Galaga (NES)

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Description

Galaga is a vertical arcade shooter from Namco. You control a space fighter at the bottom of the screen, scrolling left and right in order to avoid oncoming bombs and kamikaze attacks from alien invaders--and to fire your own missiles to fight back!

There are an infinite number of stages to progress through. Every third level is a "challenge stage" in which you have a free chance to shoot as many aliens as possible and rack up bonus points.

Certain aliens have tractor beams they can use to capture one of your ships. If that wasn't your last "life," you can try to shoot that alien down and recapture your ship, giving you two ships at once and doubling your firepower.

A summary screen appears when the game is over, giving you both your final score and you final "hit ratio"--the number of missiles fired, enemies destroyed, and the percentage of targets hit.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Sega-Galaga" -- 1983, SG-1000 port
• "Galax" -- Sord M5 title
• "Galaga: Demons of Death" -- NES title
• "Arcade Game Series: Galaga" -- Steam release
• "ギャラガ" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Arcade Game Series
• Galaga licensees
• Galaxian series
• Galaxian variants
• Game Center CX challenge games
• Games referenced in movies
• Genre: Fixed-screen shoot 'em up

User Reviews

More fun than Galaxian or Space Invaders

Katakis | カタキス (41272)

unrated

Critic Reviews

Questicle.net	Jan, 2012	A+	100
The Video Game Critic	Sep 24, 2004	A	100
NES Times	Apr 03, 2006	9 out of 10	90
Joystick (French)	Apr, 1990	80 out of 100	80
Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the NES Library	2016		80
Retro Game Reviews	Sep 09, 2015		70
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Mar, 1989	8 out of 12	67
Power Play	May, 1989	60 out of 100	60
VideoGame	Jun, 1991		60
Retroage	Jul 04, 2013	6 out of 10	60

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Bug of Hit Ratio / Number of Hits on MSX version	1	486pc (18024) Jan 18, 2013

Trivia

1001 Video Games

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

Release

Galaga was one of the "Fabulous Eleven" launch games for the Atari 7800.

Xbox 360 version

Unlike other Xbox Live! Arcade titles, Galaga includes no additional features or enhancements, just the leaderboards, achievements and some art shown on the sides of the screen. That's unusual, as games like Frogger have a new two-player mode, and Namco had already developed an improved version of Galaga for Namco Museum Battle Collection.

Awards

• Game Informer
  • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #19 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll

Information also contributed by Sciere and FatherJack

Related Web Sites

• X360A achievement guide (X360A's achievement guide for Galaga.)