Space invaders is considered by many as the forerunner to all modern games due to its innovations and popularity. It took video games beyond the realm of mild enthusiasts and turned it not only into a major pass time buy also business. By 1982 in the US it had grossed over $2Billion in quarters and its release in Japan caused a temporary shortage of 100-yen coins due to its popularity.
The game was so advanced for the time that the developer Tomohiro Nishikado spent over a year developing and designing the game; not only this but he also had to create and design custom hardware since hardware in Japan at the time was too primitive to run the game. The game was so popular that it has been parodied and referenced in popular culture many times.
The game is very similar to other arcade games at the time in terms of storyline. The game drops you straight into the action of the game and while it is very clear the goals you’re never quite sure why or how it all ever begun or would end. The only suggestion to storyline comes from the title itself in which you understand aliens are invading.
You control a cannon at the bottom of the screen using left and right to control the horizontal placement of the cannon while a third button controls firing the cannon. Each moment of the game rows of aliens above slowly move along and down, the aim of the game is to use the cannon and destroy the rows of aliens. There are bonus points for destroying special aliens that scroll across the top of the screen that requiring aiming through the rows of aliens below them. You are able to hide within four areas from the aliens own attacks against you, however these hiding places become destroyed over time. You lose a life every time your cannon is hit by the aliens.
The game respawns the alien wave once you have destroyed them all, each time you respawn the aliens they move faster meaning you have less time to destroy the aliens before they reach you and end the game.
Space Invaders is more than a classic, it is a legend amongst arcade games, the precursor to many modern games and is held in such high regard that its references within popular culture, its success and addictiveness will forever seal its memory within the chronicles of video games.
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