Ozma Wars

Ozma Wars (オズマ・ウオーズ, Ozuma Uōzu) is a scrolling shooter game developed and manufactured by Shin Nihon Kikaku (SNK) for the Taito 8080 arcade system in 1979. This game is known as the second video game with vertical orientation, the first video game with distinct levels, the first shoot 'em up with vertical scrolling, and the first shooter with an energy supply mechanic.

History[]

Ozma Wars is widely regarded as the first video game officially released by SNK, then known as "Shin Nihon Kikaku". The company had been founded the previous year, in July 1978. Many characteristics of Ozma Wars, like the scale of energy and the change of levels, have been used in many later video games.

It was released for the Taito 8080 arcade system, which was previously used for the famous Space Invaders. In 1980, Shin Nihon Kikaku launched the game Safari Rally for the same platform.

There are two known versions of this game called Space Phantoms and Solar Flight. In Space Phantoms, the player's ship looks like an angel, and enemies appear as different types of insects. Because the game was monochrome and was a conversion team for Space Invaders, many Ozma Wars monitors still used the Space Invaders color overlay.

Gameplay[]

The player controls a spaceship to defend against UFOs, meteors and comets. Instead of lives, the player receives a reserve of energy that decreases constantly; when hit by the enemy, the game will shop momentarily while a large amount of energy is depleted. From time to time, a mother ship (Yamato) will appear and engage with the player's spaceship, causing the energy to be replenished. There are 3-4 recognizable "stages" as the game progresses and new enemies begin to appear. After this, the refill ship will appear and the cycle will begin again; this happens indefinitely.

Gallery[]

Title screen

See also[]

• Atom Smasher