Phoenix

Phoenix is one of the icons of the golden age of arcade halls, released in 1980 by Amstar Electronics. The player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and faces waves of bird aliens that swoop down with spread wings, their eggs gradually hatching into further enemies – so it's not enough to just target the adults, the nests themselves must be destroyed too.

The game is especially notable for its final battle against a giant mothership, which must first be shot through its shield before the core can be hit – one of the earliest examples of a layered boss fight in video game history, a decade before such battles became a genre staple. Progress through the game thus alternates classic enemy waves with more technically demanding combat phases that require a different approach than mere dodging and spraying fire into a crowd, and this pairing of contrasting tempos brings welcome variety to an otherwise straightforward genre.

Phoenix was one of the most successful titles of the fixed shooter genre in its day, alongside Galaxian and Space Invaders, and in many countries served as players' first introduction to the concept of gradually escalating difficulty and boss battles. The simple yet effective starry black sky became the visual calling card of an entire generation of similarly styled titles, and players had to learn within it when it was better to step aside and when to strike instead.

Why play it: Phoenix offers one of the first elaborate boss battles in the form of a mothership, putting it years ahead of its time.