Gyruss

Gyruss is an action/shoot 'em up game originally released in arcades by Konami in 1983 and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. The game has players flying through the solar system, beginning at Neptune, with the goal of reaching Earth. Along the way numerous waves of attacking enemies and other dangers must be destroyed or avoided. Gyruss is notable for its background music (an upbeat, electronic version of Johann Sebastion Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor) and, in the arcade version, stereo sound. The game was designed for one player or two players alternating.

In Gyruss, the player controls a spaceship which is capable of flying in a circle around the screen. Numerous enemy spaceships attack on each level and need to be destroyed to proceed. Once all of the ships are destroyed, the player moves on to the next, more difficult round. The game is broken up into stages called "warps"; After three warps are completed (two for the first section of the game), the player successfully arrives at the next planet in the solor system. The goal is to reach Earth, so the planets encountered are Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and finally Earth. After each planet is reached a "chance stage" is available where players can earn extra points and can't be killed; When Earth is reached, the game repeats. The majority of dangers encountered in the game are enemy spaceships; the ships appear in a variety of different formation which vary depending on which warp the player has reached. Each warp consists of 4 attack waves; if enough enemy planes are destroyed quickly, a fifth attack wave may also appear. Additional opponents include satellites and meteors.

The player's ship is initially equipped with a single canon; on each warp, a series of three satellites appears and if the middle sattelite is shot the ship is upgraded to a double canon. This is the only weapon upgrade available in the game. Players begin the game with a limited number of lives; the game is over when all lives have been lost.