In Space, It’s Always Cicada Season

Galaxian Review (Arcade)

Genre: Shoot-’em-up
Number of Players: 1-2 (Alternating)
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco/Midway
Release Date: September 15, 1979 (JP), November 1979 (US & EU)
Platform: Arcade
Also Available On: Atari 2600/5200, Astrocade, IBM PC, ColecoVision, Intellivision, MSX, Famicom, Apple II, Atari 8-Bit, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S

---

If there’s one time of year I dread, it’s the emergence of the latest cicada brood in the summer. After experiencing the terror of having one graze me in the eye during the 2021 “Brood X” emergence, I realized that these critters share some interesting commonalities with the interstellar insects in Namco’s Galaxian. They’re red-eyed, noisy in groups, and will eagerly dive-bomb you as if “Ride of the Valkyries” were blasting in the background. If you told me cicadas were the inspiration behind this game, I’d totally believe you.

Before we get into the review proper, let’s take a brief look at the game’s history. Galaxian was created by Namco game designer Kazunori Sawan. After witnessing the success of Taito’s Space Invaders, the President of Namco tasked Sawan’s team with turning Galaxian into the next big arcade hit.

The enemy characters were initially designed to resemble TIE Fighters from the Star Wars film, but were later modified to have an insect-like appearance instead. Galaxian was a sight to behold, boasting technical accomplishments that included being one of the first arcade games to feature full-color visuals and a scrolling starfield simulating vertical movement.

At first glance, one might dismiss the game as simply a prettier Space Invaders knockoff and nothing more. Indeed, they share the same basic premise—shoot down each row of aliens as they move horizontally in unison and fire back at you. But that is where the similarities end.

Graphical differences aside, Galaxian ups the ante by having the enemies aggressively break formation, attempting to ram your ship while firing missiles at various intervals. If they miss, they’ll rejoin the convoy and take turns attacking you.

Your ship, which the game calls a “Galaxip”, can only fire a single shot at a time and must either hit an enemy or reach the end of the screen before you can fire again. This creates tension any time you miss, especially if an enemy is approaching. They often attack in a meandering zig-zag pattern on either side of the screen.

Thanks to the Galaxip’s leisurely rate of fire, a large part of the challenge involves staying alert to which side the enemies are descending and dodging them as needed. Occasionally, some will perform a somersault just before rejoining the squadron, adding an element of surprise to the unsuspecting player. When you whittle their forces to just a few, the remaining enemies all attack at once without regrouping, unless they destroy one of your ships.

Your biggest worries are the two flagships on the top row. Each will attack with an escort of two wingmen (provided you haven’t destroyed them already). The scoring system also plays a significant role, as the amount of points awarded depends on whether the enemy is actively attacking.

Sure, you can easily pick off the fleet while most are still in formation, but destroying an individual ship moving in for the kill is worth double the points. Taking down a flagship mid-flight can net you up to a little more than 13x the base point value, assuming you destroy both wingmen first. It’s an engaging risk/reward system, especially if you want to rack up enough points to earn an extra ship quickly.

Galaxian was also unique for its sound design. It was one of the earliest examples of using a synthesizer to produce sound effects for the game. In a similar vein to Space Invaders, each round begins with a slowly pulsating tone that gradually speeds up as you destroy the enemy fleet. It evokes a sense of urgency for both the antagonists and the players trying to take them down.

The pulsing sound effects also succeed at delivering that futuristic, otherworldly atmosphere the series became known for. When an enemy swoops down to attack, they emit a whistling noise that lowers in pitch as they descend, like a bomb falling towards its target. The audio presentation, though simplistic, does a good job of engrossing the player in the battle against the space bugs.

It certainly isn’t an exaggeration to consider Galaxian to be an impressive game for its time. However, I cannot ignore that the game is somewhat hampered by the passage of time. In the 45+ years since its initial release, vertical shoot-’em-ups have evolved into far grander ventures than merely destroying the same enemy formations with a single missile-firing ship over and over again until you eventually lose the game.

After completing the first stage, you’ve seen all the game has to offer; gradual difficulty increases aside. And while that’s not in itself a bad thing, it won’t likely hold your attention the way it would have in its heyday, especially if you’ve already experienced the sequel, Galaga. However, the game is still worth playing, if nothing more than for historical context.

If you’re interested in playing Galaxian, you can easily find it as part of Hamster Corporation’s Arcade Archive releases, currently available on most major gaming platforms. Though it may not impress to the same degree as when it was a newer concept, the game still leapfrogged the offerings of Space Invaders and played a pivotal role in paving the way for scrolling shoot-em-ups to truly blossom. If you want to delve into the history of vertical shooters, Galaxian should be at the top of your list.