Pisces

Subelectro’s Pisces is a vertical-screen shooter for two players, appearing in arcades sometime in the early 1980s. Players pilot spacecraft through increasingly challenging levels filled with enemy ships and unusual obstacles like flying birds. Gameplay involves using a simple joystick to navigate and a single fire button to attack approaching threats, aiming for maximum points by targeting specific enemy types and exploiting their behaviors. Later versions of this game are sometimes referred to as “Omni.” The game progresses through distinct stages featuring unique scoring opportunities. Early levels involve shooting both yellow and blue ships, with strategic choices about which targets to prioritize impacting the score. Subsequent stages introduce birds that must be dealt with before they begin firing, and later still, players face falling enemy craft and a massive mother ship. A docking stage in one level relies on random asteroid placement, requiring skillful maneuvering based on remaining fuel reserves. Pisces utilizes a Zilog Z80 processor to power its visuals and simple sound effects, presenting a resolution of 224x256 pixels with a limited color palette. Success requires mastering enemy attack patterns—like the birds’ delayed firing—and carefully timing shots for optimal point accumulation.