Space Invaders by Kimberly Keyes Stark
Pong was the first successful videogame but, to be honest, I was never able to get into that game fully because I didn't have too many friends as a child and I had problems with getting anyone to play that game with me. I once tried playing by myself where I controlled both paddles but it wasn't really much fun playing against yourself.
Over time other videogames were released and they eventually gave you the option of playing against the computer if you didn't have a friend with you. I began to get into videogames more and more as a teenager. By the time I became a high school junior in 1978, there was a cutting-edge game that made it stand out from the other videogames of the 1970's. That game was Space Invaders.
If Pong was the first successful videogame, then Space Invaders was the one that made videogames mainstream. Up until that point, I saw mostly kids and teenagers playing videogames in the arcades. With Space Invaders, I remembered seeing people in their twenties and thirties trying it out. I even saw middle-aged parents giving Space Invaders a shot.
Space Invaders had a premise straight out of a 1950's cheesy low-budget science fiction film: a group of aliens are slowly descending from the sky in an attempt to invade Earth. You are moving a missle around as you try to shoot down the aliens. In the meantime, those aliens are dropping bombs below and you had better duck quickly if you want to avoid being bombed. You could hide under some buildings but those shields are temporary since the aliens are slowly dropping bombs on them until they disappear.
Every now and them the aliens' mothership would fly high up across the screen. If you hit that ship, you got bonus points.
You have to shoot them off before they reach your level and overrun your missile. However, if you successfully knock off every single alien, the game starts again, this time the aliens are descending at a faster pace than before. Basically, you keep on going until you lose.
I can remember when the news media at the time pronounced Space Invaders as the game that you couldn't win. That's because the game kept on repeating itself at a faster and faster pace. Unlike most of today's console games, Space Invaders had a very thin plot that seemed to have no end. The crude graphics and sound effects (that consisted of just four sounds: the "thump-thump-thump" sound of the advancing aliens, the whoosing sound of the missi l es, the zapping sound of an alien being shot, and the high-pitched "woo-woo-woo" sound of the aliens' mothership as it flew by) are also pretty laughable by today's standards.
Yet the game was very addicting. When you played that game, you definitely felt an adrenaline rush as the aliens advanced closer to your missile and you had to quickly shoot those aliens if you wanted to avoid the "Game Over" screen.
How much of an impact did Space Invaders have on popular culture? One such example can be found on The Pretenders' debut album. There is a track called "Space Invader" that is bascially a punk rock instrumental track. The song fades at the end until the only sounds left are the familiar sounds of a Space Invaders game.
Space Invaders also led to a bunch of similar games that also became hits as well. There was Galaxian, which initially looked like a colorized version of Space Invaders until the ships started dive-bombing towards you. Then there was Galaga, which had a similar gameplay to Galaxian except you battled giant bugs in outer space. There was Phoenix, where you battled dive-bombing phoenix birds in outer space. The most blatant of the Space Invaders clones was Gorf, an arcade game that directly copied Space Invaders for one of the levels that the player must play in order to challenge an alien named Gorf at a series of matches.
Space Invaders itself spawned a few sequels but they weren't that much different from the original.
When I was visiting Ocean City, Maryland a couple of weeks ago, I managed to play a Space Invaders game that was located in the back of Marty's Playland (located on the Boardwalk) alongside other cl assic games of the 1970's and 1980's (including Tron, Tetris, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Battlezone). That game was still very compelling to play and it brought back lots of old memories. What's more, it still charged 25 cents per game (which was in contrast to the newer technologically-advanced games that cost anywhere between 75 cents to $1 per game).
Space Invaders is one classic arcade game that will never be forgotten.
DISCLAIMER: This blog is based on one person's biased opinions of which videogames should be considered to be classics and why. It is not meant to provide a complete history of the videogame industry, the latest videogame news, technical support, or hints on how to play a certain videogame. None of the videogame manufacturers or programmers mentioned here have endorsed or supported this blog in any way, shape, or form.
NOTE: If there are any errors or updates to what I have written about Space I nvaders, please send an e-mail to [link=mailto:kstarkREMOVE-ALL-CAPS-IF-NOT-SPAM@erols.com]kstarkREMOVE-ALL-CAPS-IF-NOT-SPAM@erols.com[/link] (remember to remove the capital letters from my mailing address before sending or else it will get rejected) and I'll edi t this piece when time permits.
SPACE INVADERS GAMES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE
NOTE: Most of the home versions of Space Invaders are basically souped-up 3-D versions of the original. If you beat the 3-D version on some platforms, you gain access to the original arcade version of the game. (However, I can't guarantee that this will happen to the version that you buy.)
Blast Pack (Windows 95/98)--It's a three CD pack that bundles Space Invaders with Asteroids and the Atari 2600 Classics.
Space Invaders (Windows 95/98/Me)
[link=http://www.amazon.co m/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00002SVEU/theunicornwithan/]Space Invaders (Game Boy Version)[/link]
Space Invaders (Game Boy Color Version)
Space Invaders (Game Boy Advance Version)
Space Invad ers (Super Nintendo Version)--Judging from the box, it looks like it uses the original graphics from the arcade version.
Space Invaders (Nintendo 64 Version)
Space Invaders (Playstation 1 Version)
RELATED PURCHASES
The Pretenders--This is their debut album that includes a track called "Space Invader", which pays homage to the game. Also includes their biggest hit, "Brass in Pocket", along with an interesting cover of the Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing."
SPACE INVADERS AND OTHER RELATED LINKS
Bob McPherson Download--You can download a Space Invaders clone, as well as clones of Pac-Man and Phoenix, to play on your Hewlett-Packard 48G series calculator.
Google's Space Invaders Directory--Features links to Space Invaders games that you can play for free.
The Internet Movie Database's Information on Space Invaders
Invadirs--This is a free tutorial in object-ori ented programming where you get to program your own Space Invaders game as part of the lesson. Sounds like a cool idea to me! ;-)
The Killer List of Videogames' Space Invaders Exhibit
[link=http://www.neave.com/w ebgames/invaders/]Neave's Webgames: Space Invaders[/link]--Play an online version of Space Invaders.
South Park Space Inva ders--If you like both South Park and Space Invaders, this free game is for you! The catch is that you must downloaded the game first and it only runs under Windows 95/98.
A Story About Space Invaders--A charming short memoir of a Space Invaders fan whose childhood obsession with this game has led to his later interest in restoring old arcade games.
The Ultimate Space Invaders Shrine--This site defini tely lives up to its title. It includes an online Flash version of the game, a history of the game, wallpapers, screensavers, emulators that you can download, and much more.<
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