Time Pilot

Coleco produced this Atari 2600 translation of the Konami arcade game of the same name. But Coleco also produced this game for their own system, (the ColecoVision). Take a wild guess at which one was better, (the ColecoVision version of course).

This game is similar to Combat but much improved in every way. You have to battle through 4 different waves of enemy planes, (each from a different time period). This game shows its age in the fact that the futuristic UFO stage takes place in the year 2001. If you want to play this game keep in mind that ColecoVision version is much better than the Atari version.

Prepare for fierce aerial combat with aircraft that span the years since the dawn of aviation. Your timeship's first encounter is with ancient 1910 bi-planes; your outnumbered, but your weapons are superior. Eliminate the entire air fleet; then knock out a mighty zeppelin and you'll progress to the next stage: 1940 monoplanes. These World War II fighters present a tougher challenge, and if you can defeat them, you'll move on to 1970 helicopters. Down the choppers and warp ahead to meet 1983 super jets. If you find a way to beat them, you'll cross the final barrier and head into the future for a deep-space duel with deadly flying saucers from the year 2001!

The arcade version of Time Pilot was originally released by Konami in 1982 (it was written by the famous Yoshiki Okamoto). They licensed it to Centuri who released it in the United States. The Centuri version came in the standard Centuri woodgrain cabinet (the same one used for Phoenix and many other games). It featured full sticker sideart of a bunch of flying saucers landing on a blue planet. The much rarer Konami version came in a totally different cabinet, and labeled the third level as 1982 instead of 1983.