is a 1981

fixed shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a Video game genre, sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certai ...

arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...

developed and published by

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

. In North America, it was released by

Midway Manufacturing Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included '' Mortal Kombat'', '' Rampage'', ''Spy Hunter'' ...

. It is the sequel to ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who ...

'' (1979), Namco's first major video game hit in arcades. Controlling a starship, the player is tasked with destroying the Galaga forces in each stage while avoiding enemies and projectiles. Some enemies can capture a player's ship via a

tractor beam A tractor-beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. The concept originates in fiction: The term was coined by E. E. Smith (an update of his earlier "attractor-beam") in his novel ''Spacehounds of IPC'' (19 ...

, which can be rescued to transform the player into a "dual fighter" with additional firepower. Shigeru Yokoyama led development with a small team. Initial planning took about two months to finish. Originally developed for the

Namco Galaxian Namco was a video game developer and publisher, originally from Japan. Bandai Namco Entertainment is the successor to Namco and continues manufacturing and distributing video games worldwide. For Namco games released following the 2006 merger wit ...

arcade board, it was instead shifted to a new system as suggested by Namco's Research and Development division. Inspiration for the dual fighter mechanic was taken from a film that Yokoyama had seen prior to development, where a ship was captured using a large circular beam. The project became immensely popular around the company, with Namco's president Masaya Nakamura even taking interest. Although early location tests were unsuccessful, ''Galaga'' received critical acclaim and went on to become one of the most successful arcade games, routinely appearing on Japanese and American arcade charts through 1987. It is widely regarded as a classic of the

golden age of arcade video games The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development and cultural influence of arcade video games, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The period began with the release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978, ...

and one of the

greatest video games of all time This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from differ ...

. Critics applauded its gameplay, innovation, addictive nature and improvements made over its predecessor. Several home ports were released for a multitude of platforms, including the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-p ...

Atari 7800 The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one o ...

and

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

, alongside releases on digital distribution platforms such as

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...

. ''Galaga'' is also included in many Namco compilations. It was followed by a sequel in 1984, ''

Gaplus is a 1984 fixed shooter arcade game developed and released by Namco. It is the third game in the ''Galaxian'' series, serving as a direct sequel to ''Galaga'' (1981). In North America, a modification kit was later released to change the name to ' ...

''.

Gameplay

''Galaga'' is a fixed shooter. The player mans a lone starfighter at the bottom of the screen, which must prevent the Galaga forces from destroying all of mankind. The objective of each stage is to defeat all of the Galaga aliens, which will fly into formation from the top and sides of the screen. Similar to ''Galaxian'', aliens will dive towards the player while shooting down projectiles; colliding with either projectiles or aliens will result in a life being lost. Atop the enemy formation are four large aliens known as the "Boss Galaga", which take two shots to destroy. These aliens can use a

to capture the player's ship, returning with it to the top of the formation and costing the player a life. Should additional lives remain, the player has an opportunity to shoot down the Boss Galaga holding the captured ship. Shooting it down as it dives towards the player will result in the captured ship being rescued, and it will join the player's ship, transforming it into a "dual-fighter" with additional firepower and a larger

hitbox Collision detection is the computational problem of detecting the intersection of two or more objects. Collision detection is a classic issue of computational geometry and has applications in various computing fields, primarily in computer grap ...

. However, destroying a Boss Galaga with a captured ship while it is in formation will instead cause the fighter to turn against the player and act as an alien. The ship will return in a later level as part of the formation. Some enemies can morph into new enemy types with different attack patterns, with one even taking the form of the Galaxian Flagship. Stages are indicated by emblems located at the bottom-right of the screen. Enemies become more aggressive as the game progresses, increasing their number of projectiles and diving down at a faster rate. The third stage and every fourth thereafter is a bonus stage, where the aliens fly in a preset formation without firing at the player.

