Gyruss

Gyruss Arcade Game

Gyruss was a Konami arcade game, released in 1983.  Gyruss was like a cross between Galaga and Tempest.  From a 3D perspective, the player would move around the perimeter of a centralized area, shooting alien ships.  Ships would come from outside the screen (or the center), and those that were not blasted initially would group in the center and occasionally fly out towards the player.  The player’s ship could be destroyed by enemy fire or enemy contact, as well as by other obstacle such as satellites, asteroids, or laser beams.  Destroying certain things, like a satellite formation, would give the player a weapon’s power up.  Once all the enemies were destroyed, or they flew away, the player would advance to the next level.

After a certain number of levels were completed, the player would reach a bonus round similar to the “Challenging Stage” of Galaga, whereby the player could earn points by shooting waves of innocuous alien ships.  The entire game was based on our solar system, with the player traveling through Neptune, Saturn, Mars, etc., and finally to Earth.

Gyruss Arcade Game Cabinet

Gyruss was developed for many of the common home consoles, such as the Atari 2600, ColecoVision, and the NES.  Modern compilations exist for the PlayStation and Xbox under the Konami Arcade Classics name.