Gyruss
Gyruss was an arcade game developed and published by Konami in 1983. Gameplay is similar to Galaga in that you have to shoot down scores of enemy ships as they fly in and out of formation. However, the playing field is displayed in a Tempest-like 3D perspective, allowing your ship to rotate a full 360 degrees.
It's probably best known for its in-game theme song, a remix of Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor (in stereo, no less!).
The game was ported to various Atari systems and the Nintendo Entertainment System (the latter under Konami's subsidiary Ultra Games, and vastly different from the arcade version).
One of two games (the other was Time Pilot) that Yoshiki Okamoto developed with Konami before jumping ship to Capcom and making them famous.
- Adaptation Expansion: The NES version of the game has you flying from the outer planets toward the Sun, whereas the arcade game stopped your journey at Earth. It also has improved graphics, better music (and more songs), new types of enemies, bonus stages, super phaser shots, mini-bosses and bosses. In short: They Changed It Now It's Awesome.
- Bonus Stage: Every fourth level.
- Konami Code: The NES version had it, giving you a bunch of lives and super phaser shots. However, the twist is that you have to enter the code backward for it to work properly.
- Rock Me, Amadeus: A well-done remix of Back's Toccata and Fugue in D-minor.
- Word Puree Title
- X Meets Y: Gyruss at the time has been described as Galaga meets Tempest.