"Classic Alien-Shooter with that still seem creative"

Galaga was touted as an improvement to Galaxian--there is no argument here from this reviewer. On finding a ''retro'' video game parlor that charged a nickel per game, I started to play Galaxian, won the first level, and walked away before all my ships got killed. It was that bad. Galaga has many of the same features: continual boards with alien ships on the top that divebomb you and fire at you, with you on the bottom. There are four ''bosses'' that require two hits and are worth more if they dive at you with red alien escorts(who are in the middle) and blue aliens at the bottom of the formation. One part of Galaga that is an improvement is that the aliens don't just appear at the beginning of the stage. They COME IN OFF THE SIDE OF THE SCREEN, in waves. That they loop around before getting in place only makes their arrival more dramatic.

And they get tougher as the stages go on. Of course, the stages get faster, but other nasty things begin to happen as more aliens bite the dust and you begin to prove you're for real. First, nobody fires at you until they are in formation. The second wave, they fire at you. The fourth stage, two aliens are added to each wave, and instead of going in the formation they go to the bottom of the screen. Shooting them doesn't cut out the formation at the top, but it may save your life. Every four stages, two more monsters are added. But you do have a nice break; at the third level and every fourth level thereafter, you have a ''bonus level.'' The enemies run around and can be shot, but they won't shoot you. You get 100 points extra per enemy shot and ten grand for a perfect score.

What sets Galaga completely apart from other space games is the idea of sacrifice. It's not on the level of chess, but it's still unique to video games to this day. Some greedy machines offer a chance to start with, say, six lives instead of three for an extra measly quarter. This one has tractor beams(which are still cool even after Star Wars) the bosses would shoot out. If your ship gets stuck in one, it will turn red and become like an alien. You'll lose a ship, but if you shoot the boss as it attacks(not your ship! The 1000 points is a scant consolation for that,) your ship would return and you would have double firepower(you'd be a big target, too!) This is awesome in the bonus rounds but takes some time to get used to. So it works doubly to make sure those quarters don't rip a hole in your pocket.

Gameplay is relatively simple. You, at the bottom of the screen, can move left and right(your fighter cannot wrap) and fire up at the monsters. You can have a maximum of two shots(when you have two fighters, that is one pair of shots) on the screen at any time. This is helpful when you are in a bonus stage, and enemies swoop low--you can pile up points quickly.

Graphics are pretty neat--the best is saved for the bonus rounds, when all sorts of monsters take all sorts of routes. It's also fun to watch the small blue monster that turns into three separate ones, if you are not distracted by shooting other monsters as well. There are also cool markers in the lower right which denote what stage you are on, and the background is neat--a bunch of pixels stream down at you at different rates, which is not quite as effective as Moon Patrol's fake 3-d but is rather neat(and more colorful than the night sky.) Sounds are really a lot of fun. Canonical techno-zapping sounds, nothing fancy, and it does not need to be. The waiting/end-of-game tunes and high-score tunes are catchy as well.

Galaga is an absolute blast, and it is very addictive, too. The clearest logical quirk in it may be that the bonus rounds seem to get easier as the levels pile up, which is certainly forgivable from this fair-to-middling gamer. Also, the blue aliens give you less points than the reds, even though they have the nasty habit of diving at your fighter and circling back over before falling off the bottom of the screen and reappearing at the top. Even so, the bonus levels present a unique challenge apart from the score. It's fun to score perfectly on as many bonus rounds as you can--with one or two ships. Of course, the game can be played with the intention of having one or two shooters. And no matter what you score, you will take a look at the hits percentage Galaga displays after the game is over--even if you are pretty sure you don't care.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/00, Updated 11/01/00