Galaxian

Yet another random game... I inserted 1 coin... got a score of 4770... poor me

Galaxian (c) 10/1979 Namco.

A legendary single-screen shoot-em-up that took everything that made Taito's ground-breaking "Space Invaders" so good, and improved upon it on every level. Each screen starts with a wave of multi-coloured aliens moving left and right at the top of the screen; the aliens quickly break ranks and start dive-bombomg the player - either in single units or in groups of three - dropping multiple missiles as they descend. All of the aliens need to be destroyed before the player can progress to the next wave.

- TECHNICAL -

This was the first title to use the now familiar 'Namco Cabinet', which was used for Galaxian, "Galaga", "Pac-Man", "Ms. Pac-Man". Several other titles used nearly identical cabinets as well. These machines are white, with painted sideart of a green dragonfly alien (done up in blue, green. and black). The marquee is rather large and displays a blue and green 'Galaxian' logo (which is painted on a sheet of glass, they don't make them like that anymore). The control panel and monitor bezel are not highly decorated, but do feature some game instructions. Finally this machine uses neon green t-molding (edge trim), it is difficult to find replacement trim in that same exact shade.

The earliest Galaxian machines used a 25'' G02 monitor, but later machines shipped with the standard 19'' Electrohome G07 monitor. Any normal standard resolution arcade monitor should work as a replacement. "Pac-Man" PCBs will work in Galaxian machines, but require a 4-Way joystick, instead of the 2-Way model that Galaxian normally has. The sound pinout is also different, so one would need to rewire the connector to hear any Pac-Man sounds. You can also plug a Galaxian PCB into a Pac-Man. Again, the sound would need to be wired up at the connector and you'd have to push UP on the joystick to fire :)

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* The action starts immediately as soon as you start your game. The Galaxians will be set up in formation and your ship will be placed in the middle of the bottom of the screen. The action starts immediately. You can only have one shot in the air at any time so plan your shots accordingly. The game starts off slowly with only two or three Galaxians attacking your ship at one time. They will drop three to four laser shots. As the waves progress, more Galaxians will come after your ship until you will usually have 10-15 at any one time swooping down on your ship.

* The Galaxians that come down in a smooth pattern are the easiest to kill plus their shots are easy to avoid. The hard ones (usually the blue Galaxians) to kill are the ones where the Galaxian ''bounces'' from side-to-side dropping shots since those shots cover a very large area.

* The corners can be a death trap. When the Galaxians come down firing, their shots do not come straight down but they angle toward the direction that the Galaxian is traveling. In addition, the Galaxians have a tendency to ''charge'' into the corners. You get the points if a Galaxian rams your ship but you also lose your ship in the process.

* The Flagships are the big points in the game. Try to avoid shooting the red fighters since they act as escorts for the Flagship. Wait until a Flagship comes down with two escorts. If you can't get aligned to take all three out quickly, let them pass. If you do get a good angle on them, you will have to fire quickly to pick off the two escorts first, then the Flagship. If you hit the Flagship first, you get significantly less points.

* Do not stop moving. If you do, you will be caught in a crossfire. The Galaxians tend to leave small areas of safety open between their shots. Also, make sure you are constantly hitting their formation to reduce their numbers (again, don't kill off the red ones).

* As you progress into the higher waves, the Galaxians tend to move quicker, fly more erratic patterns, and "gang" up on your ship. Plan accordingly for this.