Galaxian

aka: Arcade Archives: Galaxian, Galaxia, Zero Time
Moby ID: 137
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/11 12:28 PM )
Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

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, Emissaries, Hornets and Commanders, 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.

Spellings

  • アーケードアーカイブス ギャラクシアン - Nintendo Switch / PlayStation 4 Japanese spelling
  • ギャラクシアン - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Videos

See any errors or missing info for this game?

You can submit a correction, contribute trivia, add to a game group, add a related site or alternate title.

Credits (Arcade version)

Planning
Hardware
Programming
Sound

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 19 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 151 ratings with 5 reviews)

An extremely faithful conversion of the original arcade game.

The Good
Most of the Atarisoft conversions of then-classic arcade games were flawless, and Galaxian is no exception. The lazy arc of the enemies as they dive to fire at you is identical to the arcade.

The Bad
CGA's color palette limits the game to four colors, so the game is not as colorful as its arcade parent.

Galaxian does absolutely no speed checking, so you need to slow down your PC (or find an original 4.77MHz 8088) to play it.

The Bottom Line
Like Galaxian? Got an old PC? You know what to do.

PC Booter · by Trixter (8952) · 1999

Still fun today

The Good
It's very good port of Arcade Galaxian. Graphics is ok, sound is also surprisingly good (no annoying beeps from speaker, but rather short bursts), but of course, what's standing out is gameplay. It's quite addictive, perfect for casual gaming and compared to other arcade titles from the same era, game let's you play nice long sessions. To explain: "survival" rate in some other arcades from that era was like few seconds without joystick (Robotron, Defender) and something more with joystick. In contrast, Galaxian is much more player-friendly, thus it's not so harsh even when compared to today's more relaxed difficulty standards. Setup your DOSBox on your home theater computer connected to TV, connect controller and you're ready for perfect family fun. But of course, don't forget to slow down your DOS emulator (400-500 cycles were ok for me).

The Bad
Again, no high score table saving, what's worse there's no high score table at all. There's just one number (highest score in actual session).

The Bottom Line
Perfect arcade fun, which stood test of time.

PC Booter · by Vladimir Dienes · 2023

A solid Space Invaders clone.

The Good
Not a real standout, Galaxian is a really solid game with nothing really special. It has adequate (CGA...) graphics, adequate gameplay...

The Bad
... and adequately horrible sound effects.

The Bottom Line
Well, if you liked Space Invaders, you'll like this one - it's not much different.

PC Booter · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 1999

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Galaxian appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

Atari 2600 programmer Mark Ackerman, at the time working in Atari's "think-tank" GCC, was granted a patent for his technique invented for the 2600 port of Galaxian, allowing eight sprites to be displayed in one row.

Extras

Atari's 2600 release of Galaxian came with the comic book Atari Force #5. Here is that comic at AtariAge.com

Graphics

Galaxian (and its clone, Cosmic Crusader) get away with relatively high framerates on the original 4.77MHz PC because they don't use the entire screen for a playfield; the right fifth of the screen (64 pixels) is unused. Another side-effect of shortening the playfield to a width of 256 pixels is the optimization of game calculations, stemming from the fact that horizontal coordinates fit in a single byte instead of two.

Re-release

Was later re-released under the Thunder Mountain label. What makes this trivia? Usually only Mindscape games were released under Thunder Mountain... Galaxian was originally licensed to Atari.

Awards

  • Retro Gamer
    • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #49 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Игги Друге, LepricahnsGold and FatherJack

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Galaxian³
Released 1990 on Arcade, PlayStation, 2014 on PS Vita...
Arcade Classic 3: Galaga / Galaxian
Released 1995 on Game Boy
Zero Team U.S.A.
Released 1993 on Arcade, 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Time Tunnel
Released 1982 on Arcade, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Galactic Invasion
Released 1981 on Bally Astrocade
Time Pilot '84
Released 1984 on Arcade, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Navarone
Released 1980 on Arcade, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
Rezon
Released 1991 on Arcade, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
Jungler
Released 2010 on Windows, Xbox 360, 2024 on PlayStation 4...

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 137
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Trixter.

Commodore 64, NES, Atari 2600, ColecoVision added by PCGamer77. Wii added by Michael Cassidy. FM-7, Sharp X1 added by Infernos. PC-8000 added by OmegaPC777. Atari 5200 added by RKL. Palm OS, Sharp Zaurus added by Kabushi. MSX added by Martin Smith. Arcade added by Pseudo_Intellectual. PC-6001 added by vermilion1. PC-88 added by Terok Nor. ZX Spectrum, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, VIC-20 added by Servo. PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch added by BOIADEIRO ERRANTE.

Additional contributors: vedder, Patrick Bregger, Grandy02, FatherJack, ZeTomes, Chamemo, BOIADEIRO ERRANTE.

Game added May 26, 1999. Last modified March 11, 2024.