Classic old-school shooter
Another legendary arcade shooter from the early days of gaming, Galaxian is ostensibly similar to its main rival from the same period, Space Invaders. However, while its novelties made it stand out from the crowd at the time, those differences don't really mark it out as anything unusual today and yet it is an historically important game that retains its charms. Galaxian pretty much copies everything about Space Invaders, being a straightforward shooter where players control a spaceship and must destroy hordes of attacking aliens as they descend the screen. Mixing things up a bit is the aliens' occasional desire to launch themselves on kamikaze-style attacks towards the player, which makes this probably the first game to feature enemies with individual personalities. Also daring for the time were the game's visuals, which were in colour as opposed to the black and white of Space Invaders and while this may seem unremarkable now, it was an undeniable leap forward in the 70s. Although simplistic and lacking in variety, Galaxian is a tough and addictive old-school shooter that is a must play for video game historians or those curious about the industry's origins. It retains that 'one more go' feel of all the truly great arcade games and while its sequels Galaga and Gaplus add in new features, this remains the original and perhaps the best.
