Galaga
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 Get caught up in the tractor beam of this arcade classic from the creators of Pac-Man!
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Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade game made by Namco. This serves as a sequel to Galaxian which happened to be the first Namco arcade to be a smash hit. This game does have some differences, but it's still the typical starship game.
Why It's Interstellar
- Just like its predecessor, the gameplay is still pretty much the same whereas you just need to defeat the aliens just like usual.
- The graphics are still colorful and could be a step up to Galaxian.
- The aliens come in a variety of different types with each of them being much more determined than the ones from Galaxian. Yes, you have those that divebomb right in your face, but you have the Boss Galaga aliens that come and steal your ship via the tractor beam.
- Don't worry about your ship being stolen by the aliens because if you have enough lives, you can take down the alien that has the ship. You can now turn your current ship into a dual fighter just to get an additional shot.
- Some enemies can transform into new enemy types with different attack patterns. Beginning at stage 4, A Bee or a Butterfly alien will transform into either a Sasori/Lobster, a Midori from Bosconian, and a Galaxian Flagship.
- As expected with an arcade game, the enemies become tougher as the game progresses thus increasing the number of projectiles and diving down at a faster rate.
- Bonus stages are new to the series. This occurs in the third stage and every fourth thereafter. In the bonus round, the aliens fly in a formation without shooting your ship so you get to see how many aliens can you shoot. There are three new aliens to attack that are only available on bonus rounds: the Tonbo/Dragonfly, Momiji/Satellite, and the Enterprise.
- The controls are easy to pick up. All you need to do is move your ship and shoot. That is just about it for now.
- Every time you start a new level, the aliens will fly in a formation instead of just simply appearing on the screen. This can give players a chance to shoot the aliens before they appear at the top of the screen so you won't have to worry about facing that many aliens.
- There is also another jingle that plays when your ship gets stolen.
- Shooting is much more improved compared to its predecessor. Why don't you compare the shooting behavior of the ships from both Galaxian and Galaga you will notice the difference.
- At the very start of the game, there is a small yet memorable jingle that plays which is quite a listen. Even when you complete the bonus stage, you will hear a different version of the iconic jingle.
- If you were to fail to get the ship that was stolen by an alien, don't worry as it will reappear at a later level as part of the formation. This is all because how the ship can't be shot when the Boss Galaga is at its formation.
- The game is much more addicting compared to the predecessor thanks to the improvements present in the game.
The Only Bad Quality
- The arcade version, like Pac-Man, has a kill screen if you were to reach stage 256. Though this was fixed in the Xbox 360 and Roku versions.
Reception
The game met with critical acclaim with many praising for its nature and it was a popular game during the golden age of arcade video games. Galaga has been cited by numerous publications among the greatest video games of all time including Game Informer and Electronic Gaming Monthly.
Trivia
- Shortly after the game's release, Namco produced miniature Galaga cabinets for buses and airplanes, housed in small 17-inch CRT monitors
- Galaga made cameo appearances in films including WarGames, The Karate Kid (1984), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and The Avengers (2012)
- A submarine named after the game appears throughout the ABC television series Lost.
- Hallmark Cards released a Galaga arcade cabinet ornament in 2009 which played sound effects from the game.
- In 2019, researchers at North Carolina State University named an extinct species of shark Galagadon nordquistae, due to the shark's teeth bearing a resemblance to the Galaga aliens.
- The world record for the game's high score was held by Jordan Dorrington with a score of 20,980,450 points.
- The PlayStation version of Tekken has a Galaga loading screen minigame.
- As a tie-in with the anime series Space Dandy, an iOS remake, Space Galaga, was released in 2015, featuring characters and starships from Space Dandy intermixed with Galaga gameplay.
- There is also a crossover game called Galaga: Tekken Edition which replaced the enemies with characters from Tekken.
- An animated television adaptation, Galaga Chronicles, is confirmed to be in development.
- Used a new arcade board called Namco Galaga which was later used in other games like Bosconian and Dig Dug.
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