A single-screen shoot-em-up in which the player controls a “fighter” spaceship and must defend the home planet against the oncoming flying formations of Galaga alien invaders. The fighter can only move left and right along the bottom of the screen. The aliens drop bombs and then form troop lines at the top of the screen; they then separate and attack the player’s ship. The top-line “boss” aliens can capture the player’s fighter and need to be shot twice before they are destroyed. The fighter can be retrieved by destroying the boss Galaga that captured it, but players must be careful not to destroy the captured ship itself, or that ship is lost. A rescued fighter links up with the player’s current fighter, doubling its fire power. As players progress, alien attack formations increase in number and speed and become more complex. Bonus fighters are awarded periodically throughout the game as players reach specific point values. Pinball lost momentum in this era as video games ruled the arcade during the ‘80s.
