Space Giraffe
| Space Giraffe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Llamasoft |
| Publisher(s) | Llamasoft |
| Designer(s) | Jeff Minter, Ivan Zorzin |
| Platform(s) | Xbox One Xbox 360 (XBLA), PC |
| Release date(s) | Xbox One: January 21 2016, Xbox 360: 22 August 2007 PC: 15 December 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Fixed shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Aggregate score | |
|---|---|
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 68% |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Edge | 8 of 10 |
| GameSpot | 7.5 of 10 |
| IGN | 4.7 of 10 |
| OXM (US) | 2 of 10 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 92% (PC) |
| TeamXbox | 4.3 of 10 |
| Award | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Award |
| Official Xbox Magazine | Worst Game of 2007 |
Space Giraffe is an action arcade video game by Jeff Minter and Ivan Zorzin of Llamasoft. Space Giraffe visually resembles the arcade classic Tempest, an arcade game by Atari Inc. released in October, 1981, though Minter claims that it is not a clone of this game. The game was released on 22 August 2007 for Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade. The main graphics engine is based on the Neon Xbox 360 light synthesizer visualisation software built into the console. Llamasoft released a version for Windows on 15 December 2008. It was made available on Steam on 19 March 2009.
Although the game is aesthetically similar to the arcade game Tempest, Minter has strongly denied that Space Giraffe is an update to Tempest, as it introduces significant gameplay changes.
The player controls the Space Giraffe as it moves around the outer rim of a 3-dimensional extruded surface. Enemies appear in notably greater quantities than in Tempest, beginning at the opposite end of the third dimension and approaching the player, firing bullets. The Giraffe can destroy these enemies by firing at them.
A line on the surface behaves as a VU meter, indicating the "power zone". Damaging or destroying enemies extends the Power Zone, and at all other times it slowly contracts, contracting more quickly when the giraffe is stationary. While the power zone is not at zero:
The player can collect power-up "pods" which allow the Giraffe to jump; jumping also fills the entire power zone. The Giraffe can store up to five pods, and one is lost each time it jumps. Collecting extra pods when the giraffe already has five provides extra benefits: the first extra pod grants an extra life, the second grants Fast Bullets, and the third awards a token which counts towards accessing the bonus round, but only if no other pods were missed during the stage. Further pods collected provide bonus points.
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Wikipedia