Xbox Addict:

A Singular Pilot

Time Pilot, one of the coolest action games of 1982, was never supposed to happen, and its creation resulted in its creator, Yoshiki Okamoto, being sacked from Konami, and winding up at Capcom, where he was responsible for the birth of superhits like Gyruss, Street Fighter II, and Biohazard (Resident Evil).

The History
1982 marked a simpler time in videogame creation, and it was an era that caused some industry pundits to believe that game programmers would eventually achieve the same level of super celebrity as rock stars and movie stars. Most games of this time were the product of the singular vision of a solitary, gifted programmer, and such was certainly the case with Time Pilot.

Take to the historic skies in Time Pilot .

Formerly a graphic designer, rookie employee Okamoto was told by Konami to come up with a driving game, a 'safe,' more pedestrian choice than what he wanted to make. Okamoto wanted to create an ambitious flying game that showcased different eras of aviation history.  Not willing to give up on his vision, which he felt was a much cooler game, Yoshiki Okamoto put his small team to work on the flying combat game in secret, while submitting bogus production reports about the driving game, which he was also still developing, but without any serious intent.

Gambling that his game would fly on its own merits, he submitted it to his outraged employers. To his chagrin, Konami released Time Pilot and claimed credit for its success after dismissing Okamoto. He eventually found his way to Capcom, where he went on to bring gamers some of the most original and popular games of the last twenty years.

The Gameplay
Time Pilot is a somewhat contradictory game: It is a game of fast-paced, tight-turning flight combat in a crowded, hostile sky, and yet the position of the player's craft never moves from the center of the screen. This draws the player into the pilot's seat. The world spins around your airplane as you maneuver between targets, firing at them, and rescuing downed pilots.

Konami's Time Pilot battled its way through adversity
 to the arcades, and it has flown mightily through a
 quarter century of videogame history.

Even as you crank the stick to bank your airplane into serpentine maneuvers through formations of enemy planes, shooting them and rescuing other parachuting pilots, it is the world that spins and wheels around your fighter, as you hold position in the center of the screen. The sky scrolls by behind the fighter, and formations of enemy planes attack from all directions.

The game puts you in the role of the Time Pilot, flying a futuristic fighter through distinct eras of Earth's aviation history: 1910, dogfighting with WWI-era biplanes and zeppelins; 1940, taking on WWII-era prop-driven fighters and heavy bombers; 1970, taking on a sky full of Vietnam-era helicopters; 1982, facing off against cutting-edge jet fighters and B-52 heavy bombers; and finally 2001, fighting in the depths of space against superior UFO craft.

The control scheme is very simple, the single control stick allows the player to point the nose of his fighter through 360 degrees, and the fighter can fly toward any of the eight compass points. A single button shoots bullets from your fighter. To complete the level, you must destroy a set amount of enemy fighters, which attack in tight formations. As you destroy them, the formations break apart and form ugly, dangerous clumps.

The final threat: Alien invasion.

Once you have destroyed the given amount of craft, the era's Boss ship will show up, which must be destroyed before you can move on to the next historical level. Players earn bonuses for shooting down whole formations of enemy planes as well as rescuing downed pilots from their parachutes.

Traveling Through Time
Time Pilot has, ironically enough, surfaced during many different eras of home videogaming history. After inspiring a decent, but not revolutionary, sequel in the arcade, Time Pilot '84, the game has enjoyed a steady cult following and has resurfaced on home systems at several points in the past twenty years, showing the game at varying levels of technology. An Atari 2600 cartridge was the least impressive translation of the game, but the game has also shown up on a well-received Colecovision cartridge, a Sony PlayStation Konami compilation, a Game Boy Advance cartridge, and finally, the 21st century incarnation, Xbox Live® Arcade's Time Pilot.

It's dogfight time.

This newest version goes beyond the arcade experience with enhanced HD graphics and impressive new scrolling multilayer animated backgrounds, competitive and cooperative multiplayer modes, and improved sound. Players can also unlock achievements to add to their gamerscore: points are awarded for a broad variety of stunts and tasks, from the simple, such as defeating enemies, to the tricky, such as dodging a given amount of guided missiles, rescuing parachuters, or shooting down formations of fighters.

Konami's Time Pilot battled its way through adversity to the arcades, it has flown mightily through a quarter century of videogame history, and is still fighting today, as fast and deadly as ever. Download the full version from Xbox Live Arcade today, and see why this game is still fighting fit, no matter what era you find yourself playing it in.

Article by Xbox Addict