Galaxian, Galaga, and Gaplus

[Jess Ragan]

Anybody play Galaga Legions? I got it for the 360 and I think it sucks.

 

I played a shit ton of Galaga BITD but now I prefer Galaxian.

 

Yeah, this is one of those Galaga games that doesn't deserve the title. It nails the formations, but it tries to be a twin stick shooter, with the player setting extra cannons around the screen to blast bugs remotely. It also chokes the screen with enemies, in the mistaken belief that more is better. More is NOT better if all that chaos interferes with the gameplay. I seem to recall Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 had the same problems with sensory overload as a substitute for quality gameplay.

 

Galaxian 3 is weird. I think I played the PSOne version, and it's more of a rail shooter, like Starblade. It's also convinced that it's Star Wars, which makes sense as it was originally designed to be a fully immersive cinematic experience.

[+save2600]

...yeah, if you've ever pronounced Gal-uh-guh - Guh-lay-guh... you just might not be from 'round here.

[Opry99er]

 

His pronunciation is bound to send the Internet into a tizzy, too. FWIW how he says it is how I've always said it.

 

edit: RIP Galaga guy.

 

I've always pronounced it that way... is there another way to pronounce it?

[Flojomojo]

Dave and Busters used to have the Galaxian 3 multiplayer party shooter game. It doesn't have much to do with the old arcade game, apart from the name. Pretty tricky of Namco to have done that.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxian_3

[Flojomojo]

Dave and Busters used to have the Galaxian 3 multiplayer party shooter game. It doesn't have much to do with the old arcade game, apart from the name. Pretty tricky of Namco to have done that.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxian_3

[NE146]

Dave and Busters used to have the Galaxian 3

They did? Interesting.. I saw Galaxian 3 once in my life at the very top floor of a multilevel Japanese arcade.. but that was in the early 90s when the new thing for sale was the Supergrafx... I remember very clearly. I always thought of Dave and busters as a recent 2000s thing but I guess theyve been around a while

Edited December 15, 2018 by NE146

[derFunkenstein]

I've always pronounced it that way... is there another way to pronounce it?

Lots of folks think it should be GAH-lah-gah or gah-LAH-gah and that the short a sound is wrong. Which it might be. I dunno. Theres always someone in a YouTube comments section waiting to pounce on ignorant midwesterners like myself for saying it wrong.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Definitely Galaga for me. I remember watching really good Gaplus players back in the day.. and even seeing the game in depth that way, it never really jibed with me. I think the weak sound effects of the game hurt it.

 

People like Galaga 88 and I did as well. But to me the problem with the game is it ends. And once you see all the paths and finished the game through each of them, you're done.

 

Here's the thing about Galaxian today. The "Namco Set 1" (Galaxian.zip) which is often used by default is a more difficult version of the game where the attacks escalate quickly. That's not the Galaxian I remember when it first came out.

 

The one I'm thinking about is found in Mame as "Namco Set 2" (galaxiana.zip).. and THAT'S the Galaxian I grew up with.. where only one enemy attacks in the beginning, and it takes a while for the Yellow flagship + red escorts to attack. So a lot of people end up thinking Galaxian is a hard game because maybe they play the default set (e.g. like the one in the Arcade1up cabinet).. and in that one it takes only a few moments in the first round where the enemies are buzzing quickly and divebombing you like crazy.

 

But yeah it's kind of like Pengo in that if you choose a particular romset version, you're going to have a hard time because it's way harder.

I have the 1up Arcade and I rarely get past the first set. My high score on Galaxian is less than 7000 but I scored over 100k twice in Galaga (so far). Scoring is a bit low unless you hit em in formation, but it's balls hard to hit the enemies when they are doing a sine sweep as they nose dive towards you, and you can only have one bullet onscreen at a time. I don't know what it is with Galaxian. It's an spiritual sequel to Space Invaders which evolved to perfection with Galaga.

 

Gaplus annoys me in that if you die during an intro sequence, you restart the entire sequence. The enemies are harder to dodge during the stage intros. Gaplus is almost Gyrus-like with the enemy attack formations, but you can't escape through the sides. I played it on Wii VC and never got far. I should revisit it if I ever decide to boot my Wii-U back into Wii mode again. Shop is shutting down and Gaplus was one of the last titles I downloaded some time ago. I ended up with 100 points leftover. Good luck trying to spend that...

 

Galaga '88 / '90 for Turbografx is a great modernization of the concept even if it has a definitive ending. My one gripe is the backgrounds are too bright making bullets harder to see. Another great but rarely mentioned theme is Galaga Arrangement for Namco Museum Game Cube. It's stupid two player fun, you can earn a triple ship, and there's an option for infinite lives. Perfect for my fiance to tag team with me since she has trouble dodging attacks...

[BrianC]

I was surprised to find out that there was an official version of Galaga that was renamed to Galax for a Japanese computer named Sord M5.

