Defender put players in charge of a ship sent to protect mankind from wave after wave of attacking alien forces.

Armed with "smart bombs", and the ability to use hyperspace to move quickly around the planet, the player ship must fight against Bombers, Pods, Swarmers, Baiters, and Landers - that can capture the humanoids and transform them into deadly and relentless Mutants. Fail to save the humanoids from freefall or Mutant transformation, and the planet is destroyed.

Eugene Jarvis' Defender has been widely regarded as one of the most popular and addictive space shooters of the early 1980's

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Alternate Titles

"Earth Attack" -- Zellers title

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Part of the Following Group

Defender games

Merchant	Title
	Defender
	Defender
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User Reviews

A great game from the Atari era.	Atari 5200	Dark Lord (51)
The Apple II version of Defender had none of the appeal of the arcade game.	Apple II	Droog (468)

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The Press Says

The Video Game Critic	Atari 8-bit	Jan 28, 2003	A	100
The Video Game Critic	Intellivision	Sep 22, 2002	A-	91
The Video Game Critic	ColecoVision	Mar 30, 2003	A-	91
The Video Game Critic	Atari 5200	Aug 17, 2004	B+	83
Game Freaks 365	Atari 2600	2004	8.3 out of 10	83
Digital Press - Classic Video Games	Atari 5200	Feb 14, 2004	8 out of 10	80
Commodore User	VIC-20	Jun, 1984		80
Micro 7	Commodore 64	Apr, 1984		50
UOL Jogos	Xbox 360	Nov 24, 2009		40
The Video Game Critic	Atari 2600	Jul 14, 2002	D	25

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Trivia

Game creator Eugene Jarvis cites Space Invaders and Asteroids as major influences on the design of Defender.

[Source: Retro Gamer Magazine, Load 55]

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This entry was contributed by Corn Popper (66128), Trixter