Galaxian
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| Galaxian | |
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| Developer: | Namco |
| Publisher: | Midway Games |
| Release date: | 1979 |
| Genre: | Retro/Fixed Shooter |
| Game modes: | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet: | Standard and cocktail |
| Controls: | Joystick (2-way); 1 button |
| Monitor | |
| Orientation: | Vertical |
| Type: | Raster, standard resolution (Used: 224 x 256) |
| Notes | |
| First arcade game to feature true colors; Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games | |
Galaxian is an arcade game by Namco released in 1979. Similar in theme to the seminal Space Invaders, Galaxian was the first arcade game to use true RGB color.
Description
Galaxian was very successful for Namco. Not only was it the first arcade game to feature true color (previous arcade games emulated color by projecting black and white images onto a colored background), but it also implemented the successful formula which Space Invaders pioneered—attacking alien armies shot down by the player. Galaxian innovated on this formula by having the insect-like aliens periodically make kamikaze-like dives at the player's ship.
Swarm after swarm of alien armies would attack the player controlling the ship, which could only move right or left, along the bottom of the screen. The player would defeat one swarm, just to have it be replaced by another more aggressive army in the next screen. A colorful starfield scrolled lazily in the background contrasting the action of the game.
Legacy
Galaxian was so successful that it spawned several follow-up games. The most popular of these was its immediate successor, Galaga, which in a large part eclipsed its ancestor in popularity. Apparently, by the time Gaplus was released, the audience had tired of the repeated formula of the game, which had been exploited by numerous similar games by other developers.
Standard Arcade:
Arcade Laserdisk:
- Galaxian3 (1990) Galaxian 3 : Project Dragoon (Theatre 6) for 6 Players on 2 x 110inch RGB Projectors - 18 Foot Wide Screen
- Attack Of The Zolgear (1994) (A ROM and laserdisc upgrade for Project Dragoon)
Special Version:
- Galaxian3 (1990) for 28(!) Players on the Video : 16(!) x 120inch RGB Projectors - 360 Degree Full Wrap Around Screen
Other games using the Galaxian name were released, but they were not developed by Namco and are not considered part of the Galaxian canon.
The "leader" ship makes numerous cameo appearances in many Namco developed or published games, from as far back as Pac-Man to as recently as Star Fox:Assault. It is often referred to in this context as simply "a Galaxian".
Because of its significance to the video game industry, Galaxian is popular among collectors. It is ranked as one of the "Top 100 Videogames" by the Killer List of Videogames.
The highest ever score in a game of Galaxian was achieved by Gary Whelan of Manchester, England on 13 August 2004 when he managed to amass a total of 399,290 points. [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4119613.stm)
External links
- The KLOV entry on Galaxian (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=G&game_id=7885)
- Category at ODP (http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Shooter/2D/Galaxian/)
- A web-based emulation of Galaxian (http://www.games2go.co.uk/game/galaxians)ja:ギャラクシアン