[NE146]

I have the 1up Arcade and I rarely get past the first set. My high score on Galaxian is less than 7000

Yeah man the Arcade1up Galaxian is pretty hard! Yeah not as hard as the later hacked bootlegs where entire rows dive bomb you But still crazy where you're not even halfway through the first level and it's frenzied. I'm really surprised they used it.. or maybe I'm not. i.e. They just took "Galaxian.zip" and shoved it in there and called it a day. Kind of lazy.

 

I know what you're saying about Galaxian being a spiritual successor to Space Invaders and it definitely was. However even back in 1979 I knew the deal.. it took the basic action of Space Invaders but adapted none of the nuance. Space Invaders was much more deliberate with hidden techniques and secrets (if you cared to find it) that went beyond the 'dodge bullets, shoot enemies' gameplay. Galaxian on the other hand.. WAS indeed "dodge bullets, shoot enemies' gameplay and that was it. Not that there's anything wrong with that.. just saying. To be very honest, Galaxian's time in the sun didn't last very long. After the initial wow factor of a new game, people quickly moved onto others. Moon Cresta had much more staying power as far as popularity went.. even rivaling Space Invaders. Galaga though, there's no comparison and it wins out over everything.

[Tanooki]

Galaxian in some ways was kind of a step back from Space Invaders. As you said, it's more nuanced between the speed increases, shields and how to use/abuse those, popping off the random ufo at the top and other stuff. Galaxian is more of a slow paced wash rinse repeat, almost like a more colorful knockoff that left out some of the better parts.

 

That Galaxian 3 machine I forgot about it until I clicked into KLOV to check it out. I've touched one of those before when I was a teen. I can't remember if it was in Vegas, Laughlin or some indian reservation casino I got stuck at, but it was there as it's so weird and unique. I don't remember a thing about it other than the outside now, but it would be fascinating to check out.

[Trinity]

Only one of these made it into The Avengers . Wouldnt have been the same if Tony Stark blurted out that man is playing Gaplus.

 

 

Looks like the NES version.

Edited December 15, 2018 by Trinity

[NE146]

wtf version of Galaga is that anyway.. looks like the MSX version.

[Trinity]

Speaking of versions, I really like the Famicom version of Galaxian. So I bought a repro cart I can play on my toaster.

[Trinity]

[Trinity]

Just scored 10750 on NES Galaxian. Pretty good game.

 

I found out you could play Galaxian on the NES when I bought a 400-1 Flash cart for my NES. But unfortunately the rom on the flash cart is messed up and always crashes after a few minutes no mater what. Anyone else have that problem with Galaxian on a NES 'whatever in 1' flash cart?

[BydoEmpire]

I don't remember ever playing Gaplus. I know *of* it, but never played it.

 

That said, Galaxian for me.

 

Galaga always felt like a trial of memorization. "Move to this exact spot, shoot, then move here, then shoot, then move to the next spot, shoot, etc." I like the two ship thing and the cool way the aliens move, but the gameplay leaves me cold. I totally get why most people like Galaga better, though, there's certainly more going on. The 7800 version has an easier difficulty ramp so if I play Galaga, that's the version I go to if I were to play it.

[AtariLeaf]

I love Galaxian, I was blown away when I first played it after having played Space Invaders. Sure Galaga is the superior game but Galaxian is my favorite. I love the 2600 port too, its a go-to favorite of mine on the system. I think I have Gaplus on the Wii Namco Megamix collection (which is a fantastic collection BTW)

[Cobra Kai]

I usually play the 5200 version of Galaxian. I never realized the menacing background music is entirely different than other versions, after watching that Famicom clip above. I have to give the edge to the 5200 version in audio, if you compare the two. This game is way better than Space Invaders though IMHO, there's so much more action with the breakaway enemies. It's certainly not easy, especially after the 1st stage, enemies start just unloading massive amounts of ammo and its not predictable.

 

 

 

 

[AtariLeaf]

I usually play the 5200 version of Galaxian. I never realized the menacing background music is entirely different than other versions, after watching that Famicom clip above. I have to give the edge to the 5200 version in audio, if you compare the two. This game is way better than Space Invaders though IMHO, there's so much more action with the breakaway enemies. It's certainly not easy, especially after the 1st stage, enemies start just unloading massive amounts of ammo and its not predictable.

 

 

 

 

 

I have this on the 800XL and as far as I know they are the same. My problem with it is the clunky, jerky movements of the enemies. Not a fan of the sound effects of the shots or explosions either.

[+x=usr(1536)]

With Gaplus presently sitting at a whopping two votes for preferred game of the three, I'll own up to currently being one-half of the weirdos who actually prefer it over Galaga or Galaxian.