Development

''Galaga'' was created by Japanese developer Shigeru Yokoyama, a long-time veteran of

. Namco's first big video game hit in arcades was ''

'' (1979); the game's success led Namco to produce a large number of

arcade boards to keep up with demand. By the early 1980s the game was becoming harder to sell, so to help clear out inventory, Yokoyama was tasked with creating two new games that could run on the Namco Galaxian board. The first of these was '' King & Balloon'' (1980), a fixed shooter that is cited as the first video game to incorporate speech. The second game was instead made for newer hardware as suggested by Namco's Research & Development division. This new arcade board was named the

Namco Galaga Namco was a video game developer and publisher, originally from Japan. Bandai Namco Entertainment is the successor to Namco and continues manufacturing and distributing video games worldwide. For Namco games released following the 2006 merger wit ...

and was used in games including ''

Bosconian is a multidirectional scrolling shooter arcade game which was developed and released by Namco in Japan in 1981. In North America, it was manufactured and distributed by Midway Games. The goal of the game is to earn as many points as possible by ...

'' (1981) and ''

Dig Dug is a maze game, maze arcade game developed by Namco in 1981 and released in 1982, distributed in North America by Atari, Inc. The player controls Dig Dug to defeat all enemies per stage, by either inflating them to bursting or crushing them unde ...

'' (1982). Although Yokoyama was not given explicit instructions to make a shooting game, management expressed desire for him to make a game similar to ''Galaxian''. Initial planning for the project took two months. The idea for the dual fighter stemmed from Yokoyama wanting to create enemies with different attack styles. The tractor beam emitted by the Boss Galaga was inspired by a film in which a character's ship was captured by a circling laser. Yokoyama incorporated this idea into ''Galaga'', whereby an enemy could capture the player's ship with a beam and the ship would need to be rescued. Originally, rescuing a captured ship would award the player an extra life, but this was soon changed to having it fight alongside the player. This idea proved to be a problem at first; due to hardware limitations, the game could only display a limited number of sprites, resulting in the dual-fighter being unable to shoot any more missiles. As a workaround, Yokoyama made a 16x16 sprite for the ship and a 16x16 sprite for the bullets, reducing the total sprite count by two. Inspired by the intermissions in ''

Pac-Man originally called ''Puck Man'' in Japan, is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. Th ...

'' (1980) and bonus stages in ''

Rally-X is a maze chase arcade video game developed Namco and released in 1980. Players drive a blue Formula One race car through a multidirectional scrolling maze to collect yellow flags. Boulders block some paths and must be avoided. Red enemy cars ...

'' (1980), Yokoyama added a special bonus level. While planning, lead programmer Tetsu Ogawa informed him of a bug whereby enemies would simply fly off the screen instead of moving into formation. Ogawa expressed interest in incorporating the idea into the game, leading to the inclusion of the Challenging Stages. Enemies originally flew in one type of pattern, with more being added to increase replay value. Graphic designer

Hiroshi Ono Hiroshi Ono can refer to: * Hiroshi Ono (photographer) (born 1971), Japanese photographer * Hiroshi Ono (scholar) (born 1934), Japanese scholar * Hiroshi Ono (weightlifter) (born 1950), Japanese Olympic weightlifter * Hiroshi Ono (artist) ( ...

designed many of the sprites, including the player's ship and the Boss Galaga alien. Prior to location testing, the team focused on designing the instruction card, a sheet of paper that showed how the game was played. The text was done by the planners, while the actual design was handled by a graphic artist. The card originally showed the control layout and the basics of the game, which was stripped early on for being too boring. Yokoyama suggested that the card instead show off the dual fighter mechanic, as a means to draw in players. The team kept bringing in designs to Namco president Masaya Nakamura, who continued to reject them until he ordered the team to simply make it in front of him. The team was allowed to set their own deadlines, due to Namco's then-laidback corporate structure. Feedback on the project was given by Nakamura and other employees, including ''Pac-Man'' creator

Toru Iwatani is a Japanese video game designer who spent much of his career working for Namco. He is best known as the creator of the arcade game '' Pac-Man'' (1980). Early life Iwatani was born in the Meguro ward of Tokyo, Japan on January 25, 1955. While ...

. Despite the game's immense popularity around the company, early location tests failed to meet expectations due to players being able to progress a long way with only one coin, thus generating low income. Although Yokoyama stated that the game's popularity could still generate income, Namco executives instructed the team to increase the difficulty level. ''Galaga'' was released in Japan in September 1981. It was released in North America by

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...

in October of that year.

