Defender is great.
The best comparison I can conjure is it is an old school Fantasy Zone. You have a map view of your surrounds, your fighter jet can move from left to right with a dedicated button for instant u-turns, shoots missiles and can drop bombs.
It is really difficult though, for a side scrolling shooter that predates contemporaries like Scramble by months and has intense dog fighting requiring clutch movements you can’t really go wrong with Defender, if you want more with a cutesy aesthetic and a general upgrade system Fantasy Zone is the way to go!
The best comparison I can conjure is it is an old school Fantasy Zone. You have a map view of your surrounds, your fighter jet can move from left to right with a dedicated button for instant u-turns, shoots missiles and can drop bombs.
It is really difficult though, for a side scrolling shooter that predates contemporaries like Scramble by months and has intense dog fighting requiring clutch movements you can’t really go wrong with Defender, if you want more with a cutesy aesthetic and a general upgrade system Fantasy Zone is the way to go!
This MOVES. It's very sensitive though, feels like doing surgery on a peanut while you get electrocuted everytime you miss the peanut. I did enjoy the minimap, that was pretty ahead of its time
I'm terrible at this one. Doesn't matter how often I try it. I think the ship is just too fast for me or I'm not utilizing the minimap on the top of the screen so I just jet right into the side of an enemy. I like the premise and the wrap around levels. I'm just ill equiped. Give it a try if you have reflexes though.
this game is really hard but its unbelievably exciting - guy in 2023 reviewing this
I'M GOING TO DEFEND THE HELL OUT OF EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE OH YEAH
Ok that might be a little extreme, but genuinely I adore Defender. The arcade original is beautiful, but if I had to pick a home port of the time I'm going to strongly recommend the Intellivision version.
Ok that might be a little extreme, but genuinely I adore Defender. The arcade original is beautiful, but if I had to pick a home port of the time I'm going to strongly recommend the Intellivision version.
Deafening and tense, colorful and fast, one of the first perfect video games. It swings so heavy that even now, with years of shootemup play in my history, this still moves my nervous system around with the swinging camera and the close calls.
This shit is hard bordering on impossible, but I admire the sheer speed of everything. Enemies are frantic, shoot tiny bullets faster than you could possibly react, and come in varieties that make it difficult to keep track of what's where. Also I guess technically the first example of an escort mission?
~ Juegos que Hay que Jugar Antes de Morir ~
Parte 2 — Los 80: Caída y Resurgir
Juego 20: Defender (1981)
Difícil ser menos intuitivo y más tosco, dios. Prácticamente injugable, al menos emulado.
Parte 2 — Los 80: Caída y Resurgir
Juego 20: Defender (1981)
Difícil ser menos intuitivo y más tosco, dios. Prácticamente injugable, al menos emulado.
This game on the VIC20 absolutely ruled!
Fast, but clean, action - not too garish so you could really see what was going on.
The way you would shoot the aliens and have to swoop down to pick up the dropping pink-people-blobs before they exploded on the ground was just awesome - not just shooting aliens, but planning for the cleanup is some advanced mechanics there!
In fact, the explosions were great on this...
I think we broke a lot of joysticks chasing high scores on this badboy.
Also - props for the map overview, showing where the aliens and pink blobs were: way ahead of its time!
Fast, but clean, action - not too garish so you could really see what was going on.
The way you would shoot the aliens and have to swoop down to pick up the dropping pink-people-blobs before they exploded on the ground was just awesome - not just shooting aliens, but planning for the cleanup is some advanced mechanics there!
In fact, the explosions were great on this...
I think we broke a lot of joysticks chasing high scores on this badboy.
Also - props for the map overview, showing where the aliens and pink blobs were: way ahead of its time!
---Back in the early arcade era of video gaming, the medium was still getting it's footing. A lot of the greatest and most influential games come from this era, but that doesn't mean most of them have aged particularly well. Unfortunately I think Defender falls into this group, which I'm disappointed by. I was initially excited to play this game as it comes from the mind of Eugene Jarvis, co-creator of one of my favorite early arcade titles: Robotron 2084. However, once I picked up this game and started playing it, I knew I would come to dread the coming playthroughs.
---Now, for context, part of Defender's legacy is it's difficulty. This is one of the games that convinced developers at the time that players were seeking more challenging and complex experiences. While I do think some of Defender's challenge can be engaging, like protecting the citizens on earth and surviving waves of aliens, there's also a lot that makes me sigh. Mostly because of the kind of stuff that comes from early, rudimentary design, or the quarter munching goals of cabinet manufacturers. Things like shots coming at a pace faster than you can react to them, or ships that are programmed to smash into you at a moment's notice. This kind of stuff is what really bogged down the experience of Defender for me.
