1983 · Namco · Action · Arcade

Phozon

Nintendo console exclusive

The player must take control of the Chemic, a small black atom with red spikes which must adhere itself to passing Moleks (which come in four different colours: cyan, green, pink and yellow) in order to duplicate the patterns shown in the centre of the screen; if a Molek adheres itself to the Chemic incorrectly, the player must press the reject button to throw it away. The singular enemy in the game is the Atomic, a malevolent clump of balls which moves randomly around the screen, and will kill the Chemic if it merely touches it - however, the Chemic can counter-attack by adhering itself to a Power Molek (which are slightly larger than the regular Moleks, and first appear in the game's second world: once the Chemic has adhered itself to one, the adhered Moleks will spin around rapidly, and their speed will decrease to denote the nearing of the Power Molek's ending time limit). But the Atomic has a nasty habit of splitting up and reforming in order to cover more ground, and even the Power Moleks cannot match up to the Atomic's deadly Alpha- and Beta-Rays which can instantly cause them to float away (along with the regular Moleks) on contact; there are total of eighteen unique patterns which must be duplicated in the game, and every fourth stage is a "challenging stage" where the Chemic can fire yellow Moleks in four directions at the Atomic.

Released: 31 December 1983
Platforms: Android Arcade Nintendo Switch iOS
Genres: Action Arcade Puzzle
Developers: Namco
Publishers: Namco
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action
Country: Japan
Languages: English

About

Phozon is a 1983 puzzle video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. It was only released in Japan in November 1983. It is notable for its chemistry-based gameplay.

Keywords

abstract
chemistry

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player takes control of the Chemic, a small black atom with red spikes that must adhere itself to passing Moleks (which come in four different colors: cyan, green, pink and yellow) in order to duplicate the patterns shown in the center of the screen; if a Molek adheres itself to the Chemic incorrectly, the player can press the button to disconnect the most recently connected Molek. A stage is completed by correctly replicating the Molek formation shown in the center of the screen. The yellow counter at the bottom shows how many Moleks are remaining, which decreases as more Moleks appear. If the bar empties and the player has not replicated the Molek formation, the round restarts from the beginning.

The sole enemy in the game is the Atomic, a clump of balls that moves randomly around the screen and kills the Chemic on contact. From the second world on, the Chemic can counter-attack by adhering itself to a Power Molek. Once the Chemic has adhered itself to one, the adhered Moleks will spin around rapidly, and their speed will decrease to denote the nearing of the Power Molek's ending time limit.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Phozon as the second most popular arcade game of December 1983.

In North America, the game was demonstrated at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in October 1983, but was not licensed for release in the region. Gene Lewin of Play Meter magazine gave it a favorable review, calling it "a very colorful and challenging game with a different twist" based on chemistry.

Legacy

Phozon was re-released as part of Namco Museum Volume 3 for the PlayStation along with Dig Dug, Ms. Pac-Man, Pole Position II and other Namco games. Another port was released for iOS and Android, as part of the Namco Arcade application. Hamster Corporation released the game as part of their Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in November 2021.