Defender Game History
Defender is a true arcade classic. The game featured a side scrolling universe, which was very different to the majority of the other shooters of the era. In 1981 Defender was considered to be a flop at a video game trade show in Chicago. The reason being because it was considered to be too difficult. Judging by the success of the game, I don't think anybody listened.
The History of Defender
Designed by Eugene Jarvis, and released in 1980. Defender was developed and published by Williams Electronics. The game is a single or two player game of the scrolling shooter genre.
As the player you take control of a spaceship and are the last defender against the invading alien attack. The object is to protect the humanoid inhabitants and destroy the aliens. To help you defend the humanoids, there is a scanner situated at the top of the screen, which depicts the gaming environment.
The spacecraft is armed with two main weapons, which are; a cannon that emits a laser like beam, and a very powerful smart bomb, which has the capability of wiping out every enemy on screen. The only problem being that the craft is armed with only three smart bombs, so they must be used wisely.
There are numerous alien enemies to contend with, these range from; Mutants, Landers, Bombers, Pods, Swarmers and Baiters.
What made Defender so difficult was the control system. Instead of using standard joystick movements, the joystick controlled the vertical movement, but to change direction requires the player to tap the reverse button. As well as the reverse button, there were also thrust and hyperspace buttons.
Conversions and Sequels
Due to the success of the arcade version, Defender was inevitably released on numerous consoles and computer system, including;
BBC Micro
Atari 2600 and 5200
Commodore 64
Nintendo Game Boy
There have also been a number of sequels, these include;
Stargate (1982)
Strike Force (1991)
Defender 2000 (1995)
Galaga
Pac Man Classic Arca
Ms Pac Man
Tetris Arcade Game
Mortal Kombat
Doom
Classic Street Fight
Tron Game
Sonic the hedgehog
Raiden Space Ship Ga
Metal Slug
Ruff 'n' Tumble
Ping Pong Arcade Game
Iron Mikes Punchout
Kung Fu Remix
Berzerk
Whack a Craft Minecraft Game
Candy Crush
Bomb Jack
Quake
Fire Man Incoming Storm
Phoneix
Prince of Persia
Metal Slug Zombie Game
Football Game
Cyberbox
Sonic Speed Boat Racing
Jupiter Lander
Mini Putt
Bomberman
Sudoku
International Karate Plus
Neo Geo League Bowling
Skincraft Minecraft Game
Snake puzzle game
Rick Dangerous Amiga Atari ST
The Lost Vikings
Micro Machines Driving Racing Game
Missile Strike
Mahjongg
Alien Splatter
Jet Set Willy
Ghostbusters
Red Plane
Arkanoid
Checkers
Track and Field
The Great Giana Sisters
Pac-Xon
Q*bert
Puzzle bobble
The King of Dragons
Frogger
JetPac Spectrum Game
Final Fight
Ghosts n Goblins
Ninja Virus
Commando
Metroid
Poker
Astro Panic
Minesweeper
Double Dragon
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