Conversions

''Sega-Galaga,'' the first home conversion of ''Galaga,'' was published by

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

for the

SG-1000 The is a home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. Developed in response to a downturn in arcades starting in 1982, the SG-1000 was created on the advice of Hayao Nakay ...

in 1983. An MSX version followed a year later in 1984. A conversion for the

Family Computer The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

was released in 1985 for Japan, which was later released internationally by Bandai for the

, subtitled ''Demons of Death'' in North America.

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

published an

version as one of the console's thirteen launch games. In Europe,

Aardvark Software Nick Pelling is a British-born computer programmer and investigative writer best known as the creator of the 1984 game '' Frak!''."Desert Island Disks: Nick Pelling". ''Retro Gamer'' 26, pp. 82-85. Games Developed As Aardvark Software ...

released an unofficial port for the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

and

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

called ''Zalaga'' in 1983 which was described by ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' as "true to the arcade original". Namco published a

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

version in Japan in 1995, ''Galaxian & Galaga,'' bundled with ''Galaxian''.

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

published the game outside Japan under the ''

Arcade Classic ''Arcade Classic'' is a series of five compilations of arcade games for Game Boy released in 1995. The first four were published by Nintendo, while the fifth was developed and published by Black Pearl Software. Each cartridge includes two games ...

'' brand. Two mobile phone versions were released, both confined to Japan; the first was for

i-Mode NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and the packet- ...

in 2001, and the second for

EZweb au, or au by KDDI, is a Japanese mobile phone operator. au is a brand marketed by KDDI in the main islands of Japan and by Okinawa Cellular in Okinawa for their mobile cellular services. au is the List of mobile network operators of the Asia P ...

in 2006. The original arcade version was released for the

service in 2006, featuring online leaderboards and achievements. The NES release was ported to the

Wii Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

in 2007, followed by the arcade version in 2009. A

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...

port was published in 2011. In 2013, the NES version was released on both the

3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

and

Wii U Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

. ''Galaga'' was one of the four games released under the ''

Arcade Game Series The is a line of downloadable Namco arcade games by Bandai Namco Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. They were all released on April 20, 2016. Games ''Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 + Arcade Game Series'' A retail d ...

'' brand, which was published for the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

in 2016. ''Galaga'' was included in Namco compilations including ''

Namco Museum Vol. 1 is a 1995 arcade video game compilation developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation. The collection includes seven arcade games developed by the company that were originally released in the 1980s, such as '' Pac-Man'', ''Galaga'' and ' ...

'' (1995), '' Namco Museum 64'' (1996), ''

Namco Museum 50th Anniversary is a series of video game compilations developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for home video game consoles. The first title in the series, '' Namco Museum Vol. 1'', was released for the PlayStation in 1995. Entries in the series ...

'' (2005), ''

Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is a video game compilation developed and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It was released in North America in 2008 and in Europe and Japan in 2009. Part of its ''Namco Museum'' series, ''Virtual Arcade'' includes 34 titles; nine ...

'' (2008), ''

Namco Museum Essentials ''Namco Museum Essentials'' is a 2009 video game compilation developed by Cattle Call and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation 3. The collection includes five Namco arcade games from the 1980s: ''Pac-Man'' (1980), ''Galaga'' (1981), ...

'' (2009), and ''

Namco Museum Megamix was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, ...

'' (2010). The 2010

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

game ''

Pac-Man Party is a party game by Namco Bandai Games for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS. It is similar to the ''Mario Party'' series and ''Monopoly'' games for the Wii. In the game's story mode, players must retrieve a stolen cookie recipe from Pac-Man's enemies Blin ...

'' and its 2011 Nintendo 3DS version include ''Galaga'' as an extra, alongside the arcade versions of ''

'' and ''

''. In celebration of the game's 30th anniversary in 2011, a high-definition remake was released for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

devices as part of ''

Galaga 30th Collection is a 2011 video game compilation published for iOS devices by Namco Bandai Games. It was created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ''Galaga''. It allows users to play remakes of the games in the ''Galaxian'' series. It is free to download an ...

