Galaxian Sucks.

[Lastblade]

Loved it as a kid, didn't age too well nowadays.

[Csonicgo]

:kicks machine:

 

 

Yes, that's right, machine.

[tssk]

I used to love it but Galaga made it redundent (IMHO)

 

However, it did spawn a whole host of great imitators.

 

Megamania for one

[tillenterprises]

I love all those "slide and shoot" games- Galaxian, Space Invaders, Galaga, Phoenix, Space Armada, Demon Attack, Megamania, etc. Galaxian was and still is cool for all the reasons mentioned- it came out at a time when we were all still Space Invaders crazy, and then, all of a sudden, there was this new, full-color game at the pizza parlor, where you didn't have to wait until the aliens came marching back and forth to come down like a typewriter carriage. Like impatient kids, a few aliens would break off from the armada and come screaming down at you. Part of the fun was the tension of waiting to see which ones would break off and come at you next, and making sure you're not trapped in the corner when they get there. And the sound effects, especially when there's just a few left, and they're all coming down at you, screaming like they're in pain- it doesn't get much better than that!

[tillenterprises]

oh- I also agree with goatdan- the Colecovision version is awesome- the animation and the challenge is great- very addictive!

[atari_wizard]

i don't think galaxian is that bad. i like it. now, i do enjoy galaga more....................................................however, every now and then i pop in the good old galax!

[DeV0]

Galaxian is an excellent game and much more of a challenge then say,, galaga. The sound effects keep me going and as a kid i'd look for either galaxian x or galaxian turbo as they are imho the best versions. Galaga is great but its too damn easy,,

[raindog]

Now that I think about it some more, when I ran into Moon Cresta (or maybe it was Eagle.... same game, anyway) I thought it was a sequel to Galaxian, since it had the same slightly garish colors, same annoying kind of high-pitched sound effects, etc., but was made vastly more interesting by the docking sequence and subsequent power-up (was that the first ever power-up in a videogame, as opposed to time/life/fuel extension?)

 

Anyway, Galaga appeared and I forgot about that too, but I still probably play Moon Cresta in MAME more than Galaxian.... now there's a game that belongs on one of those games-in-a-stick

 

I also loved Phoenix, but never mistook it for a sequel to Galaxian.

[PaulEMoz]

Moon Cresta is rubbish. It seems more interesting, sure, with the docking of the rockets and the nice high score table, but the game itself is dull and irritating. Play it for a while and you'll see.

[PaulEMoz]

Oops, you did play it for a while and I can't edit my post. Ah well, I still think Moon Cresta is rubbish!

[VidGameKing]

I found Galaxian's ability to fire to be somewhat slower than that of Galaga. and so I prefer Galaga over Galaxian.

[NE146]

Moon Cresta is rubbish.  It seems more interesting, sure, with the docking of the rockets and the nice high score table, but the game itself is dull and irritating.  Play it for a while and you'll see.

 

I did play it for a while.. like a couple thousand times. I don't know about the states, but where I'm from and in Asia, Moon Cresta was found literally everwhere. Movie theaters, Laudrymats, Shopping malls, wherever. It was a long time before you could go anywhere without hearing it's intro music. You may think it's nothing now.. but "rubbish" games don't tend to be such big hits

[PaulEMoz]

Well back then, Moon Cresta was a big thing. I loved it when it came out. But, I've had reason to play a lot of shooter games lately, and that one was just awful compared to the other classics. At least, to me it was. I didn't enjoy it at all. Still, that's no reason for others not to enjoy it.

[Vic George 2K3]

I just like the sounds Galaxian makes when you hit an alien with a laser shot. That and also Eagle/Moon Cresta.

 

Of course, as far as challenge goes, I prefer playing Super Galaxian and Moon Alien Part 2.

[SS]

I just like the sounds Galaxian makes when you hit an alien with a laser shot.

 

YES! Don't know if I've ever put it into a coherent thought before but that's a great sound effect. In fact all of the sounds in Galaxian are very well done. Maybe they're a good part of the appeal of the game for me. I can totally "hear" them in my head when I think about them but I can't quite do the same with Galaga.

[pinball22]

Yeah, while I find Galaga more fun, I think Galaxian has an edge over it in sound/graphics.

The aliens have more interesting/memorable designs, I think, and the sound effects are great.