Halley's Comet (video game)
Defend planets from Halley's Comet and alien swarms.
Halley's Comet is a vertically scrolling shooter released for arcades by Taito in 1986. It was the final arcade title published in North America by Coin-It.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Taito
- Publisher
- Taito (JP); Coin-it (NA)
- Designer
- Fukio Mitsuji
- Composer
- Hisayoshi Ogura
- Series
- Halley
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Released
- January 1986 (JP); April 1986 (NA)
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The player controls an armed space fighter defending planets in the Solar System from Halley's Comet and accompanying alien swarms, then infiltrates the comet to destroy it from within. The game begins above Earth with the message "Defend the Earth from comets!" The player ship navigates two stages per planet, including Pluto, as the game predates Pluto's reclassification. Enemy waves spawn at the player; any surviving enemy ships, and occasionally their shots, pass down a mini-map on the right side of the screen and strike the planet. Each impact raises the planet's damage by 1%. If damage reaches 100%, the game ends regardless of remaining lives. Damage to planets is permanent and cannot be reduced, so letting enemies escape is unacceptable. The first stage of each planet is split by a mini-boss fight against a large ship that fires clusters of large bullets while standard enemies continue to appear. The second half of the first stage ends with an encounter with the comet, which shares the planet's color. The comet boss opens a small section of its exterior, revealing circuitry from which a bullet spawns. Destroying five such openings causes the comet to explode, allowing the player ship to enter it and begin stage two. Stage two takes place inside the comet, which is revealed to be an alien ship. Enemy waves continue until the player reaches the main boss: a large computer with ten orange targets that alternate between covered and uncovered, firing a bullet for each active target when opened. Throughout these battles, the comet descends toward the planet; if it collides, the planet is destroyed and the game ends, regardless of remaining lives. The player must hurry to destroy the computers inside comets while negotiating waves of enemies.
Development and release
Halley's Comet was designed by Bubble Bobble creator Fukio "MTJ" Mitsuji, with music by Hisayoshi Ogura. Mitsuji recounted in a 1988 interview with Japanese magazine Beep that the project originated from a conversation with Taito's then-president about creating a title based on Halley's Comet. He considered the game important for starting his development philosophy centered on "thrills and pleasures." Mitsuji noted that the PCB lacked hardware-scrolling support and was underpowered, forcing the team to work under severe limitations to make the background appear to scroll. Taito first released the game in Japan in January 1986, followed by Coin-It in North America in April 1986. It was later ported to Japanese mobile platforms as Halley Wars between January 2003 and January 2004. The title appeared in the Taito Memories II compilations for PlayStation 2 between 2007 and 2008, and Hamster Corporation released it for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in January 2021 as part of the Arcade Archives series.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine's March 15, 1986 issue ranked Halley's Comet as the second most popular arcade game. Play Meter placed it eighth in North America. The Japanese book Revived 20th Century Arcade Game Encyclopedia Vol. 2 gave it a negative review. Cave programmer Hiroyuki Uchida said in a 1998 interview that the game's mechanics inspired Dangun Feveron. Former Toaplan composer Tatsuya Uemura noted in a 2009 interview that Twin Cobra was shaped by Halley's Comet, as he aimed to capture the sensation of aiming and shooting.
More in Taito Games of the 1980s
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