(WIP) Phoenix (Atari 2600)
| Set Difficulty | 7 out of 10 |
| Approximate time to master | 1 to 2 Hours |
| Number of missable achievements | 0 |
| Hardest achievement of the set | Atari Force Agent: Li San O'Rourke |
One of my all time favorite Atari 2600 games. While inferior in graphics to it's arcade counterpart, this version holds it's own and is allot of fun to play. Phoenix originally came packaged with Atari Force #4, it is very goofy but fun and very much from it's era of comics and I highly suggest giving it a read if you ever have the chance as I think it adds to the whole experience. The manual is also worth a read, but if you don't have access to a copy I have included info on scoring and movement that might not be apparent without having read it.
Directional Controls in Phoenix are straight forward. Left is left, Right is right. However, if you press down it will activate a force field that will absorb all enemy missiles while it is active. There is a cooldown of around 4 seconds before the player can use it again. I feel that it also bears mentioning that the player can angle their shots if they fire while moving, this can be used to great effect in Waves 3 and 4.
Something that might not be noticed immediately are point values based on enemy location. For small Phoenix, in Waves 1 and 2, wait for the enemy to swoop down and when it is nearly at it's lowest level destroy it to gain 80 points over the standard 20. For the large Phoenix in Waves 3 and 4 the lower the Phoenix is to the bottom of the screen, the more points it is worth. At it's highest level on screen a large Phoenix will net you 100 points, the lower it is when you destroy it, the higher the point value. Up to a max of 500 points. Hitting a large Phoenix in the wing will get you 20 points per wing. The mothership's point value is based on it's height at time of destruction. Ranging in value from 1,000 to 4,000 points in Phase 1. The max point value increasing by 1,000 points every time you complete a Phase, up to a max of 9,000 points.
Number of Achievements: 41 Total Points: 343
As Phoenix is an arcade style game there aren't any achievements that can be missed, as the game can just be reset and a complete Phase of 5 Waves can be completed in under a minute. There is a mix of progression, challenge, time trial and scoring achievements spanning all 5 Waves and at least 10 consecutive Phases of play.
Hexagonal Edged Force Field (1) Use your force field for the first time, and get stuck in place.
Simply press down to activate your force field. This can be done on any Wave.
Like a Phoenix to the Force Field (2) Destroy a blue Phoenix with your Force Field.
If you are on Phase 1 you will have to eliminate all of the Phoenix except for the top two (If you don't care about losing a life you can destroy them in any order, if they don't come down die and reset their positions). If you are in Phase 2 or higher the large Phoenix will swoop low enough if you destroy all but three of them. Maneuver underneath as they come down and activate your force field just before impact.
The Light Was On... (3) Destroy a red Phoenix with your shield.
This is the same as Like a Phoenix to the Force Field the large red Phoenix AI is slightly more aggressive though, so don't let their swooping patterns throw you off.
Left and Right (3) Evade 50 missiles from standard enemies without dying.
My One and Only (5) Gain 5,000 points without dying and max out the life counter.
Decimation!!! (25) Completely destroy the mother ship at the end of any Phase.
Phase 1 Complete!!! (1) Finish Phase 1 and loop the game.
Second Verse, Same as the First (2) Finish Phase 2 and loop the game for a second time.
A Little Bit Longer, and A Little Bit Worse (3) Finish phase 3 and loop the game for a third time.
Crack Shot: Wave 1 (1) Finish Wave 1 with an accuracy of at least 50%.
Ace: Wave 1 (5) Finish Wave 1 with an accuracy of 100%.
Ace: Wave 2 (5) Finish Wave 2 with an accuracy of 100%.
Ace: Wave 3 (10) Finish Wave 3 with an accuracy of 100%.
Dodo or Phoenix? (1) Shoot off 15 Phoenix wings.
That's a start... (5) Score your first 10,000 points.
Getting There... (10) Score your first 50,000 points.
On the Board!!! (25) Score your first 100,000 points.
Speedy (5) Finish Wave 1 in 3 seconds or less.
How About That Auto Fire? (5) Finish Wave 2 in 3 seconds or less.
Atari Force Agent: Bob Marcus (25) Avenge your brothers death and clear 5 Phases in a row without dying.
Left and Right for the Second Time (5) Evade 100 missiles from standard enemy types without dying.
Left and Right III: The Revengence (10) Evade 250 missles from standard enemies without dying.
Ace: Wave 4 (10) Finish Wave 4 with an accuracy of 100%.
Crack Shot: Wave 2 (2) Finish Wave 2 with an accuracy of at least 50%.
Crack Shot: Wave 3 (5) Finish Wave 3 with a total of 7 direct hits, no wings, no misses, just Phoenix.
Crack Shot: Wave 4 (5) Finish Wave 4 with a totall of 7 direct hits, no wings, no misses, just Phoenix.
You Look Like a Giant Flightless Bird! (3) Shoot off 30 Phoenix wings.
Blue Shift (10) Finish Wave 3 in 6 seconds or less.
Red Shift (4) Finish Wave 4 in 6 seconds or less.
Battle of Inches (10) Finish Wave 5 in 9.5 seconds or less.
Accuracy and Timing (25) Gain at least 9000 points in Phase 1.
No Power, No Escape Pod, No Chance! (1) Sacrifice your desert crawler to a large Phoenix.
Atari Force Agent: Li San O'Rourke (50) Use your training as the head of security and clear Phases 1-10, missing no more than 250 shots.
Ultimate Phoenix Pilot: Wave 1 (5) In Wave 1, destroy all enemies without dying. Starting from the bottom, working left to right.
Ultimate Phoenix Pilot: Wave 2 (5) In Wave 2, destroy all enemies without dying. Starting from the bottom, working left to right.
Ultimate Phoenix Pilot: Wave 3 (5) In Wave 3, destroy all enemies in order starting from the bottom without dying.
Ultimate Phoenix Pilot: Wave 4 (5) In Wave 4, destroy all enemies in order starting from the bottom without dying.
Ultimate Phoenix Pilot: Wave 5 (25) Without dying, destroy the mothership in Wave 5 in 10 shots or less.
Aerodynamics (2) Free a Blue or Red Phoenix from both of it's wings.
Amazing Aerodynamics!! (4) Have the 1st and 2nd Large Phoenix wingless at the same time.
The Science of Flight (10) Without dying, remove the left and right wings from the top Blue Phoenix 3 times, then destroy it with your shield.
I would like to credit suspect15 for a really awesome review process and helping with making this as close to the best it could be before release. Also everyone over at the jr. dev discord. While I don't post allot, it is usually only because someone has either already asked or because someone posts something that answers my question before I ask it, I appreciate all of the invaluable info that you all have provided.