The arcade translation of Choplifter was a relatively rare instance of a home computer game being ported to arcades rather than the other way around. The original was a popular game for the Apple II, featuring relatively simple graphics and straightforward gameplay common to computer games in 1982. The 1985 Sega arcade translation added more colorful graphics and fast-paced action, and also dramatically raised the difficulty level, with air- and ground-based enemies bombarding you from the first seconds of the game, making it a very different experience from the almost relaxed pace of the original. Whether because of or despite this, Choplifter found arcade success, though it is perhaps still best known as an early computer game hit.