Nova 2001
1983 video game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nova 2001[a] is a 1983 multidirectional shooter video game developed and published by UPL for arcades. It was followed by a sequel, Ark Area, in 1988, which was released only in Japan.[1]
Gameplay
The player controls a spaceship which can shoot enemy aliens in eight different directions, in a manner similar to Williams Electronics' Sinistar, which was released the same year. This was innovative at the time as technical limitations motivated developers to limit shooting to a single direction. Enemies have unique movement patterns which must be exploited to dodge their attacks and shoot them.[2] Power-ups are available to improve the spaceship's firepower, while a limited supply of bombs can be used to clear all onscreen enemies.[3]
Release
Nova 2001 was released by UPL in Japan in December 1983 as the first game released under the UPL name and in North America in March 1984.[4] After Hamster Corporation acquired the rights to UPL's games, they released it as part of the Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2014 and Nintendo Switch in 2021.[5][6]
