Play Phoenix online

You could hear Phoenix from across the arcade before you saw it: the shrill flapping of the birds, the rapid-fire shots and that low hum when the mothership showed up. In 1980, when most shooters were just rows of aliens marching down, Phoenix threw five different waves at you, dive-bombing enemies and an honest-to-goodness boss fight.

On UsuArcade it sits in a cabinet in our virtual arcade. Grab a seat, hit INSERT COIN and defend the planet, just like you did at the mall arcade, only now on your phone or computer.

History

Phoenix was built by Amstar Electronics, a small outfit based in Phoenix, Arizona, and Centuri handled distribution in the US. It landed right in the middle of the space-shooter boom, when every arcade had a Space Invaders and a Galaxian, and it earned its spot by mixing things up.

It was one of the first arcade games to cap each cycle with a fight against a giant enemy ship, an idea that would become standard for the whole genre. Home versions followed on the consoles and computers of the day, but it always felt best standing at a real cabinet.

How to play

You slide your ship left and right and fire upward. The first two waves are small birds that fly in formation and swoop down at you; the next two are big flapping birds that only go down with a hit to the body. Clip a wing and it grows right back.

Wave five is the mothership: blast a hole through its hull and the rotating belt to reach the alien pilot in the middle. Your secret weapon is the shield. It makes you invincible for a moment, but you can't move while it's up and it takes a while to recharge, so save it for when there's nowhere left to run.

Fun facts

• The big birds are worth more points the closer they are when you take them down mid-dive.
• The five-wave cycle loops forever, so high scores come down to how many laps you can survive.
• It's one of the earliest shooters to end each cycle with a boss battle.

In the arcade

Phoenix was a take-turns game, and that's how it plays on UsuArcade, just online: invite your friend to your cabinet once they're in the lobby and trade turns, each on your own phone or PC. While one plays, the other watches live.

Nothing to install: it runs in your browser, gamepad supported, and every game starts with INSERT COIN, free. Everyone else in the lobby can watch and chat, and scores go up on the arcade's high score board.

FAQ