 

Yes, it does take something of a 'kitchen sink' approach to the gameplay, and I agree that getting killed during a reverse parsec and having to do the whole thing over is annoying. However, once you understand how to manage everything the game is presenting you with, it's possible to do impressively well at it. Example:

 

 

 

The big things are to not overload your ship with too many captured enemies (which negatively affects your ability to manoeuvre away from enemy fire), and to know which power-ups to collect and when. Also, understanding how to obtain bonus ships outside of the scoring structure helps with longevity.

 

It does have a significant boost in gameplay speed over its predecessors. That one is purely down to individual preferences, but I prefer it - it gets the adrenaline going a bit more.

 

Galaga (properly pronounced 'GAL-uh-guh', as all Truly Good people know) is an absolutely iconic game, and an excellent one in its own right. It's not one that I can fault; it's just that if all three were in a row I'd play Gaplus first.

 

One thing I do have to give Galaga credit for: I only recently learned something about the gameplay that had eluded me despite having played it for 37 years. When I saw what it was, it was a true forehead-smacking moment.

 

Incredibly rarely, at the start of a wave, the last formation of bees to come in would be dragging a red (captured) player's ship behind them. This ship would move above one of the boss aliens at the top of the swarm when the bees completed their entrance, and would be dragged along with the boss alien when it started its swoop towards the player. Kill the boss alien, capture the ship, get double firepower - all perfectly normal. What I couldn't figure out was why a captured ship would be coming in behind the bees at the start of a wave.

 

Well, what I noticed from watching a couple of YouTube videos was that if your ship is captured, all aliens are destroyed, and the captured ship is the last object to leave the bottom of the screen, the wave ends, the next wave starts, and your captured ship is dragged in behind the last formation of bees to enter the screen on the new level. Really obvious in retrospect, but somehow I never managed to figure that out for nearly four decades. Full credit to Namco c.1981 for the subtlety of that.

 

Galaxian: it's the foundation of the series, and significant for being one of the earliest full-colour arcade games. It's still fun, but its younger siblings' gameplay has held up better for me over the years - it just doesn't hold my attention the way the other two do. To be fair, this was also the case before Galaga was released: I'd play a game of Galaxian, have fun, and go off to play something else. Not a bad game by any means, just not one that really got deep under my skin.

 

On a tangent, Galaga '88 generally leaves me cold. The triple-ship thing is neat, the explosions look nice, but... Ehhh. Just can't get into it at all. Every time I play it, it feels slightly forced compared to its ancestors - sort of like Namco could have released it under a different name but decided to stick 'Galaga' in its title to make it more recognisable.

[NE146]

Well, what I noticed from watching a couple of YouTube videos was that if your ship is captured, all aliens are destroyed, and the captured ship is the last object to leave the bottom of the screen, the wave ends, the next wave starts, and your captured ship is dragged in behind the last formation of bees to enter the screen on the new level. Really obvious in retrospect, but somehow I never managed to figure that out for nearly four decades. Full credit to Namco c.1981 for the subtlety of that.

 

 

Yes. Although it doesn't have to be the last object.. your ship just acts like an enemy and attacks you before heading off the screen, and then won't show up until the next level. You learn that early when you try to shoot the boss that's holding your ship while he's still in formation. The game teaches you that you can't get the dual ships that easily

Edited December 15, 2018 by NE146

[+x=usr(1536)]

 

Yes. Although it doesn't have to be the last object.. your ship just acts like an enemy and attacks you before heading off the screen, and then won't show up until the next level. You learn that early when you try to shoot the boss that's holding your ship while he's still in formation. The game teaches you that you can't get the dual ships that easily

 

Good point. For some reason, I always went for the 1000-point 'bonus' (if it can really be called that) for shooting your orphaned captured ship over letting it go.

 

I guess that in my mind, once it was orphaned it just seemed like there was no way of getting it back, so better to kill it off and get some points for it than be dive-bombed by it. This meant that I rarely saw it come in with the bees on the next level... And 37 years later felt kinda dumb when I realised how wrong I'd had it all that time

[retrorussell]

I like them all. Galaxian I have fond memories of at my dad's bowling alley on Monday nights after school. Learning about having 5 seconds of free shots at the aliens after nailing the flagship really put a new spark into my enjoyment of the game.

 

Galaga has great music and sound effects, and for patient gamers the "no-fire" trick makes the game so much easier! The bonus rounds are a great addition, as is the inclusion of other Namco enemies making an appearance (the Galaxian flagship and enemies from Bosconian).

 

Gaplus had some cool weapon power-ups-- I loved the hypno-beam! And I used to really rock at the bonus stage, juggling those enemies as long as humanly possible with my shots. Worthy sequel.

[imstarryeyed]

Hands down for me is Gaplus! It is the unsung hero of the 3 games. Most people do not understand it but its powerups and gameplay are the best in my opinion. The Bonus levels are juggling levels and most people cannot figure that out haha..

 

In any case look for a great version on the original Namco Musuem for the PS1.