Astro Blaster

Astro Blaster
Arcade flyer, showcasing the different arcade cabinets used for the title
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	Gary Shannon, Barbara Michalec
Platform(s)	Arcade
Release	December 31, 1981
Genre(s)	Fixed shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Cabinet	Vertical
Arcade system	Sega G80 Raster hardware
CPU	Z80
Sound	Sound CPU : I8035 Sound Chips : SP0250 + samples
Display	Raster, 224 x 256 pixels, 65 colors

Astro Blaster is a fixed shooter arcade game released by Sega in 1981.

The player controls a ship (bearing a resemblance to the Battlestar Galactica) which can fire and move left or right. The player must continuously monitor the onscreen temperature and fuel gauges; if the ship overheats, its weapon is disabled, and if it is depleted of fuel, the vessel itself explodes. The player must battle through waves of enemies, which attack with varied formations and flight patterns. When a wave is destroyed, a new one appears. At the end of each sector, the player flies through an asteroid belt and can obtain extra fuel by shooting fireballs. After this, the mother ship is met, where the player docks and refuels for the next sector. Also, the player is rewarded various bonuses for accomplishing certain feats, such as, shooting all enemies in a specific order or shooting all enemies without missing.

Astro Blaster featured speech synthesis technology. This was a rare feature at the time, first appearing in Stratovox, and followed by a few other games such as Berzerk, Wizard of Wor, Gorf, and Sega's own Space Fury. During attract mode (specifically while showing the high score list), Astro Blaster's voice synthesizer generates the speech "Fighter pilots needed in sector wars...play Astro Blaster!"

In Sega's 2001 Dreamcast epic, Shenmue, an Astro Blaster cabinet can be seen in the YOU Arcade in Dobuita, but it has an "out of order" label on it and is not playable.

The current world record high score is held by Gus Pappas with 299,100 points scored on Astro Blaster on November 20, 1982 in Napa, California, USA.