'', which also included remakes of ''

'', ''

'' and ''

Galaga '88 is a 1987 fixed shooter arcade video game by Namco. It is the third sequel for ''Galaxian'' (following ''Galaga'', and ''Gaplus''). It features significantly improved graphics over the previous games in the series, including detailed backgrounds, ...

''. Alongside the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sequel ''

Galaga Legions is a 2008 Shoot'em up, twin-stick shooter video game developed and released by Namco Bandai Games for the Xbox 360. It is the twelfth game in the ''Galaxian'' series, and the third developed for home platforms. The player controls a starship, the ...

'', it was ported to the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

in 2011 as part of '' Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions''. The original version was also added to the iOS ''

Namco Arcade is a discontinued compilation of classic arcade video games, and was made for iOS and Android by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Namco Arcade was discontinued and removed from both the App Store and Google Play marketplaces on March 15, 2016. Pur ...

'' compilation in 2012. The NES release is one of 30 games included in the

NES Classic Edition NES Classic Edition is a dedicated home video game console by Nintendo, which emulates the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It launched on November 10, 2016 in Australia and Japan, and November 11, 2016 in North America and Europe. Aesthet ...

Reception

''Galaga'' was met with acclaim, with many applauding the addictive nature, gameplay structure, innovation and improvements over its predecessor, and was a popular game during the

. In Japan, it was the sixth highest-grossing arcade game of 1981, then the third highest-grossing arcade game of 1982, and then the ninth highest-grossing

table arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. In North America, it regularly appeared on the monthly sales chart of ''RePlay'' magazine from April 1980 to April 1987, being only outdone by

's '' Monaco GP'' (1979). ''Galaga'' was among the top ten highest-grossing arcade games of 1983 in the United States. ''

Computer + Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website w ...

'' praised the challenge and improvements made over ''

'', while ''Arcade Express'' selected it as an "Honorable Mention" in their 1983 arcade awards. Japanese publication ''Amusement Life'' said that the sense of thrill and fast-paced action made ''Galaga'' a "must play", while also praising its unique dual-fighter mechanic and colorful graphics. ''Vidiot'' magazine listed it as the seventh best arcade game of 1983, saying that its gameplay variety, dual-fighter mechanic and bonus stages made it stick out from the crowd. In a 1998 retrospective review, ''

AllGame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

'' said the strategy stood out amongst other games of its type, describing the gameplay as "perfectly balanced shooting action." Reviewing the NES home version, ''

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...

'' called ''Galaga'' a "must play for arcade freaks", praising the port's accurate representation of the arcade version in terms of its graphics, sound effects and gameplay. ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' also praised the NES port's element of strategy within the dual-fighter mechanic and addictive gameplay. ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'', in their review for the Xbox 360 release, stated the gameplay was "as tricky as it ever was", praising the inclusion of online leaderboards and for being a faithful arcade conversion. ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...

'' agreed, citing that the leaderboards add to addictiveness. Ports of ''Galaga'' received praise for their faithfulness to the arcade original. ''

Nintendo Life Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...

'' praised the

3DS Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

port of the NES version for remaining accurate to the original, stating that it "aged surprisingly well" and was worth revisiting. ''Games'' magazine praised the improvements over games such as ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter and set ...

'' and ''

'', commenting that ''Galaga'' still holds up years later. ''Joystick'' magazine praised the NES version's accurate portrayal of the arcade original, notably in its graphics and gameplay structure. ''

Famicom Tsūshin formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' commended the Game Boy version's faithful conversion alongside its support for the

Super Game Boy The is a peripheral that allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. Released in June 1994, it retailed for $59.99 in the United States and £49.99 in the United Kingdom. In South Korea, it is call ...

peripheral, while ''Electric Playground'' stated that it should " be near the top of your Game Boy's next purchase list". Some publications expressed disappointment towards home releases for lacking extra features. ''

