Defender

Description

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

Alternate Titles

• "Earth Attack" -- Zellers title

Part of the Following Group

• Defender games

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User Reviews

A great game from the Atari era.	Atari 5200	Dark Lord (46)
The Apple II version of Defender had none of the appeal of the arcade game.	Apple II	Droog (468)

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
Game Freaks 365	Atari 2600	2004	8.3 out of 10	83
Commodore User	VIC-20	Jun, 1984		80
Digital Press - Classic Video Games	Atari 5200	Feb 14, 2004	8 out of 10	80
GameSpot	Xbox 360	Nov 20, 2006	6.6 out of 10	66
Games Radar	Xbox 360	Dec 21, 2006	6 out of 10	60
Game Chronicles	Xbox 360	Dec 18, 2006	5.6 out of 10	56
UOL Jogos	Xbox 360	Nov 24, 2009		40

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Trivia

The original Defender arcade was slow to become a hit when it was released as many thought it was too difficult due to its control configuration of five buttons and a joystick. It ultimately gained many fans and remained popular throughout the 1980s. Defender has been described in Gamasutra as "quite possibly, the hardest significant game there is".