceptre is to recover the eponymous artefact. The player controls a company of warriors by assigning them specific tasks, and is hindered by six other computer-controlled factions. The main display shows a side-view of the currently watched warrior, which scrolls and tracks him as he moves through the game world. Each warrior has a rank, ranging from Thane, the team leader, to Thrall, the pawn of the game. Other ranks include Mystics, Heralds, Savages and Assassins. Play is real-time, with the player pausing to issue commands in Plan mode and then viewing results in Watch mode. Commands are selected from a menu screen and range from character-targeting actions such as KILL, AVOID, BRIBE or STALK, object related actions like SEEK, TAKE, USE, or location based actions like DEFEND or ROAM.
Black Lamp. Capture it... and the hand of a princess. No joke. Jolly Jack the Jester wants more from his boss (the King) than a few good laughs. He wants his daughter's hand in marriage. The King, of course, thinks Jack is truly jesting. But what the hey. If Jack can rid the Kingdom of a plague of evil beasties, Jack can have her. If he can't, Jack dies. Black Lamp is wonderful, witty, once-upon-a-time tale that has earned rave reviews for its graphics, sound and superb quality. This medieval melodrama pits the hero, Jolly Jack, against a host of animated animals and characters including skull-dropping buzzards, evil eagles and spitting witches to confront the fire-breathing angry dragon for the enchanted Black Lamp. Does Jack have something more than a few bad jokes up his sleeve? Is the King's sorcerer the source of surprises? Will Jack and Princess Grizelda live happily ever after? Play Black Lamp and find out! Extraordinary animation, detailed backdrops and excellent animation makes Black Lamp a winner! Exciting multi-level play. Fast arcade action and multi levels provide hours and hours of addictive gameplay. Appealing hero. Romance, action and adventure surround this very likeable hero!.
Stunningly realistic true to life 3D pool simulation. The first 3-dimensional computer Pool game that lets you view the table from almost any angle you choose! Rotate and tilt the cue ball into the pack. You've never seen anything like it!
Knight Orc is a standard text adventure game, with limited graphics on some platforms, by Level 9 released in 1987. It comes with a short novella by Peter McBride ("The Sign of the Orc") explaining the background to the story. After a night of heavy drinking with friends, Grindleguts the orc awakes to find himself strapped to a horse and about to joust with a human knight. His "friends" are nowhere to be seen, and he must somehow escape from his predicament and get even with them. Grindleguts must survive in a world of hostile humans while seeking revenge against his tormentors. After the first chapter, the game switches to science fiction setting where Grindleguts is revelaled to be a malfunctioning non-player character in a futuristic MMORPG. Using his power of transitioning between fantasy and reality, he convinces several other bots to join him, and escapes from the simulated reality facility.
The Guild of Thieves is an interactive fiction game by Magnetic Scrolls first published by Rainbird in 1987. The game also takes place in Kerovnia like the previous game The Pawn. The player's character is "an aspiring member of the infamous Guild of Thieves" and is to steal all the valuables that can be found in and around an island castle. The game features "extremely atmospheric" descriptions and 30 artistic renditions of key locations. Included in the game package are a faux newsletter of the Guild of Thieves titled What Burglar providing instructions and hints for the game, a Bank of Kerovnia Trading Account Card, a guild contract detailing the arrangement between the player's character and the Guild of Thieves and small dice.
Take your submarine to se nd sink the convoy of ships. The smaller the vessel, the larger your score tally. Beware. The convoy is protected by an escort or anti-submarine aircraft who once in sight will seal your fate and send you to the sea-bed for good! To avoid the watery end, dive as soon as you hear the aircraft approaching, and wait below the surface until you think it is safe to return. Good luck Commander!
It is your mission, 'Mr. Heli' our hero, to unmask 'The Muddy' who is hiding deep underground and rescue the planet. Clear all the zones including floating green islands, moving rock beds, mysterious underground temples, and much more! The exhilarating air battle and stunning graphics capture the true character of the arcade machine. Play sharp, steer right, keep up with the fight!