Defender Details, Meaning Defender Article and Explanation Guide

Defender Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

This page is about the arcade game Defender. For the association football position of defence, see Defender (football).

*Defender*

Developer:	Williams Electronics
Publisher:	Williams Electronics
Game designer:	Eugene Jarvis
Release date:	1980
Genre:	Scrolling shooter
Game modes:	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Cabinet:	Standard and cocktail
Controls:	Joystick; 5 buttons
Monitor
Orientation:	Horizontal
Type:	Raster, standard resolution
Notes
Considered one of the best arcade games of all time; Developed during the Golden Age of Arcade Games;Highest grossing videogame ever along with Pac-Man; #8 in the KLOV

Defender is a horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game created by Williams Electronics in 1980. It was programmed by Eugene Jarvis, who later formed Vid Kidz and made more of Williams' hits. This game was an incredible hit when it was released and remained popular throughout the 1980s. It shares the title with Pac-Man as highest grossing arcade game ever.

Table of contents

1 Gameplay

1.1 Humans
1.2 Aliens
1.3 Controls

2 Legacy
3 Ports
4 See also
5 External link

Gameplay

The player flies a small, aerodynamically-shaped spaceship above a long, mountainous planetary landscape. The land is inhabited by a small number of humans. The landscape wraps around, so flying constantly in one direction will eventually bring the player back to their starting point.

A number of flying aliens reside in the air above the landscape. The player's responsibilities are twofold: To destroy all aliens, and to protect the humans from being captured. The player is armed with a powerful laser-like weapon which can be fired rapidly in a long horizontal line ahead of the spaceship.

Humans

Only one type of alien, called a Lander, can capture a human. It descends on its hapless victim from above, and drags it vertically upward into the air. A warning sound is relayed to the player when this happens. If the Lander makes it all the way to the top of the screen, the alien and human fuse together to form a new, dangerous alien called a Mutant. Mutants home in on the player at a constant speed, and also fires at them.

To prevent this happening, the player must shoot ascending Landers and catch the human themselves before returning them to the ground.

If all humans are killed, the entire planet explodes, leaving the player in empty space. This also has the unfortunate effect of turning every Lander into a Mutant, making the player's job very difficult.

Aliens

There are six types of aliens in total.

Lander - The primary enemy on every level. Can fire projectiles at the player. Captures humans and can fuse with them to become Mutants. Landers teleport into the level in waves.
Mutant - A mutated Lander. Homes in on the player at constant speed, firing projectiles.
Baiter - A flat, iridescent spacecraft that teleports in if the player is taking too long to complete a level. Homes in on the player and attempts to match their speed, whilst firing accurate projectiles. A difficult opponent due to its unbeatable speed and tiny horizontal cross-section, which makes it very hard to shoot.
Bomber - A box-shaped alien that lays stationary miness in the air.
Pod - A starlike alien that bursts into a number of Swarmers when shot.
Swarmer - A tiny teardrop-shaped alien that moves very quickly in an undulating fashion. Difficult to shoot.

Once all aliens are destroyed, the player progresses to the next level.

Controls

Defender had a somewhat unusual control system. Instead of the standard 'Up, Down, Left, Right' system, it had a 'Reverse' button to toggle the player's horizontal direction, a Thrust button to move in that direction, and a joystick to move up or down. There was also a Fire button for shooting, and a Hyperdrive button which teleported the player to a random position in the level. The game also had a "Smart bomb" button which would only destroy all onscreen aliens. The player has only a small reserve of these bombs, so they need to be used sparingly.

Legacy

After the success of Defender, there was a successful sequel called Stargate made in 1982, of which 26,000 units were made. After Stargate came Strike Force in 1991. It was one of the first games on WMS's (Bally and Williams Electronics merged in 1986 to form WMS Industries, but kept the Bally, Williams, and Midway labels) new T-Unit arcade hardware.

Defender is listed as one of the "Top 100 Videogames" of all time by the Killer List of Videogames (KLOV).

Ports

Defender has been ported to most video game consoles of the early 1980s.

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Atari 2600 Screenshot	Atari 5200 Screenshot	ColecoVision Screenshot

External link

The KLOV entry on Defender

This is an Article on Defender. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Defender