- Galaxian
Infobox VG
title = Galaxian
developer =Namco
publisher = JPNNamco
NAMidway Games
designer =
release = JPN October, 1979
NA December 1979
genre =Fixed shooter
modes = Up to 2 players, alternating turns
cabinet = Upright, cabaret, and cocktail
arcade system =Namco Galaxian
display = Vertical orientation, Raster
input = 2-wayJoystick ; 1 button
platforms = Arcade"Galaxian" is a 1979
fixed shooter arcade game byNamco and released by Midway Mfg. in the US.Description
"Galaxian" expanded on the formula pioneered by "
Space Invaders ". As in the earlier game, "Galaxian" featured a horde of attacking aliens that exchanged shots with the player. In contrast to "Space Invaders", however, "Galaxian" added an element of drama by having the aliens periodically makekamikaze -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 in the background.
"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 many other 1980s arcade games such as "
Pac-Man ".The "official" highest score in a game of "Galaxian" was achieved by Gary Whelan of
Manchester ,England on13 August 2004 when he managed to amass a total of 399,290 points. [ cite web | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4119613.stm | title=Video game 'record score' claim | date=2004-12-22]Ports
The original arcade version of "Galaxian" has been ported to several systems. These include:
*
Apple II
*Atari 2600
*Atari 5200
*ColecoVision
*Commodore 64
*DOS
*Dreamcast
*Game Boy Advance (bundled with its direct successor, "Galaga ")
*MSX (Europe and Japan only)
*Nintendo Entertainment System
*ZX Spectrum
* Mobile JavaA port for the
Game Boy Color was planned, but never released."Galaxian" has also been released as part of the "Namco Museum" series of collections across several platforms:
*
Sony PlayStation (as part of "Namco Museum Volume 3")
*Nintendo 64 ("Namco Museum 64")
*Sega Dreamcast ("Namco Museum DC")
*Game Boy Advance ("Namco Museum Advance")
*PlayStation 2 ,Xbox ,Nintendo GameCube andMicrosoft Windows ("Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection")
*PlayStation Portable ("Namco Museum Battle Collection ")
*Nintendo DS ("Namco Museum DS")"Galaxian" was also released on
Microsoft Windows in 1995 as part of "Microsoft Return of Arcade".Legacy
"Galaxian" has spawned several follow-up games. The most popular of these was its immediate successor, "Galaga", which largely 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.
In the Competitive Arena
The Galaxian world record has been the focus of many competitive gamers since its release. The most famous Galaxian Rivalry has been between British player Gary Whelan (Dukinfield, UK) and Perry Rodgers (Redmond, WA), who faced off at Apollo Amusements in Pompano Beach, FL, April 6-9, 2006. According to Twin Galaxies, Whelan currently holds the world record with 1,114,550 points, scored on September 10, 2006, followed by newcomer Aart van Vliet, of Den Haag, Netherlands, who scored 799,680 points on May 30, 2008 at the Funspot Family Fun Center in Weirs Beach, NH. American Perry Rodgers had held the world title since May 12, 1983 with a score of 389,770 points, but lost the title to Gary Whelan on August 13, 2004, when Whelan achieved 399,290 points. However, Rodgers' 1983 score still holds 3rd place in today's Twin Galaxies rankings. [ cite web | url= http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3774&vi=1246
title=Twin Galaxies' Galaxian High Score Rankings | date=2008-8-24]tandard arcade games
*"
Galaga " (1981)
*"Gaplus " (1984)
*"Galaga '88 " (1987)
*"Galaga Arrangement " (1995) - released as part of "Namco Classics Collection Volume 1 "
*"Zero Time " (198?) - Spanish clone. Much faster than Galaxian.*"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".
Arcade laserdisc
*"
Galaxian 3 " (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 "Galaxian 3 ")pecial versions
*"
Galaxian3 " (1990) for 28 Players on the Video : 16 x 120inch RGB Projectors - 360 Degree Full Wrap Around ScreenGames featuring elements of "Galaxian"
*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 thePlayStation 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 ".
*Japanese RTS game "New Space Order" by Bandai Namco Games is set in the same U.G.S.F. universe as the setting of Galaxian.Games featuring the "Galaxian" flagship
The "Galaxian" flagship (also called the Galboss) has made numerous cameo appearances in other Namco games (like the Special Flag from "
Rally-X ") and 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 Pac-Man eats it.*"
Galaga " (1981): The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "transform" 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 Dig Dug picks it up.*"
Super Pac-Man " (1982): All regular edible items on rounds 15, 31, 47, and 63 are flagships, and they are worth 150 points each. Starting from their second appearance, Round 31, they are 160 points instead.*"
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 Pac-Man eats it.*"
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 a 3-D appearance as a special item 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.*"
Quester " (1987): The flagship is featured as the board layout for round 5.*"
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. [http://namgame.hp.infoseek.co.jp/pistol.html]*"
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.*"
Namco Classics Collection Volume 1 " (1995): The flagship makes an appearance in "Galaga Arrangement ".*"
Tekken 2 " (1995 - Arcade, 1996 - PlayStation): Winning at least seven rounds in Arcade Vs. mode will reveal the "Galaxian" flagship on the lower left (or right) hand corner of the screen. In order for this to work, "Number of Wins Shown By" must be set to "Fruit".*"
Namco Classics Collection Volume 2 " (1996): The flagship appears in both "Pac-Man Arrangement " and "Dig Dug Arrangement ". In "Pac-Man Arrangement", it is worth 5000 points if Pac-Man eats it, and in "Dig Dug Arrangement", it is worth 7000 points if Dig Dug picks it up.*"
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 2 " (2002): The flagship teleports Pac-Man to mazes. The point value will be the same as the points earned in the maze (if completed).*"
Pac-Man World 3 " (2005): The flagship has the exact functionality as it does in "Pac-Man World 2".*"
Pac-Man Championship Edition " (2007): The flagship reappears, but is this time joined by the Galaga Boss and two drones, one each from "Galaga" and "Galaxian".External links
*KLOV game|id=7885
*moby game|id=/galaxian
*
* [http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3774&vi=1246 Galaxian High Score table at Twin Galaxies]
* [http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=901 The Arcade-History entry on "Galaxian"]
* [http://www.thedoteaters.com/p2_stage3.php Article at The Dot Eaters] , on the history of Namco and Galaxian
* [http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyerdb&name=galaxian&year=&manu=&source=&submit=Search+the+Archive The Arcade Flyer Archive entries for Galaxian]
* [http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Shooter/2D/Galaxian/ Category at ODP]
*WoS game|id=0001933References
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