Bosconian
Encyclopedia
is a free-roaming
multi-directional scrolling shooter arcade game
that was developed by Namco
and released in 1981. In contrast to the more linear shooter game
s of its time, Bosconian allows the player's ship to freely move across open space that scrolls
in all directions. The game also features a radar tracking the position of the player's ship, the enemies, and the space stations. It runs on Namco Galaga
hardware but with a video system like that used in Rally-X
.
that can move in eight directions and can fire both forward and backward. Each level consists of a number of green space station
s that must all be destroyed to advance to the next level (a semi-transparent mini-map helps identify their location). Each station consists of six cannons arranged in a hexagon, surrounding a central core. The player must either destroy all six cannons or shoot the core to destroy a station, and in later levels the core is capable of defending itself.
Additionally, the player must avoid or destroy asteroid
s, mines
, and a variety of enemy missiles and ships that attempt to collide with the player's ship. Enemies occasionally launch formation attacks — destroying the leader causes all remaining enemies to disperse, but destroying all enemies in a formation scores extra bonus points. A spy ship (worth a random bonus value) also appears occasionally, which must be destroyed or the enemies will go berserk.
Throughout the game, a digitized
voice alerts the player to various events:
Like many games made during the Golden Age of Arcade Games
, the game has no definite end, continuing until the player has lost all of his/her lives.
Similar to Galaga, Bosconian "rolls over"
from Level 255 to Level 0, causing the game to behave abnormally during this level. If the player can successfully complete Level 0, the game continues to Level 1 as though the player had started a new game. Also, after the first ten levels, some of the previous levels will repeat in placement of the space stations (the only differences are the direction of the opening in the stations, the number of asteroids astray in the levels, and an increase in the number of enemy ships needed to be fought off).
Bosconian was ported to several computer
systems, including the Sharp X68000
, MSX
, Commodore 64
and the Sinclair
ZX Spectrum
, and later appeared in several of Namco's Namco Museum
compilations for PlayStation and other consoles. The game has also been seen in Jakks Pacific
's TV game controllers and was released as part of the Pac-Man's Arcade Party
arcade machine in 2010. A home computer sequel, Bosconian '87, was released in 1987 for the Amstrad CPC
, Commodore 64
, and ZX Spectrum
. An arcade sequel of sorts called Blast Off
was released in 1989 only in Japan, a vertical-scrolling shooter which had more in common gameplay-wise with Namco's own Dragon Spirit
than with Bosconian.
Clones of Bosconian include:
Dedicated Bosconian arcade machines have become somewhat of a rarity for arcade collectors, because many of them were converted to other, more profitable games over the years. Galaga
was the most common conversion choice, because it uses the same basic hardware platform and wiring harness as Bosconian.
The concept of a free-roaming shooter that scrolls in all directions introduced by Bosconian would inspire later shooters, including the 1982 arcade games Time Pilot
by Konami
and Sinistar
by Williams Electronics. Bosconian was also the first game to include the now-standard continue screen and timer at the end of a game, giving a player who just lost his/her last life a certain number of seconds to insert more money to continue the game from the same level. The continue feature could also be disabled entirely for arcade owners who did not want it by changing a DIP Switch
setting. However, there is some debate over whether Bosconian or Tempest should be credited as the first video game to introduce the concept of continuing. Tempest is the older of the two games, but it did not have a continue screen and timer. Instead, it gave the player a choice of starting levels at the beginning of the game, up to the highest level currently unlocked on the machine. If it was the same player as the previous game, then he/she could opt to "continue" by selecting the same level where the previous game ended. Any future Tempest player was also free to start a new game at the higher level, though, whereas once Bosconian's continue timer expired, the next person to play had no choice but to start over at Level 1.
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
multi-directional scrolling shooter arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
that was developed by Namco
Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
and released in 1981. In contrast to the more linear shooter game
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
s of its time, Bosconian allows the player's ship to freely move across open space that scrolls
Scrolling
In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
in all directions. The game also features a radar tracking the position of the player's ship, the enemies, and the space stations. It runs on Namco Galaga
Namco Galaga
The Namco 8-bit Galaga is an arcade game system board. It was first used by Namco in 1981.-Namco Galaga specifications:*Main, graphics and sound CPU : three Z80 processors...
hardware but with a video system like that used in Rally-X
Rally-X
Rally-X is a maze driving arcade game that was released by Namco in 1980. It runs on Namco Pac-Man hardware, and was the first Namco game to feature "Special Flags", which would become a recurring object in later games .It was the first game to ever feature a "bonus round." The object is to...
.
Gameplay
The object of Bosconian is to score as many points as possible by destroying enemy bases and ships. The player controls a small fighter shipStarship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
that can move in eight directions and can fire both forward and backward. Each level consists of a number of green space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
s that must all be destroyed to advance to the next level (a semi-transparent mini-map helps identify their location). Each station consists of six cannons arranged in a hexagon, surrounding a central core. The player must either destroy all six cannons or shoot the core to destroy a station, and in later levels the core is capable of defending itself.
Additionally, the player must avoid or destroy asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
s, mines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
, and a variety of enemy missiles and ships that attempt to collide with the player's ship. Enemies occasionally launch formation attacks — destroying the leader causes all remaining enemies to disperse, but destroying all enemies in a formation scores extra bonus points. A spy ship (worth a random bonus value) also appears occasionally, which must be destroyed or the enemies will go berserk.
