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Space Invaders

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Space Invaders is a two-dimensional fixed shooter game in which the player controls a laser cannon by moving it horizontally across the bottom of the screen and firing at descending aliens. The aim is to defeat five rows of eleven aliens—some versions feature different numbers—that move horizonta...

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Developer
Taito

Released on
1978

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Shooter

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Space Invaders is a two-dimensional fixed shooter game in which the player controls a laser cannon by moving it horizontally across the bottom of the screen and firing at descending aliens. The aim is to defeat five rows of eleven aliens—some versions feature different numbers—that move horizontally back and forth across the screen as they advance towards the bottom of the screen. The player defeats an alien, and earns points, by shooting it with the laser cannon. As more aliens are defeated, the aliens’ movement and the game’s music both speed up. Defeating the aliens brings another wave that is more difficult, a loop which can continue indefinitely.

Space Invaders

Overview & History

Released by Taito in 1978 and designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, Space Invaders is the undisputed grandfather of the shoot 'em up genre and a monumental pillar of golden-age arcade history. Inspired heavily by The War of the Worlds and Star Wars, the game introduces a desperate storyline where Earth faces a relentless, descending onslaught of extraterrestrial lifeforms. Its cultural impact in Japan was so profound during its initial release that it famously sparked an urban legend regarding a national shortage of 100-yen coins. Technically, the game pushed arcade hardware to its limits; Nishikado had to program the game on a custom-built, Intel 8080-based microcomputer because standard CPUs of the era could not handle the rapid movement of the alien armada. As the invaders are destroyed one by one, the game’s processor handles fewer sprites, causing the remaining aliens to speed up and the iconic, heartbeat-like marching sound effect to accelerate, brilliantly ramping up psychological tension without changing the game's actual code.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Players control a solitary laser cannon stationed at the bottom of the screen, tasked with eradicating columns of descending aliens before they breach the planet's surface. Defensive strategy relies on four destructible, crumbling bunker shields that slowly disintegrate under both alien plasma fire and the player's own counter-attacks. Periodically, a mysterious red flying saucer—the 'Mystery Ship'—scutes across the top of the upper border, awarding bonus mystery points when successfully sniped. The gameplay loop is purely iterative and relentless: clear the screen of all 55 invaders, and the next wave instantly spawns slightly lower, offering no respite and demanding absolute mastery of spatial timing.