Vertical scrolling shooters emerged around the same time. Namco's "Xevious", released in 1983, is frequently cited as the first vertical scrolling shooter and, although it was in fact preceded by several other games of that type, it is considered one of the most influential. "Xevious" is also the first to convincingly portray dithered/shaded organic landscapes as opposed to blocks-in-space or wireframe obstacles. While "Asteroids" (1979) allowed the player to shoot in any direction by rotating the game's spacecraft, 1982's highly acclaimed "" was most influential on subsequent multi-directional shooters.