- This guide is for the 1980 arcade game. For the 1981 and 1983 CoCo and ZX Spectrum games, see Polaris (1981) and Polaris (1983).
Polaris is a fixed shooter arcade game, that was released by Taito Corporation, in 1980; it utilizes an Intel 8080 microprocessor (running up at 2 MHz), with discrete circuitry and a Texas Instruments SN-76477 for sound. The player must use one 8-way joystick, to take up control of a submarine (which is the eponymous "Polaris") at the bottom of the screen, with a single button to make it fire missiles into the air at the various enemies - as small bombs are worth 10 points, while large bombs are worth 30, small planes are worth 50, while small boats are worth 100, and large boats (and planes) are worth a random amount of points. However, the red asterisk-like mines that the boats shall occasionally drop cannot be destroyed; Polaris will also receive an extra life at 5000 points by default. The screenshots below, much like Space Chaser, are also inaccurate, due to the imperfect colour emulation in MAME.
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Title screen.
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Upright arcade cabinet.
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First level of the game.
