is a multidirectional shooter

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

Yoshiki Okamoto , sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a Japanese video game designer. He is credited with producing popular titles for Konami, including '' Gyruss'' and '' Time Pilot'', and for Capcom, including ''1942'', '' Gun.Smoke'', ''Final Fight'' and ...

and released by

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

in 1982. It was distributed in the United States by Centuri, and by Atari Ireland in Europe and the Middle East. While engaging in aerial combat, the player-controlled jet flies across open airspace that

scrolls A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyru ...

indefinitely in all directions. Each level is themed to a different time period. Home ports for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

, and

ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer expe ...

were released in 1983. A top-down sequel, '' Time Pilot '84'', was released in arcades in 1984. It drops the time travel motif and instead takes place over a futuristic landscape.

Gameplay

Players assume the role of a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

of a futuristic fighter jet trying to rescue fellow pilots trapped in different time eras. The player's jet remains in the center of the screen at all times, and the eight-direction joystick causes their jet to rotate to face in that direction, causing the screen to scroll in that direction to present forward motion. In each level, players battle many enemy aircraft and the occasional stronger aircraft. After a fixed number of these aircraft are destroyed, as displayed on a bar at the bottom right of the screen, a mothership appears. Once the mothership is defeated, they move onto the next time period. Parachuting pilots will occasionally appear and award players points if collected. There are five levels: 1910, 1940, 1970, 1982/1983 and 2001. After the fifth level is finished, the game repeats thereafter. Extra lives are given at 10,000 points, and per 50,000 scored up to 960,000; thereafter, the game goes to "survival of the fittest" mode. Fighters are destroyed if they collide into bullets, enemy ships, bombs or missiles. Game ends when their last fighter is destroyed.

Development

According to his account, Yoshiki Okamoto's proposal for ''Time Pilot'' was initially rejected by his boss at Konami, who assigned Okamoto to work on a driving game instead. Okamoto secretly gave instructions to his programmer to work on his idea, while pretending to be working on a driving game in front of his boss.

Reception

In Japan, the annual '' Game Machine'' chart listed ''Time Pilot'' as the fifth highest-grossing arcade video game of 1982. ''Game Machine'' later listed ''Time Pilot'' on their June 1, 1983 issue as being the eighteenth most popular arcade title of the month. In the United States, the game topped the '' Play Meter'' arcade earnings chart in February 1983. The Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) later listed it among the thirteen highest-earning arcade games of 1983. ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...

'' magazine gave the arcade game a generally favorable review upon release.

Legacy

Re-releases

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

as a ''Time Pilot '95'' bonus game in ''Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Douchuu: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake''. *

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

in '' Konami Arcade Classics'', 1999. *

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

as part of '' Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced'' on March 18, 2002. This version includes a hidden sixth era, 1,000,000 BC, with pterodactyls. *

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

as part of the '' Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono'' series in 2005 in Japan. *

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

as part of

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

on August 30, 2006. *

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

as part of '' Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits''. *

i-mode i-mode (, ) is a Japanese mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service operated by NTT DoCoMo. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and ...

mobile phones in Japan, 2004. *

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

as part of ''Arcade Archives'' on 27 May 2021.

Clones

''Fury'' is a 1983 clone from Computer Shack for the

TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer, is a series of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Computer is a completely different ...

. Two clones, both called ''Space Pilot'' but otherwise unrelated, were released in 1984 and 1986: from

Kingsoft Kingsoft Corporation () is a Chinese software company based in Beijing. Kingsoft operates four subsidiaries: Seasun for video game development, Cheetah Mobile for mobile internet apps, Kingsoft Cloud for cloud storage platforms, and Kingsoft O ...

for the

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

and Superior Software for the

BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...

. ''Vector Pilot'' is a 2011 hobbyist-written clone for the

Vectrex The Vectrex is a vector display-based home video game console, the only one ever designed and released for the home market, that was developed by Smith Engineering and manufactured and sold by General Consumer Electronics. It was first released ...

console.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Time Pilot''
at the Arcade History database

entry at the Centuri.net Arcade Database {{Konami franchises 1982 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Atari 2600 games ColecoVision games Karateco games Konami franchises Konami games MSX games Multidirectional shooters Scrolling shooters Video games about time travel Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Konami arcade games Video games developed in Japan Multiplayer and single-player video games Centuri games