Ported by Digital Eclipse
Original Game by Konami
Published by Konami
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (8/2006)
Also on Arcade/Atari 2600/Commodore 64/Colecovision/MSX/PlayStation 2/Windows Mobile
Time Pilot, ported to the Xbox 360 courtesy of Digital Eclipse, was originally released in arcades back in 1982. In the game you fly a jet and are able to rotate in any direction, sort of like Asteroids except the screen scrolls in all directions and you have a sprawling sky you can explore. The game has an awesome premise, where each level features enemies from a different time period as pilot your futuristic time-travelling jet fighter. The first stage will have you in 1910, fighting biplanes and zeppelins. Stage two in 1940 features monoplanes that are a bit tougher than what you've fought prior. You'll then move on to 1970 where you'll face helicopters, 1983 with super jets and for the grand finale you'll face off against flying saucers in 2001! Such an awesome concept for a shooter and it's a shame Konami didn't continue to create entries in this series in later years.
Completion of each stage is accomplished by eliminating a certain number of hostiles, indicated by a bar on your screen. Once you've reached the designated kill count the boss will show up, which varies by each stage. Along the way there will be parachuting pilots you can rescue that will grant hefty point bonuses and will help towards earning an extra ship. The controls are a bit awkward at first with Time Pilot and you'll have to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the way you jet fighter turns. Once you get a feel for the controls the game is a blast to play, and really feels quite a bit ahead of the curve in regards to arcade shooters of the early '80's.
The emulation of the arcade port feels spot-on in graphics, sound and control. Like Digital Eclipses' other Konami arcade ports on XBLA the game offers enhanced graphics and sound options. The graphics and sound don't quite have the charm of the original, but it's definitely cool to see an attempt to update this often overlooked classic. The game also offers support for play over Xbox Live, but you'll need to coordinate a session as the game is quite old and nobody is going to be sitting around waiting in a lobby on this one. Time Pilot is still good fun and well worth checking out if you're interested in the early years of the arcade shooter genre. It would have been nice of Konami had they included Time Pilot '84 (the arcade sequel), or released it separately as its own title as it was good fun too.
Final Verdict: Time Pilot is a solid port of an arcade classic. A simple and fun overhead 2D shooter that often gets lost in the sea of classics from the '80's.
Related Links:
Buy Time Pilot - Xbox Marketplace
Konami - Official Site
Digital Eclipse - Official Site
Time Pilot - Metacritic
Time Pilot - GameFAQs
Time Pilot Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Time Pilot - True Achievements
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