Shooting Games Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ducks

The Seeburg engineers who were working to produce state-of-the-art jukeboxes saw the potential to create a coin-operated game when the light-sensing vacuum tube was developed. The light sensing tube was on the flying ducks, which dropped out of flight when players shot them with light beams from the rifle mounted on the front of the wooden cabinet holding the game.

While not actually a video game, this marked the transition from traditional sideshow shooting games into arcade games with electronically-controlled shooting.

Answer: Star

This game, possibly the first digital shooting game, was developed in the engineering department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in an attempt to expand the game-playing programs beyond earlier games such as mazes and tic-tac-toe into something more exciting for players.

The star in the centre attracts the players' ships as each tries to destroy the other without falling into the star or running out of fuel. Players who are about to crash can jump into hyperspace, but the site of reappearance on the screen is not controlled, and they run the additional risk of exploding on reentry, which is game over.

In May of 2006 the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California opened a fully-restored PDP-1 computer, the only one known to exist, so you will have to travel there to play this game in the 21st century.

Answer: Space Invaders

'Space Invaders' was so popular as an arcade game that it was said to have caused a coin shortage in Japan during its first year of release. Players can move their laser cannon left and right along the bottom rail, shooting when they think the invading aliens (who also move back and forth horizontally as they descend) are in the line of fire. Aliens come in rectangular arrays (the exact number of rows and of aliens in each row varies with different versions), and they fire at the player, who can hide behind defensive bunkers that get progressively destroyed as they are hit by alien fire. Every time an alien is destroyed, the rest increase their speed. And if you eliminate them all, another batch appears, and is more difficult to destroy.

This was the first game to keep track of players' scores and record a high score for future players to see and attempt to match. New versions, with improved graphics, continue to be developed and released over thirty years later.

Answer: The game used three-dimensional images

'Galaxian' used full-color graphics, with different colors for different game elements, and multi-colored explosions. Some versions of 'Space Invaders' had used cellophane to simulate color, but 'Galaxian' actually had colored objects moving around on the screen.

It also had a wrap-around screen, which means that anything that left one side of the screen immediately reappeared on the other side. And then there were the dive-bombing aliens, who would launch a kamikaze attack on the player's ship at unpredictable intervals, disrupting the player's rhythm. Like 'Space Invaders', 'Galaxian' has been adapted and released on many other gaming platforms.

Answer: True

While some online sources say that the game's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, was inspired by the design of a Shinto shrine to a flying fox god, it appears that the shrine was actually dedicated to the rice god Inari, who used a flying fox (kitsune) as a messenger and companion. 'Star Fox' (also referred to as 'Star Fox 1' to distinguish it from the many sequel games) was released in Europe as 'Star Wing', due to copyright issues. One of the first games to use 3D graphics, it featured a band of anthropomorphic animals, led by Fox McLoud, on a mission to save the Lylat planetary system from the mad scientist Andross (a monkey). Fox McLoud is, as his name suggests, a fox; his companions in this first game are Peppy Hare, Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi (a pheasant).

Answer: Ian Fleming

The 1995 film 'GoldenEye' was the 17th movie to feature James Bond, agent 007, played in this film by Pierce Brosnan. It was the first film not to be based on a story from Ian Fleming, and showed viewers how Bond was able to save the world from the threat of a satellite weapon called GoldenEye which threatened London.

The game pretty much followed the plot of the movie, as the player had to accomplish set goals which Bond achieved on film. This game was one of the first to introduce the element of stealth into gameplay - to avoid alerting enemies who would come to attack, it was desirable to eliminate opponents quickly and quietly. Weapons available to be collected and used include some based on real-life weapons, and others based on the famous James Bond gadgets.

Answer: Samus Aran, from 'Metroid'

The original 'Super Smash Bros.' had twelve characters, eight of which were playable from the start, and four of which could be released during play. As well as single-player mode, in which the chosen character was pitted against computer-generated challenges, the game allowed for up to four players to play against each other.

Samus Aran first appeared in 'Metroid' in 1986, one of the first female characters to be featured in an action video game. A bounty hunter equipped with a massive powered suit of armor, she was equipped with an array of weapons to fire. The screw attack is an upgrade feature of her power suit which allows her to send out energy waves from various points in the suit while she somersaults in the air.

Answer: An office desktop

Yes, the name tells you exactly what you are going to get - build towers on your desktop, and shoot at the 'creeps' which appear in waves. For each 'creep' that reaches its goal, you lose a life, and the game ends when you run out of lives. Strategic positioning of your towers can help you make the 'creeps' take more circuitous paths, giving you more time to destroy them.

Answer: Peggle

Released in 2007 for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X systems, 'Peggle' has since expanded to be available for a large number of gaming systems. Highly seductive for the casual game player, because the basics are easily mastered, and short-term goals are fairly easily attained, it also has enough complexity available to keep you coming back for more. To pass a level, you have to remove all the orange pegs before you run out of balls with which to shoot them. Since the target pegs are randomly chosen each time a level is started, replaying a level after failing to pass it does not give you exactly the same experience again. Later levels add Peggle Masters, special abilities such as being able to see exactly where a planned shot will go, that are activated by hitting one of the green pegs that appears at that level.

Answer: Potato mine

The potato mine is one of the plants that inflict damage when zombies step on them, so it is planted in their path. The pea shooter shoots peas, the cactus throws its spines and the melon-pult hurls melons. 'Plants vs Zombies' gives you a large variety of plants with which to fortify your house, some suited to different conditions - the mushrooms are particularly useful at night, since they don't require sun energy, and aquatic plants can effectively defend your backyard pool. Your choice of plant will also be affected by the type of zombies attacking at any given time - these include pole-vaulting zombies, zombies on pogo sticks, and zombies that dig tunnels, using the ground as protection.

In most versions of the game, the seed packets that you purchase can be seen to display the name of their manufacturer, the Bloom and Doom Seed Co.