Bandai 1988

Shoot 'em Up

NES

1 Player | 2 Players Alternating

 

Galaga: Demons of Death

Captain: ...kshhh...DAY! MAYDAY! MAY... come in base... kshhh...
Base: Commander I'm picking up a faint transmission.
Captain: ...repeat MAYD..kshh... under attach...kshh... Hideous creatures
Base: Captain your signal is weak. Please retransmit...over
Captain: We've defeated thousands...kshh...sub-alpha missiles malfunction... stealth shields down... kshh...my men... desperate...kshh... horrible...kshh...
Base: Captain get a hold of yourself! It's only a video game! Do you copy? CAPTAIN??
Captain: . . . kshhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

Galaga—It's only a video game

In Galaga, you will face the endless armies of the Galaga aliens. You can move your fighter left and right to attack, and to also avoid enemy missiles and suicide attacks. Galaga ships will enter the screen in a looping pattern and then fall into formation. They are much easier to hit like this, but they won't wait forever! As they break off, each ship will begin its attack pattern against you and then once again rejoin the formation. After breaking the bulk of an enemy formation, they will break off and fly in an aggressive zig-zag pattern, making them harder to hit. After the last one is destroyed, the next wave will begin. In addition to being tougher than the other Galaga, the Boss Galaga has the ability to use its Tractor Beam. If you are caught in its path, your fighter will be captured. By defeating the Boss Galaga that has captured one of your fighters, it will rejoin you as a dual fighter; doubling your firepower. While waiting in formation, Bees will transform into a trio of other Galaga: Scorpions, Stingray, and Galaxian. If you can manage to destroy all three before they complete their attack pattern and return to formation, you will be rewarded with a huge amount of bonus points. Don't underestimate the raw power of a dual-fighter configuration. It may make you easier to hit, but the extra missiles will help you achieve perfect scores on Challenging Stages.

At the center of every Galaga fleet, you will find Bees, Butterflies and Boss Galagas. Destroying them in under certain conditions will yield a different amount of points: Bee Will fly towards your position and loop around after its dive attack Points: 50 (Formation) | 100 (Attacking) Butterfly Flies in a zig-zag pattern after your fighter when leaving formation Points: 80 (Formation) | 160 (Attacking) Boss Galaga Loops towards you with escort, and can deploy a ship-capturing tractor beam Points: 150 (Formation) | 400 (Attacking) | 800 (One Escort) | 1600 (Two Escorts) Scorpion Will fly in a single-file line to one side of the screen, then leave on the other side Points: 160 (Single) | 1000 (All Three) Stingray Flies in an expanding horizontal formation, exiting then re-entering on opposite sides Points: 160 (Single) | 2000 (All Three) Galaxian Two more will split away in flight, moving quickly at different angles Points: 160 (Single) | 3000 (All Three) Dragonfly Appears during Challenging Stage 3, won't directly attack you Points: 160 Satellite Appears during Challenging Stage 5, won't directly attack you Points: 160 Starship Appears during Challenging Stage 8, won't directly attack you Points: 160 Challenging Stages will begin at the 3rd stage, and then every 4th stage afterwards. Enemies won't attack you here, so it's more like a shooting gallery — a true test of your accuracy.

Game Genie Codes

XVOKVUXK	Unlimited Lives	Game Genie
ATNVSAVZ	Invincibility	Game Genie
PAKKKILA	Start with 1 Life	Game Genie
TAKKKILA	Start with 6 Lives	Game Genie
GXEVPAEI	Start with Twin Shot	Game Genie
OXSTZPSX YESTLOPY	Immune to Tractor Beam	Game Genie
GXOKOTEI	Play Only Challenging Stages	Game Genie
KPNIPZEA GANIZZIA AAVSIZPA	Press Start for Next Wave	Game Genie
GGVSGXOX EZVSIZPE UGVSTZSE	Press Start for Extra Life	Game Genie

 

 

Galaga
In Galaga, you will face off against endless waves of Galaga aliens in an attempt to achieve a high score. What sets this game apart from its predecessors is the way that enemies can move. No longer restricted to a grid-based movement, they can enter the screen in dazzling looping patterns and then break of to attack you in much the same way. The simple graphics make it much easier to tell enemies apart — important because they will attack in surprisingly different patterns.

In the arcade era, this was many people's introduction to the shooter genre. The fixed positioning of your fighter at the bottom of the screen may make it more forgiving for new players, compared to the free-moving shooters that would be released years later. As an early arcade game, Galaga doesn't have the polish and the extra features of later games like Gradius or Life Force, yet it remains a quintessential example of the shoot 'em up genre.