'' disliked the lack of online multiplayer in the Xbox 360 release, as well as the lack of an updated graphics setting, saying that the port was "awfully bare bones" compared to other XBLA releases. ''Eurogamer'' expressed distaste towards the Xbox 360 port's high price point, as well as the achievements for being "insultingly easy" to obtain. ''Eurogamer'' also agreed with ''GameSpot'' in the lack of online multiplayer. ''Galaga'' has been listed by numerous publications among the

. ''Flux'' magazine ranked it at #57 on their "Top 100 Video Games" in 1995, while ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

'' listed it at #23 in their "Top 200 Games of All Time" in 2010. ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' ranked it at #96 in their "Top 100 Games of All Time" for its innovation to shoot 'em up games as a whole, and at #17 in their "Top 50 Games of All Time". ''

'' labeled it the 19th greatest video game ever made in 2001, calling it the best game of the fixed-shooter genre. ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' listed it at #20 in their "100 Best Games of All Time" in 1997 and "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 2001, and as #28 in their "Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time" in 2006.

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

users voted it the 15th greatest game ever made in 2004 and the 10th in 2009. ''GameSpy'' staff voted it the eighth best arcade game of all time in 2011. It was ranked at #93 in

's "Top 100 Games of All Time" for its addictive gameplay and long-standing appeal. The

Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pla ...

listed it as #27 in their "Top 100 Video Games" list, as well as the 4th most collected arcade game and 2nd most popular on their website. ''

'' listed ''Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga - Class of 1981'' as the second best arcade game of all time for its inclusion of both games.

Related media

Shortly after the game's release, Namco produced miniature ''Galaga'' cabinets for buses and airplanes, housed in small 17-inch CRT monitors. In 2000, Namco released an arcade cabinet to celebrate the game's 20th anniversary, which was bundled with ''

Ms. Pac-Man is a 1982 maze arcade game developed by General Computer Corporation and published by Midway. It is the first sequel to '' Pac-Man'' (1980) and the first entry in the series to not be made by Namco. Controlling the title character, Pac-Man's ...

'' and titled ''Ms. Pac-Man / Galaga - Class of 1981''. A similar cabinet was released in 2005 that also included the original ''Pac-Man'', made to celebrate the latter's 25th anniversary. ''Galaga'' is also included in both ''Pac-Man's Arcade Party'' (2010) and ''Pac-Man's Pixel Bash'' (2019). ''Galaga'' has made cameo appearances in films including ''

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'' (1983), ''

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'' (1984), ''

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'' (1987), ''

The Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes ** Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes o ...

'' (2012), and ''

Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...

'' (2015). A submarine named after the game appears throughout the ABC television series ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

''.

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a private, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is the oldest and largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was award ...

released a ''Galaga'' arcade cabinet ornament in 2009, which played sound effects from the game. In 2019, researchers at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

named an extinct species of shark ''Galagadon nordquistae'', due to the shark's teeth bearing a resemblance to the ''Galaga'' aliens. ''Galaga'' is also the subject of several high score-based tournaments; as of 2020, the world record is held by Jordan Dorrington with a score of 20,980,450 points. ''Galaga'' was used as a loading screen minigame in the PlayStation version of ''Tekken (video game), Tekken''. As a tie-in with the anime series ''Space Dandy'', an iOS remake, ''Space Galaga'', was released in 2015, featuring characters and starships from ''Space Dandy'' intermixed with ''Galaga'' gameplay. A similar crossover game, ''Galaga: Tekken Edition,'' was released the same year, replacing enemies with characters from the ''Tekken'' franchise. A ''Galaga''-themed costume is also available as downloadable-content in ''LittleBigPlanet 3''. The Boss Galaga appears as an item in ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U'' and its followup ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', where it can capture an opponent and carry them off the screen. ''Ultimate'' also features a remix of the ''Galaga'' soundtrack. An animated television adaptation, ''Galaga Chronicles'', is confirmed to be in development.

Notes

References

External links

Official website (English)Play Galaga Online (English)
* {{Authority control 1981 video games Arcade video games Atari 7800 games Fixed shooters Galaxian IOS games Midway video games Mobile games MSX games Namco arcade games Nintendo Entertainment System games Original Xbox Live Arcade games SG-1000 games Vertically-oriented video games Video game sequels Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Virtual Console games for Wii U Xbox 360 Live Arcade games