I remember an old arcade game from the 80s. It was a top-down space shooter that scrolled vertically. You controlled a spaceship at the base of the screen and could scroll left and right. You could also shoot and activate a shield for a few seconds at a time. A classical music piece also looped in the background. If anyone knows what either this game was called or what the music was, please post it here.
Space Invaders
Sounds moe like Galaga to me.
Or Galaxian. Or a dozen or so other games.
Phoenix?
That’s the only one I recall right offhand with a shield.
No, I know it wasn’t Space Invaders, it didn’t have a shield you could activate or even music for that matter. Galaga and Galaxian both came to mind before, but I checked out the screen shots and they aren’t akin to what I remember…
From what I remember, the ship you controlled was substantially larger than the one in Galaxia. The ship was taller than it was wide and it had these weird paddle things on the side and they moved when you scrolled left or right (sorry, this is the best description I can give). The bosses were usually huge; when you shot them, the place the impact occurred disappeard slowly wildling the boss down until its core was exposed.
By Geroge Skeezix, you nailed it. It’s Phoenix (at least I’m 99% certain). Now can anyone recall what classical piece looped in the background?
Here’s a Java emeulation of Phoenix, but it doesn’t have the background music, just the sound effects.
Yeah, sounds like you’re talking about Phoenix. Here is a Jave-emulated version of it, though it seems a bit choppy, and there’s no music.
I think you’re confusing Phoenix with its sequel, Pleiades, though, when it comes to the music. As I recall, only Pleiades had that cool soundtrack (but again, the Java version doesn’t have any music).
Ah, my wasted, misspent youth.
Yup, it’s definitely Phoenix, beyond a doubt. Shame I can’t hear its music though 
Thanks everyone for the help though.
I sort of remember the music for that one, but I had always thought it was original music. I don’t remember recognizing it as a classical piece. The game that had a lot of classical music was Crystal Castles, with the bear that walked around picking up gems. It had all kinds of classical music, especially Tchaikovsky & Beethoven.
Actually, now that I think about it, the classical music I spole of in Phoenix played for only about 10 seconds or so. THen it was silence. I’m not positive, but that’s how it went I think, but I’m certain it was classical, I can even recite the theme in my head, I just can’t remember the damn name or artist who wrote it
spole = spoke
As long as we’re talking classical music in video games, don’t forget Gyruss, which featured Bach’s “Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor” as the soundtrack.
I’ve been wondering about a different arcade game, so I figure I’ll just ask in this thread instead of starting a new one.
It was a horizontal scrolling shooter, similar to Contra for the NES, but it took place in space (and space stations, etc.). There were four characters to choose from (Yellow, Blue, and maybe Green and Red . . . if memory serves, the “Yellow” guy was black), all of which could be playing at once if you had enough players. Sometimes the characters had jet packs.
This is all pretty vague, so I’d be surprised if anyone knows what I’m talking about. Any help would be much appreciated, however. Thanks.
Was it Xenophobe, by any chance?
Sega’s Quartet
That was one of my favorites.
“Bad Move, Space Cadet”
I initially thought it was Gorf. You gotta love a video game that taunts you.
My storehouse of useless trivia is bottomless.
Gorf tends to muddle itself in the memory, as it included levels taken directly from Space Invaders and Galaxian, and the final level was a slightly altered take-off of the final level of Phoenix.
And Berzerk was good for tauting the player, too. Even in attract mode.
STOP THE HUMANOID
GET THE INTRUDER
[sub]bzzzt! Game Over[/sub]
COIN DETECTED IN POCKET
How does it know?
Perhaps you’re thinking of Vanguard?