Space Firebird


 * For the Osamu Tezuka anime, see Phoenix 2772.

Space Firebird (スペース ファイアーバード) is a 1980 arcade game developed by Nintendo R&D1. It was published by Nintendo in Japan and in the North America. It was also published by Sega-Gremlin in the US as well. Some sources  claim that Ikegami Tsushinki also did design work on Space Firebird.

Gameplay
Players guide a ship through deep space, while encountering distant planets that suddenly change into giant creatures called Firebirds and start attacking the ship in ever more complex looping formations. As a Space Ship Commander, players must seek out and destroy three kinds of Firebirds in three missions. The names of the Firebirds are Gulls, Eagles and the Mighty Emperor (or simply "Emperor"). The Emperor is destroyed by four hits, the Eagle with two hits and the Gull with one hit. The Eagles drop bombs that are aimed at sabotaging the ship controlled by players. When hit, the bomb scatters deadly shrapnel. To avoid this from happening, players must destroy the bomb from directly beneath it before it crashes. Besides shooting missiles, the main ship also uses the warp mode that can only be used once in every level to escape impending danger and/or to strike out at a flock of birds. When activated, the ship thrusts into space with a protective shield that deflects enemy fire and makes the ship invincible. Players also use this for close range combat.

Space Demon
A remake of Space Firebird titled Space Demon (スペース デーモン) was released by Nintendo and was licensed to Fortek. In this arcade game, a spacecraft larger than the one in Space Firebird becomes lost and falls victim to the horrifying Space Demon and its allies. Players have to battle their way through the Demon's forces by shooting all of the satanic enemies including the Space Demon as they appear on the screen. Like Space Firebird, Space Demon also allows players to make the main ship dodge from left to right and use the Warp Shield once every mission to zoom ahead and take out enemies by ramming into them.

Space Firebird

 * Space Firebird at MAWS
 * Space Firebird at arcade-history.com
 * Space Firebird at NinDB

Space Demon

 * Space Demon at MAWS

スペースファイアバード