What's the first ever game in the 'galaxian' game series? license#
Galaxian was released by Namco in Japan in November Midway, who had previously lost their license with Taito due to the success of Space Invaders in the west, was in the midst of trying to find a new partner for releasing games. Game balance was an important part of the game, as Sawano did not want to make the game suddenly spike in difficulty with no build-up or warning the development team made the number of enemies on-screen the same and gradually increased the difficulty as the player progresses, becoming more noticeable in later stages. The game was Namco's first arcade game to be composed with a synthesizer. Sawano and his team set out to make a game anybody could play, using a "simple is best" motto during production - this helped trim away large-scale ideas in favor of a game that could loop endlessly, and be able to use only two enemy types. Galaxian was designed by Kazunori Sawano, who had previously worked on many of Namco's electro-mechanical shooting gallery arcade games, notably Shoot Away To help capitalize on the game's success, Namco president Masaya Nakamura ordered Sawano to make the best "post-Invaders" game they could, which put a vast amount of pressure on the development team. Flagships will make a divebomb with two red escort ships - shooting all three of these will award the player bonus points, with extra points awarded to the destruction of the flagship. Enemies will make a divebomb towards the bottom of the screen while shooting projectiles in an attempt to hit the player. The player controls a starship called the "Galaxip", the objective being to clear each round of aliens. Galaxian has also been ported to many home systems, and is included in numerous Namco compilations. Its success led to several sequels and reimaginings most notable of these is Galagawhich usurped the original in popularity. In retrospect, it has gained fame for its historical importance and technological accomplishments. It is one of the best-selling arcade games of all time in North America, with over 40, arcade units sold by The game was celebrated for its gameplay and usage of true color graphics. Galaxian was Namco's first major arcade hit. Galaxian is one of the first video games to feature RGB color graphics, and the first ever to use a tile-based hardware system. He was inspired by the cinematic space combat scenes in Star Warswith enemies originally being in the shape of the film's TIE Fighters. Sawano strived to make the game simplistic and easy to understand.
Space Invaders was a sensation in Japan, and Namco wanted a game that could compete against it. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, who dive down towards the player in an attempt to hit them.ĭesigned by company engineer Kazunori Sawano, Galaxian was Namco's answer to Space Invadersa similar space shooter released the previous year by rival developer Taito. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. It was licensed and distributed by Midway Manufacturing in North America. Galaxian is a fixed shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco.