Galaxian



Galaxian was an arcade game originally released by Namco, which was developed for home use on the Atari systems by Atari.

Gameplay
Galaxian is a shoot 'em up in which the player is at the bottom of the screen, with an arrangement of aliens at the top. The player moves left and right to aim at an alien, then shoots a bullet up the screen, and the alien it hits is killed. The aliens are classed as Drones (blue), Emissaries (purple), Hornets (red), and Commanders (flagships), with those higher up the screen scoring more points when destroyed. At set intervals an enemy will move down the screen towards you, escorting a bomber, which is a moment of high danger. Clear a wave and another is generated.

Scoring

 * Blue Galaxian (Drone) -- 30 points in formation, 60 when attacking
 * Purple Galaxian (Emissary) -- 40 points in formation, 80 when attacking
 * Red Galaxian (Escort) -- 50 points in formation, 100 when attacking
 * Galaxian Flagship -- 60 points in formation, 150 when attacking alone, 200 when attacking with one Escort, 300 when attacking with two Escorts, 800 when both Escorts are destroyed first when attacking

Home Versions
Of the home versions that exist for the Atari systems, the Atari 2600 is graphically different from the arcade in that all the Galaxians are given a bug-like appearance similar to that of the aliens from Galaga.

Trivia
Galaxian was one of the missions included in the Gorf arcade game, but was left out of all home versions of the game due to copyright issues.