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==Gameplay==
==Gameplay==
[[Image:galaga.png|thumb|left|220px|Gameplay screenshot]]
[[Image:galaga.png|thumb|left|220px|Gameplay screenshot]]
The objective of ''Galaga'' is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies. The player controls a fighter [[spacecraft|spaceship]] that can move left and right along the bottom of the playfield. Enemies fly in groups into a formation near the top of the screen, then begin flying down toward the player, firing bombs at and attempting to collide with the fighter. Occasionally, a "boss Galaga" attempts to capture the player's fighter using a [[tractor beam]] &ndash; if successful, the fighter joins the formation and must be freed by the player (using another ship and costing him a life), enabling him to control two ships simultaneously. If the boss is destroyed while still in formation with a captured fighter, the fighter will disappear after leaving formation and then will appear again on the next level attached to another boss Galaga. If the fighter is shot by the player, it is destroyed and does not return. The game is over when the player's last ship is destroyed or captured.<ref name="moby">{{MobyGames|id=/galaga}}</ref><ref>{{KLOV game|id=7881}}</ref>
The objective of ''Galaga'' is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies. The player controls a [[starfighter]] [[spacecraft|spaceship]] that can move left and right along the bottom of the playfield. Enemies fly in groups into a formation near the top of the screen, then begin flying down toward the player, firing bombs at and attempting to collide with the fighter. Occasionally, a "boss Galaga" attempts to capture the player's fighter using a [[tractor beam]] &ndash; if successful, the fighter joins the formation and must be freed by the player (using another ship and costing him a life), enabling him to control two ships simultaneously. If the boss is destroyed while still in formation with a captured fighter, the fighter will disappear after leaving formation and then will appear again on the next level attached to another boss Galaga. If the fighter is shot by the player, it is destroyed and does not return. The game is over when the player's last ship is destroyed or captured.<ref name="moby">{{MobyGames|id=/galaga}}</ref><ref>{{KLOV game|id=7881}}</ref>


''Galaga'' introduces a number of new features over its predecessor, ''[[Galaxian]]''. Among these is the ability to fire more than one bullet at a time, a count of the player's "hit/miss ratio" at the end of the game, and a bonus "Challenging Stage" that occurs at level three, and from then onwards every four levels, in which a series of enemies fly onto and out of the screen in set patterns without firing at the player's ship or trying to crash into it.<ref name="moby" /> These stages award a large point bonus if the player manages to destroy every enemy.
''Galaga'' introduces a number of new features over its predecessor, ''[[Galaxian]]''. Among these is the ability to fire more than one bullet at a time, a count of the player's "hit/miss ratio" at the end of the game, and a bonus "Challenging Stage" that occurs at level three, and from then onwards every four levels, in which a series of enemies fly onto and out of the screen in set patterns without firing at the player's ship or trying to crash into it.<ref name="moby" /> These stages award a large point bonus if the player manages to destroy every enemy.

Revision as of 00:39, 18 January 2011

Galaga
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)Namco
Publisher(s)Midway
Namco
Platform(s)Arcade
Release1981
Genre(s)Fixed shooter
Mode(s)Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Arcade systemNamco Galaga

Galaga (ギャラガ, Gyaraga) is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan and published by Midway in North America in 1981. It is the sequel to Galaxian, released in 1979. The gameplay of Galaga puts the player in control of a space ship which is situated on the bottom of the screen. At the beginning of each stage, the area is empty, but over time, enemy aliens fly in formation, and once all of the enemies arrive on screen, they will come down at the player's ship in formations of one or more and may either shoot it or collide with it. During the entire stage, the player may fire upon the enemies, and once all enemies are vanquished, the player moves onto the next stage.

Galaga has proven very successful. The arcade version of it has been ported to many consoles, and it has had several sequels, most recently Galaga Legions for the Xbox Live Arcade service.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot

The objective of Galaga is to score as many points as possible by destroying insect-like enemies. The player controls a starfighter spaceship that can move left and right along the bottom of the playfield. Enemies fly in groups into a formation near the top of the screen, then begin flying down toward the player, firing bombs at and attempting to collide with the fighter. Occasionally, a "boss Galaga" attempts to capture the player's fighter using a tractor beam – if successful, the fighter joins the formation and must be freed by the player (using another ship and costing him a life), enabling him to control two ships simultaneously. If the boss is destroyed while still in formation with a captured fighter, the fighter will disappear after leaving formation and then will appear again on the next level attached to another boss Galaga. If the fighter is shot by the player, it is destroyed and does not return. The game is over when the player's last ship is destroyed or captured.[1][2]

Galaga introduces a number of new features over its predecessor, Galaxian. Among these is the ability to fire more than one bullet at a time, a count of the player's "hit/miss ratio" at the end of the game, and a bonus "Challenging Stage" that occurs at level three, and from then onwards every four levels, in which a series of enemies fly onto and out of the screen in set patterns without firing at the player's ship or trying to crash into it.[1] These stages award a large point bonus if the player manages to destroy every enemy.

