Bosconian is a scrolling multidirectional shooter arcade video game developed and released by Namco in Japan in 1981. In North America, it was manufactured and distributed by Midway Games. The goal is to earn as many points as possible by destroying enemy missiles and bases using a ship which shoots simultaneously both the front and back.
Bosconian (Sega Master System)
Bosconian was commercially successful in Japan and received positive critical reception, but did not achieve the global commercial success of other shoot 'em up games from the golden age of arcade video games. It was ported to home computers as Bosconian '87 (1987) and spawned two sequels: Blast Off (1989) and Final Blaster (1990). The game has been regarded by critics as influential in the shoot 'em up genre.
The objective of Bosconian is to score as many points as possible by destroying enemy missiles and bases. The player controls the Starfighter, a ship that can move in eight directions and fires both forward and backward simultaneously. Throughout the game, the Starfighter stays affixed to the center of the screen as it moves. During each round, several green enemy bases — known as 'base stars' — appear, all of which must be destroyed in order to advance to the next round. The number of bases increases with each round. Each base has six globe-like cannons arranged in a hexagon around a central core. To destroy a base, the player must either shoot the core or destroy all six cannons, the latter of which gives the player extra points. In later levels, cores begin defending themselves by opening and closing while launching missiles. A radar display on the right-hand side of the screen shows where enemies are located relative to the player. The game also features a color-coded alert system with voice commands.
Additionally, the player must avoid or destroy stationary asteroids, mines, and a variety of enemy missiles and ships which attempt to collide with his or her ship. Enemy bases will also occasionally launch a squadron of ships in 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 will also appear occasionally, which must be destroyed or the game's alert system will turn to red regardless of how long the player has taken. Throughout the game, a digitized voice alerts the player to various events, such as incoming enemies or an approaching spy ship.
The game takes place after the fictional Rock War, an intergalactic conflict between mankind and aliens which ended with the aliens destroying (nearly) all of Earth's cities with missile-firing space stations, known as 'Orbitals', and enslaving all (surviving) humans. In an attempt to fight back against the aliens and regain their independence, humans built a spacecraft known as the Starfighter with the best technology they could find, but only one such vehicle could be built. The game involves the unnamed pilot of the Starfighter defeating the aliens to save Earth.
Bosconian won the 1983 Arcade Award for 'Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Coin-Op Game', beating both Atari's Gravitar and Sega's Zaxxon. In 1998, Japanese publication Gamest selected Bosconian as one of the best arcade games of the era, complementing its Rally-X-like radar system, atmosphere and addictive nature. They have cited it as being an influential shooter for its vast game world and setting, labeling it as 'an excellent introductory game' for players new to the genre.
More details about this game can be found on
Wikipedia.org.
Find digital download of this game on
GOG
or
Steam.
Videogame Console:
This version of Bosconian was designed for the Sega Master System (SMS), which was an 8-bit video game console manufactured
by Sega in the years 1985 - 1992. It was a direct competitor to the much more successful NES console and the predecessor of the much beter console Sega Genesis.
The unit price of Master System was approximately $ 200 and worldwide only 13 million units of this console were sold. More information about Sega Master
System can be found here.
Recommended Game Controllers:
You can control this game easily by using the keyboard of your PC (see the table next to the game). However, for maximum gaming enjoyment, we strongly recommend using a USB gamepad that you simply plug into the USB port of your computer. If you do not have a gamepad, buy a suitable USB controller on Amazon or AliExpress or in some of your favorite online stores.
Available online emulators:
4 different online emulators are available for Bosconian. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For
maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic
features of each emulator available for this game Bosconian are summarized in the following table:
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This version of Bosconian was designed for the Sega Master System (SMS), which was an 8-bit video game console manufactured
by Sega in the years 1985 - 1992. It was a direct competitor to the much more successful NES console and the predecessor of the much beter console Sega Genesis.
The unit price of Master System was approximately $ 200 and worldwide only 13 million units of this console were sold. More information about Sega Master
System can be found 
