Space Invaders
225K plays 1999 #Shooter
Space Invaders is a 1978 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Taito for arcades. Taito released it in Japan in July 1978 and overseas through a partnership with Midway Manufacturing later that year. Space Invaders was the first video game with endless gameplay and the first fixed shooter, setting the template for the genre. The goal is to defeat waves of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser cannon to earn as many points as possible.
Designer Tomohiro Nishikado drew inspiration from video games such as Gun Fight and Breakout, electro-mechanical target shooting games, and science fiction narratives such as the novel The War of the Worlds, the anime Space Battleship Yamato, and the film Star Wars. To complete development, he had to design custom hardware and development tools to use the features in microprocessor technology, which was new to him. Upon release, Space Invaders quickly became a commercial success worldwide; by 1982, it had grossed $3.8 billion ($10 billion in 2024-adjusted terms), with a net profit of $450 million ($1.2 billion in 2024 terms). This made it the best-selling video game and highest-grossing entertainment product at the time, and the highest-grossing video game yet. It is also one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
From Wikipedia's article Space Invaders
Keyboard controls
| N64 | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| Stick | ↑↓←→ |
| A | X |
| B | C |
| Z | Z |
| L | A |
| R | S |
| C buttons | IKJL |
| D-pad | TGFH |
| Start | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
A gamepad with an analog stick plays much better than the keyboard.
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
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Keyboard controls
| N64 | Player 1 |
|---|---|
| Stick | ↑↓←→ |
| A | X |
| B | C |
| Z | Z |
| L | A |
| R | S |
| C buttons | IKJL |
| D-pad | TGFH |
| Start | Enter |
Hotkeys
- 1 Quick save state
- 2 Quick load state
- 3 Change save slot
A gamepad with an analog stick plays much better than the keyboard.
Gamepads are detected when you press a button. Remap any key from the emulator’s Controls menu (gear icon).
4.0 Great job!
AllGame 4/5 · 1 review
Review scorecard
- Graphics 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Sound 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Control 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
- Fun Factor 4.0 out of 5 Overall fallback
Overall fallback: AllGame 4/5 · 1 review. Overall source The same 80/100 overall rating fills missing categories using the face scale; these are not separate category scores.
What the reviews talk about
Key wordsoriginalgroundbreakingrevolutionarysimplisticenjoyable
What the critics said
In placing the game at number 97, Next Generation editors wrote that it "provides an elegance and simplicity not found in later games."
— Next Generation, 1996
In describing it as a "seminal arcade classic", IGN's Levi Buchanan listed the game as the number eight "classic shoot 'em up" that same year.
— IGN, 2008 (Levi Buchanan) · about another version
From the Reception section of Wikipedia's Space Invaders article.
Scores
- 80 AllGame Arcade: 5/5 ; Atari 5200: 4/5 ; SNES: 4/5
- 90 Eurogamer2007 Arcade: 9/10 · other versions
- 80 Games World1994 Game Boy: 80% · other versions
From the review table in Wikipedia's Space Invaders article.
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