----Still, I really like the visuals here. The eccentric, rainbow hue visuals Robotron would become known for show up here. The ship itself looks great, especially it's thruster effect. I also love the trails of the bullets, and the explosions of objects. I even like the touch of the illusion of elevation on the ground below. And for what it's worth, the ship in Defender has an interesting control behavior where it's not quite responsive, causing you to think before you turn. Still, with Defender's want of super-precise shots and look-ahead camera, there are more things that hamper this classic arcade experience. I don't think many modern audience members will want to replay this for very long. - [04/10]
---Now, for context, part of Defender's legacy is it's difficulty. This is one of the games that convinced developers at the time that players were seeking more challenging and complex experiences. While I do think some of Defender's challenge can be engaging, like protecting the citizens on earth and surviving waves of aliens, there's also a lot that makes me sigh. Mostly because of the kind of stuff that comes from early, rudimentary design, or the quarter munching goals of cabinet manufacturers. Things like shots coming at a pace faster than you can react to them, or ships that are programmed to smash into you at a moment's notice. This kind of stuff is what really bogged down the experience of Defender for me.
----Still, I really like the visuals here. The eccentric, rainbow hue visuals Robotron would become known for show up here. The ship itself looks great, especially it's thruster effect. I also love the trails of the bullets, and the explosions of objects. I even like the touch of the illusion of elevation on the ground below. And for what it's worth, the ship in Defender has an interesting control behavior where it's not quite responsive, causing you to think before you turn. Still, with Defender's want of super-precise shots and look-ahead camera, there are more things that hamper this classic arcade experience. I don't think many modern audience members will want to replay this for very long. - [04/10]
Played at The Operating Room arcade in Des Moines, Iowa (I think?). Didn't make it far, just wanted to see what the game was like
The sense of speed makes it feel more exciting than the gameplay could sustain on its own.
Rather than just pressuring a player with the threat of death at increasingly radical speeds, Defender makes itself about crisis management, and in a gaming year where so many of the biggest hits (Mrs. Pacman, Ultima II, Wizardry 2) it's a great and welcome twist.
Um dos SHMUPs mais inventivos entre os que lançaram na época de Space Invaders, foi o primeiro com movimentação horizontal, tem uma variedade de inimigos um tanto a frente de seu tempo, além do fato deles se movimentarem mesmo além da tela da sua nave, e por mais que permaneça em tema de sci-fi, isso já o faz se distanciar bastante da fórmula de Space Invaders. Aliás, um jogo recente que me lembra bastante esse aqui, é o Resogun, e agora o valorizo um pouco mais por tentar aperfeiçoar um modelo de shmup que havia sido deixado no passado.
Yeah, you certainly are defending a lot of things in this game, by shooting up aliens with a laser and some screen nukes from time to time. It's pretty good, but not my personal preference when it comes to space shooters.
Game #122
Game #122
Actually really solid even if the way I played I couldn't see shit when I was shooting, but thankfully I'm decent enough at shmups to where that isn't an issue. Very fun game that I'd recommend trying of the early era!
USE ALL THE COLORS!
I'm not good at Defender. That might be because it is a pretty tough game. I remember it getting incredibly fast and always being very difficult to target enemies. Of course, arcade games are meant to eat your quarters, not be easy, so this makes sense!
The real draw of Defender is the very sweet graphics and colors. I can imagine this game was incredible in 1981. It uses literally all the colors as every font and UI element cycle through them at a pretty quick clip. The ship looks awesome and the lasers look incredible. Explosions use all the colors and do cool 1980's stuff. The alien ships are okay and the people are whatever, but your little defender ship is where the magic happens.
Add in the groundbreaking feature of a mini-map/radar thing and the classic synthesized sounds, and you've got yourself a fun few minutes for $0.25.
And then aggravation after you spend your whole lawn-mowing savings in 20 minutes...
Review from thedonproject.com
I'm not good at Defender. That might be because it is a pretty tough game. I remember it getting incredibly fast and always being very difficult to target enemies. Of course, arcade games are meant to eat your quarters, not be easy, so this makes sense!
The real draw of Defender is the very sweet graphics and colors. I can imagine this game was incredible in 1981. It uses literally all the colors as every font and UI element cycle through them at a pretty quick clip. The ship looks awesome and the lasers look incredible. Explosions use all the colors and do cool 1980's stuff. The alien ships are okay and the people are whatever, but your little defender ship is where the magic happens.
Add in the groundbreaking feature of a mini-map/radar thing and the classic synthesized sounds, and you've got yourself a fun few minutes for $0.25.
And then aggravation after you spend your whole lawn-mowing savings in 20 minutes...
Review from thedonproject.com
And played on the BBC Micro
I really don't understand why people hold this in high regards as an classic arcade game. I find it too difficult and unwieldily for a game of this nature. I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't a hectic game, but I feel it's really too difficult for it's own good.
My personal favorite of the Arcade Founding Era. It's got the perfect cocktail of complexity and simplicity with just a few things to keep in mind while you zip around the map in your spaceship.
The game feel and weight of your ship and crunch of your blaster are amazingly well developed for the time. There is a real sense of speed and inertia to navigating in this game which makes catching a human right as they're about to hit the ground all the more satisfying.
A certified stone cold classic.
The game feel and weight of your ship and crunch of your blaster are amazingly well developed for the time. There is a real sense of speed and inertia to navigating in this game which makes catching a human right as they're about to hit the ground all the more satisfying.
A certified stone cold classic.