Астрон Белт: 1983 жылғы аркадалық кеңістік ойыны

1983 video game

Astron Belt (アストロンベルト) is a LaserDisc video game in the form of a third person, space combat rail shooter, released in arcades in 1983 by Sega in Japan, and licensed to Bally Midway for release in North America. Developed in 1982, it was the first major arcade laserdisc video game. However, Bally Midway delayed the game's release in the United States to fix several hardware and software bugs, by which time it had been beaten to public release by several laserdisc games including Dragon's Lair.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Astron Belt as the top grossing upright/cockpit arcade cabinet for four months in 1983. In June 1983, it was the top upright/cockpit cabinet of the month. It remained at the top of the Game Machine upright/cockpit charts through October 1, 1983, before being dethroned by Namco's Pole Position on October 15, 1983. Astron Belt remained in the top ten through December 1983. In the United States, Astron Belt topped the Play Meter laserdisc arcade charts for street locations by August 1, 1984, while being in the top three for arcade locations. It remained among the top five laserdisc arcade games for street locations and top ten for arcade locations through November 1984.

Video Games gave the arcade game a highly positive review following its AMOA 1982 demonstration, calling it a "large screen science fiction space shooting game that's played against film footage of spaceships, planets and explosions!" They stated that, for "many players, this is the ultimate video game!" Computer and Video Games gave it a positive review upon its European release, calling it a pioneering game and praising the realistic visuals and audio, the continue feature, the futuristic cockpit cabinet, and the vibrating seat, but criticizing "a few rough edges" in the gameplay, the high price of per play, and for sometimes vibrating "more than is comfortable." They concluded that "any arcade player who wants a future in gaming should try his hand at Astron Belt as soon as possible" but "it remains to be seen if Astron Belt is the shape of games to come." Upon its North American release, the game received mixed reviews from Computer Games magazine, comparing it unfavorably with other laserdisc games. One of the two reviewers was game designer Eugene Jarvis, who criticized the collision detection and the lack of realistic gameplay or direction, but he praised the "sense of power" and "macho feel" it gives, particularly with the explosions.

Astron Belt was responsible for starting the LaserDisc interactive movie craze when it was shown at the 1982 AMOA show. One of the games it inspired was Dragon's Lair (1983). Sega introduced a sequel, Star Blazer, at Tokyo's Amusement Machine Show (AM Show) in September 1983. It was unanimously hailed as the "strongest" LaserDisc game of the show. Bally Midway distributed it as Galaxy Ranger in North America in 1984. It had the same controls and very similar gameplay to Astron Belt, and one machine could be converted to the other by simply changing the LaserDisc, game ROMs, and sound board. In Japan, Game Machine listed Starblazer on their January 15, 1984 issue as being the third most successful upright arcade unit of the month.