Galaxian

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Galaxian
Galaxian screenshot
Developer(s) Namco
Publisher(s) Midway
Release date(s) 1979
Genre(s) Fixed shooter
Mode(s) Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Platform(s) Arcade
Input 2-way Joystick; 1 button
Arcade cabinet Upright, cabaret, and cocktail
Arcade system(s) Namco Galaxian
Arcade display Vertical orientation, Raster

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade game by Namco.


Contents

[edit] Description

Galaxian expanded on the formula pioneered by Space Invaders. Like that earlier game, Galaxian featured a horde of attacking alien armies that exchanged shots with the player. In contrast to Space Invaders, however, Galaxian added an element of drama by having the aliens periodically make kamikaze-like dives at the player's ship.

The gameplay was relatively simple. Swarm after swarm of alien armies attacked the player's ship that moved left and right at the bottom of the screen. The ship could only fire sparingly by default, but rearmed instantly when an enemy was hit. The player would defeat one swarm, only to have it replaced by another more aggressive and challenging army in the next screen. A plain and repetitive starfield scrolled lazily in the background, nicely contrasting with the action of the game.

Galaxian was very successful for Namco and introduced several "firsts". Although true color (as opposed to a color overlay for a game that was otherwise black and white) began appearing as early as 1975, Galaxian took graphics a step further with multi-colored animated sprites and explosions, a crude theme song, different colored fonts for the score and high score, more prominent background "music" and the scrolling starfield, and graphic icons that showed the number of ships left and how many rounds the player had completed. These elements combined to create a look/feel that would set the standard for 80s arcade games such as Pac-Man.

[edit] 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 predecessor in popularity, introducing aliens attacking in intricate formations, multiple guns, and bonus rounds. A third official sequel Gaplus was released in 1984. Like Galaga this was a bottom shooter, with some limited up/down movement (like Centipede). However, by 1984 the novelty of the Space Invader formula had faded, and it was no longer successful.

[edit] Standard arcade games

[edit] Arcade Laserdisk

[edit] Special versions

  • Galaxian3 (1990) for 28(!) Players on the Video : 16(!) x 120inch RGB Projectors - 360 Degree Full Wrap Around Screen

[edit] Trivia

  • A Galaxian unit appears in the 1983 movie Joysticks.
  • Other games using the Galaxian name were released, but they were not developed by Namco.
  • Because of its significance to the video game industry, Galaxian is popular among collectors.
  • The "official" highest 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]
  • The video game Gorf, also by Bally Midway, has a Galaxian stage.
  • A version of the game can be unlocked in Midway's Mortal Kombat 3.
  • The game can be seen on the home stretch of various Ridge Racer circuits. On the PlayStation version, whilst the player is waiting for Ridge Racer to load, they can play a quick game of Galaxian. Also, on Ridge Racer 64 and Ridge Racer DS, a car is available called the "Galaxian Paradise" (in Ridge Racer 64, the car is named "White Angel" like Ridge Racer and Revolution).
  • The boss of the Space Zone in the game Pac-Man World for PlayStation is inspired by the game Galaxian. However, the stage itself is similar to Galaga.
  • Galaxian was one of the most widely pirated motherboards during the early 80s. Numerous hacks were made of the game and featured slightly redesigned aliens and special bonus stages. The scrolling starfield and the lose-a-life explosion was still familiar as the one from Galaxian.
  • During the loading between levels, if the player fires a shot at the right time and hits a red alien when the screen loads it will cause a third Galaxian flagship to appear.

[edit] Games featuring the Galaxian flagship

The Galaxian flagship (also called the Galboss, as seen in the 2006 releases of Pac-Man and Galaga for the Xbox 360) has made numerous cameo appearances in other Namco games (the Special Flag from Rally-X would also go on to become a recurring item in other games).

  • Pac-Man (1980): The flagship makes an appearance as a bonus fruit on rounds 9 and 10, and is worth 2000 points if eaten.
  • Galaga (1981): The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "suicide ships". It splits into 2, then 3 clones of itself. If all 3 are killed, they are worth 3000 points.
  • Dig Dug (1982): The flagship makes an appearance as a bonus vegetable on rounds 16 and 17, and is worth 7000 points if eaten.
  • Super Pac-Man (1982): All regular edible items on round 15 are flagships, and they are worth 150 points each.
  • Pac-Man Plus (1982): The flagship's role is exactly the same as its role in Pac-Man.
  • Pac & Pal (1983): The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "special items" that make Pac-Man turn blue when eaten, and allows him to stun the ghosts for a short while by shooting a Galaga style capture beam. It is worth 1000 points if eaten.
  • Pac-Land (1984): The ghosts in airplanes sometimes drop flagships and they are worth "7650" points (7650 is Namco's favorite number) if eaten.
  • Super Xevious (1984): The flagship makes an appearance in a silver form and as an enemy, and sometimes several of them attack at once. They are worth 300 points each.
  • Pac-Mania (1987): The flagship makes an appearance as a special fruit and in 2 forms as well, the other one being the silver form from Super Xevious. The regular one is 7650 points if eaten, and the silver one is 9000 points if eaten.
  • Pistol Daimyo no Bouken (1990): The flagship makes an appearance as an enemy along with the other Galaxian characters,and they attempt to hit Pistol Daimyo with their fire. [2]
  • Tinkle Pit (1993): The flagship also makes an appearance with the other Galaxian characters, but this time they appear as bonus items. It is worth 800 points if collected.
  • Tekken 2 (1995 - Arcade, 1996 - PlayStation): Win at least 7 or 8 rounds in Arcade Vs. Mode and you'll see the Galaxian flagship on the lower left (or right) hand corner of the screen. In order for this to work, you must set "Number of Wins Shown By" to "Fruit".
  • Pac-Man World (1999): The flagship appears again in a Pac-Man game. This time, the item must be collected in order to access the mazes.
  • Pac-Man World 3 (2005): The flagship continues its long line of Pac-Man appearances.

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Galaxian series

Galaxian • Galaga • Gaplus/Galaga 3 • Galaga '88 • Galaga Arrangement
Galaxian³ • Attack of the Zolgear
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