The End

The End

Overview & History

Released in 1980 by Stern Electronics, The End is an obscure, highly unorthodox fixed shooter that subverts the traditional conventions of the genre established by Space Invaders. Rather than playing as a defender shooting downward-moving aliens from the bottom of the screen, players control a futuristic mining vehicle navigating a perilous, subterranean tunnel network. The game’s storyline casts you as an intrepid operator deep within the crust of an alien planet, tasked with clearing out hostile subterranean lifeforms while maintaining your crucial life-support systems. While it never achieved the ubiquitous mainstream dominance of contemporaries like Galaxian, The End earned a dedicated cult following in arcades for its frantic pacing, claustrophobic atmosphere, and innovative vertical-scrolling mechanics that forced players to constantly manage both offensive fire and tricky lateral positioning.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

The core gameplay of The End revolves around a relentless vertical ascent through increasingly hazardous caverns. Instead of moving purely horizontally across a fixed baseline, your mining vehicle can maneuver left and right along the bottom of the playfield while firing projectiles upward at descending swarms of insectoid aliens and mechanical obstacles. What sets The End apart is its unique resource management system: you must continuously destroy incoming blocks to carve out safe paths while simultaneously monitoring your dwindling fuel supply. Failing to shoot fuel-refill pods results in an instant death, adding a layer of aggressive urgency to every level. Enemies do not merely march downward in formation; they break away in erratic, swooping dive-bombing patterns reminiscent of Galaga, forcing players to prioritize targets carefully. The game also features distinct subterranean tunnel phases where the screen scrolls vertically, demanding precise timing to avoid crushing cave walls and toxic energy plumes before reaching the stage boss.

Keyboard Controls

• Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move
• Action Keys: Attack / Jump
• Enter: Start / Pause