Throughout the game, a digitized
Digitizing
Digitizing or digitization is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or a signal by a discrete set of its points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, more specifically, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal...
voice alerts the player to various events:
- "Blast off!" (level start)
- "Alert! Alert!" (enemies attacking)
- "Battle stations" (enemy formation approaching)
- "Spy ship sighted" (spy ship appears)
- "Condition red!" (enemy attacks become more aggressive; occurs when the player takes too long to complete a level)
Like many games made during the Golden Age of Arcade Games
Golden Age of Arcade Games
The golden age of video arcade games was a peak era of video arcade game popularity, innovation, and earnings. Although there is no consensus as to its exact time period, most sources place it around the early 1980s.-Overview:...
, the game has no definite end, continuing until the player has lost all of his/her lives.
Similar to Galaga, Bosconian "rolls over"
Integer overflow
In computer programming, an integer overflow occurs when an arithmetic operation attempts to create a numeric value that is too large to be represented within the available storage space. For instance, adding 1 to the largest value that can be represented constitutes an integer overflow...
from Level 255 to Level 0, causing the game to behave abnormally during this level. If the player can successfully complete Level 0, the game continues to Level 1 as though the player had started a new game. Also, after the first ten levels, some of the previous levels will repeat in placement of the space stations (the only differences are the direction of the opening in the stations, the number of asteroids astray in the levels, and an increase in the number of enemy ships needed to be fought off).
Legacy
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
systems, including the Sharp X68000
Sharp X68000
The Sharp X68000, often referred to as the X68k, is a home computer released only in Japan by the Sharp Corporation. The first model was released in 1987, with a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM and no hard drive; the last model was released in 1993 with a 25 MHz Motorola 68030...
, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and the Sinclair
Sinclair Research Ltd
Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. Originally incorporated in 1973 as Ablesdeal Ltd., it remained dormant until 1976, and did not adopt the name Sinclair Research until 1981....
ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, and later appeared in several of Namco's Namco Museum
Namco Museum
Namco Museum refers to the series of video game compilations released by Namco for various 32-bit and above consoles, containing releases of their games from the 1980s and early 1990s...
compilations for PlayStation and other consoles. The game has also been seen in Jakks Pacific
Jakks Pacific
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. is a designer and marketer of toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses...
's TV game controllers and was released as part of the Pac-Man's Arcade Party
Pac-Man Anniversary Arcade Machines
On special anniversaries for Pac-Man and/or Ms. Pac-Man . Namco has released compilations of their classic arcade games as arcade machines....
arcade machine in 2010. A home computer sequel, Bosconian '87, was released in 1987 for the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. An arcade sequel of sorts called Blast Off
Blast Off
Blast Off is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1989 only in Japan. It is the sequel to Bosconian, which was released 8 years earlier.-Description:...
was released in 1989 only in Japan, a vertical-scrolling shooter which had more in common gameplay-wise with Namco's own Dragon Spirit
Dragon Spirit
Dragon Spirit is a 1987 vertical scrolling shooter arcade game released by Namco and Atari Games . It runs on Namco System 1 hardware, and was later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, DOS, Atari ST, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16 and ZX Spectrum...
than with Bosconian.
Clones of Bosconian include:
- Draconian for the TRS-80 Color ComputerTRS-80 Color ComputerThe Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...
by Tom Mix Software, 1984. - Azarian http://www.stcarchiv.de/hitdisk89/02_action.php for the Atari STAtari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
by Synergy Development / David Thomas Stewart, 1987. - XKobo, 1995, now replaced by Kobo Deluxehttp://www.olofson.net/kobodl/.
Dedicated Bosconian arcade machines have become somewhat of a rarity for arcade collectors, because many of them were converted to other, more profitable games over the years. Galaga
Galaga
is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen...
was the most common conversion choice, because it uses the same basic hardware platform and wiring harness as Bosconian.
The concept of a free-roaming shooter that scrolls in all directions introduced by Bosconian would inspire later shooters, including the 1982 arcade games Time Pilot
Time Pilot
Time Pilot is a multi-directional scrolling shooter and free-roaming aerial combat arcade game designed by Yoshiki Okamoto, released by Konami in 1982, and distributed in the United States by Centuri...
by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
and Sinistar
Sinistar
Sinistar is an arcade game released by Williams in 1982. It belongs to a class of video games from the 1980s called "twitch games". Other "twitch games" include Tempest, Defender, and Robotron: 2084. Sinistar was developed by Sam Dicker, Jack Haeger, Noah Falstein, RJ Mical and Richard Witt...
by Williams Electronics. Bosconian was also the first game to include the now-standard continue screen and timer at the end of a game, giving a player who just lost his/her last life a certain number of seconds to insert more money to continue the game from the same level. The continue feature could also be disabled entirely for arcade owners who did not want it by changing a DIP Switch
DIP switch
DIP switches are manual electric switches that are packaged in a group in a standard dual in-line package...
setting. However, there is some debate over whether Bosconian or Tempest should be credited as the first video game to introduce the concept of continuing. Tempest is the older of the two games, but it did not have a continue screen and timer. Instead, it gave the player a choice of starting levels at the beginning of the game, up to the highest level currently unlocked on the machine. If it was the same player as the previous game, then he/she could opt to "continue" by selecting the same level where the previous game ended. Any future Tempest player was also free to start a new game at the higher level, though, whereas once Bosconian's continue timer expired, the next person to play had no choice but to start over at Level 1.