Eliminator

by: Gremlin

Publication date: 1981

Eliminator was a multi-directional shooter space combat game, created and released by Sega of Japan in 1981. This space shooter game, which was similar to the monochrome Star Castle, was notable for its color vector graphics, and for allowing cooperative as well as competitive multiplayer gameplay. It is also the only four-player vector game ever made. Players pilot a space ship around the playfield (space) and must destroy alien drones. The ultimate goal is to evade and destroy the Eliminator, a huge asteroid base. The players fire causes any enemy that is struck (with the exception of the Eliminator itself) to rebound and careen off in another direction. With a little skill, shots can propel the enemy into the Eliminator thus destroying them. There is only one way to destroy the Eliminator, fire a cannon blast down the trench into its center. This can be done directly or via a ricochet. Failure to destroy the Eliminator after a preset time causes the center to activate a drone that flies out of the Eliminator to shoot down the player with a destructive energy blast. The playfield becomes enclosed in an invisible barrier that bounces shots and ships off it, thus increasing the chances of death. Once the Eliminator is destroyed, the game restarts with a tougher set of enemies. The four player version allowed four players to simultaneously make attack runs on the Eliminator while trying to evade or destroy various other opponents. In four player mode, players must also dodge other player's ships.

1 Player Start                             1
2 Players Start                            2
Coin 1                                     5
Coin 2                                     6
Service 1				   9
Service Mode				  F2
P1 Left                                 LEFT
P1 Right                               RIGHT
P1 Button 1             LCONTROL or Mouse B1
P1 Button 2                 LALT or Mouse B3
P2 Left                                    D
P2 Right                                   G
P2 Button 1                                A
P2 Button 2                                S

Released
Dec, 1981
Platform
Arcade
Developed by
Sega/Gremlin
Published by
Sega/Gremlin

Gameplay
Arcade, Shooter
Perspective
Top-down
Setting
Sci-fi / futuristic
Genre
Action

Description

A top-down space shooter set within a bounded playfield, where the player maneuvers a ship using rotation, thrust and forward-firing controls (much like Asteroids or Space War). Each stage is populated by autmated drone ships (or by competing players), and dominated by the titular enemy: a moving, rotating space fortress surrounded by a lethal force field.

This circular force field instantly destroys anything that smacks against it. Shots fired by the player (and the drones) are non-lethal: the target is simply kicked back across the playfield, bouncing off the walls. The exception is the enemy ship hidden inside the Eliminator - it can (and must) be destroyed by sneaking a shot through the structure's narrow opening. If this isn't done quickly enough, it will emerge and start pursuing the player with deadly fireballs.

From Mobygames.com. Original Entry