Bosconian is a multi-directional free-roaming shooter by Namco. It came out in 1981 and it is pretty awesome. Please post your scores, which round you died on, and which version you played.
-1. ExedExes - 221,490 - [Round 12] - NM50 (GC)
-2. Despatche - 166,760 - [Round 10] - ShmupMAME v3.0b
-3. Valkyrie-Favor - [Round 10] - 144,640 - NM50 (PC)
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Bosconian is ahead of its time with voice effects, a mini map, and an awesome weapon that fires behind you and in front of you at the same time. Every fan of old-school shooters should give it a try. The arcade machine is hard to find - consider yourself lucky if there's one in your area.
- Accepted Versions:
Arcade
MAME
Namco Museum compilations:
PSX - (Vol. 1)
PS2 - (50th Anniversary)
Xbox - (50th Anniversary)
Gamecube - (50th Anniversary)
PSP
Wii
Xbox 360
I played Bosconian years ago on a Pac-Man plug-and-play system. It comes with a built-in stick but it's a pretty bad reproduction. There are no voice effects, the levels are entirely different, and it's much too easy. There's no pause button and it goes right back to the menu screen when you die, making it difficult to photograph the score.
There was also a sequel on CPC, C64, and ZX Spectrum.