Galaga has an exploitable bug that can cause the attackers to stop firing bullets at the player, due to a coding error.[3] In addition, similar to the famous "Split-Screen bug" in Pac-Man, a bug exists in Galaga in which the game "rolls over" from Level 255 to Level 0. Depending on the difficulty setting of the machine, this can cause the game to stall, requiring that the machine be reset or power-cycled in order to start a new game.

Release history

Galaxian series

  1. Galaxian (1979)
  2. Galaga (1981)
  3. Gaplus/Galaga 3 (1984)
  4. Galaga '88 (1987)
  5. Galaga Legions (2008)

Ports and re-releases

File:A7800 Galaga.png
Galaga on the Atari 7800

The original arcade version of Galaga has been ported to several systems. These include:

The game has been re-released on the following systems:

  • Virtual Console – NES port released in North America on April 9, 2007; Arcade version released in Japan on November 24, 2009.
  • Xbox Live Arcade – Released July 26, 2006.
  • iPhone (Galaga REMIX, includes original) – Released March 31, 2009.
  • Playstation Network - Released July 16, 2009 in North America; April 1, 2010 in Australia and Europe.

Galaga has also been released as part of the Namco Museum series of collections across several platforms:

Galaga was used as a side game during the loading stage of the Playstation port of Tekken in 1995. This version consisted entirely of challenging stages. In Point Blank 2, there are a few Galaga challenging stages where the player must shoot a certain amount of enemies to complete the stage. In 2001 Namco released a "20 Year Reunion / Class of 1981" arcade unit which contained the original Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga games. Some of the original game's bugs are still present in this version, including the ability to stop all enemies from firing at the player. This version added a continue feature, once the player's lives are exhausted, the player can choose to continue or start over.

Namco most recently released Galaga on mobile platforms, starting in 2004. The game is available for play on most game-enabled cell phones, Palm devices and Pocket PCs.[4] In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the game, Sprint is also offering their wireless subscribers the chance to start the game in Dual Fighter Mode.[5]

Remakes

In 1995, Namco re-released Galaga along with an enhanced remake titled Galaga Arrangement, which features a number of graphical enhancements and gameplay differences from the original. Galaga Arrangement has subsequently been published as part of the Namco Museum compilation on several home video game consoles. Another remake, Galaga: Destination Earth, was released in 1998 for Windows, the Sony PlayStation, and the Game Boy Color.

A "Galaga Remix" game was part of the 2007 Wii compilation Namco Museum Remix, but its gameplay completely unlike that of the original – the Wii remote is used as a gun, and players must "protect Pac-Man as he rolls through space, and quickly shoot down invading forces before they attack him." [6]

Records

The world record high score for Galaga was set in June 1989 by Stephen Krogman of Boca Raton, Florida. Krogman scored 15,999,990 points based on Marathon rules.[7] On Jan 1, 2011 Andrew Laidlaw of Kirkland WA, reclaimed the Tournament setting world record (five ships only, set to greatest difficulty) with a score of 4,525,150 points.[8]

Galaga in popular culture

File:GalagaOrnament.JPG
Galaga Christmas tree ornament

In 1982, shortly after Galaga was released in the United States, MGM sent a Galaga machine to Matthew Broderick for him to practice prior to shooting the movie WarGames. He practiced for two months and the Galaga arcade unit makes two appearances in the film.[9] More recently, the ABC TV series Lost included a submarine named Galaga, in honor of the arcade game. Writers of the series would often play the game between writing sessions.[10]

In 2009, the Hallmark greeting card company released a Christmas tree ornament shaped like a Galaga arcade machine, complete with sound clips from the game.

Further reading

  • Sellers, John (2001). Arcade Fever: The Fan's Guide to the Golden Age of Video Games. Running Press. pp. 160 pages. ISBN 0-7624-0937-1.

References

  1. ^ a b Galaga at MobyGames
  2. ^ Galaga at the Killer List of Videogames
  3. ^ "Computer Archeology analysis of the Galaga no-fire bug". Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  4. ^ "Galaga". Namco Games. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  5. ^ "2009 News Releases". Sprint. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  6. ^ Description of the game on the publisher's website
  7. ^ "Galaga Marathon High Scores". TwinGalaxies.com. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  8. ^ "Andrew Laidlaw reclaims Galaga world record".
  9. ^ Matthew Broderick - Fact File
  10. ^ Official Lost Podcast/April 16, 2007

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galaga&oldid=408496899"