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Space Invaders [Text Label - Taito TM]
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Box Front

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Alternate Title:Text Label - Taito Trademark
Console: Atari 2600
Region:U
Year: 1980
RFG ID #: U-005-S-04080-A
Part #: CX2632
UPC:
Developer: Rick Maurer
Publisher: Atari
Rating:
Genre: Classic Shooter
Sub-genre: Single Screen
Players: 1-2
Controller: Standard Controller
Media Format: Cartridge 4 KB x1
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Collection Stats:

  • 304 of 7620 collectors (3.9%) have this game in their collection
  • 3 of 7620 collectors (0%) have this game in their wishlist.
  • 4 of 7620 collectors (0%) have this game for sale or trade.
Review:

What's not to love here? You've got great graphics for an Atari 2600 game. Sound effects identical to the classic arcade cabinet, and fast-paced gameplay. This game made kids and parents alike go nuts during Christmas 1980 when it was released and rose Atari's popularity to enormous levels like no other game before it had.

One of the things I love most about this game is how the audio speeds up and adds a sense of urgency and oncoming doom. That urgency can make your heart pound in your chest if your totally focused and make lesser players panic. You have to give major credit to Rick Maurer who programmed this version for making Space Invaders look as good as it does for the hardware it's on. Shield damage, on-screen enemies, UFO's, background colours etc. make this a very visually busy game. The control is spot on and lighning responsive for a game of this type and has a nice pick up and playability that anyone can enjoy

This game is a perfect companion to movies such as War of the Worlds and Independance Day. A struggle to save Earth from hordes of alien invaders all alone in the night. This is one of the VCS 2600's best games and should grace every collectors library. It's also one of the best iconic representations of video games as a form of entertainment.

Extra Media:

Manual Revision 3 - Front
Manual Revision 3 - Back
Manual Revision 4 - Front
Manual Revision 4 - Back
Variations:

Console Reg. Type Title Publisher Year Genre
Atari 2600 E S Space Invaders [Text Label] Atari 1980 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 E S Space Invaders [Picture Label] Atari 1981 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 E S Space Invaders [Silver Label] Atari 1987 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 E S Space Invaders [Red Label] Atari 1988 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 J S Space Invaders Atari 1983 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 / 2800 J S Space Invaders [Epoch] Epoch Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Red Label] Atari 1988 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Silver Label] Atari 1986 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Silver Label Rerelease - 1987] Atari 1987 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Silver Label Rerelease - 1988] Atari 1988 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Picture Label] Atari 1981 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Text Label] Atari 1980 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 Canada S Space Invaders [Text Label] Atari 1980 Classic Shooter
Atari 2600 U S Space Invaders [Picture Label] Sears 1982 Classic Shooter
Game Trivia:

  • Space Invaders was the first game to be licensed from one company to another, in this case from Taito to Atari.
  • In an interview with Edge magazine in 2005 Toshihiro Nishikado who designed the game said he took inspiration for the invaders from the H.G. Wells novel "War of the Worlds"
Easter Eggs:

  • If you power on the VCS while holding down the reset switch, player 1 gets double bullets when you choose a single player game
Game Credits:

  • Programmed by Rick Maurer
Page Credits:

Apolloboy: Corrected misc info
Michael Collins: Page design, HTML code.
Eddie Herrmann: Perl script.
Anthony Terzi: Misc, Part Number
Keith B. (Tan): Review, Related games, Credits, Easter egg, Trivia, Screenshots
Kevin Christensen: Photos
ApolloBoy: Variation title, developer, cart size, variation tie-in
Mike Fox (NES_Rules): Scans, Photos
Scott Williams: Type of Release
Jacques Paul: Subgenre
Shadow Kisuragi: Variation Title
Flee: Genre
Fleabitten: Screenshots, Title Edit

Last Updated: 2020-01-14 04:03:28
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