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As the brainchild of prolific game designer, Tomohiro Nishikado, "Space Invaders" kickstarted the Golden Age of arcade games in 1978.

This was considered one of the first shoot-em up games. You play a defender of Earth in control of a laser turret that moves back and forth, popping in and out from behind destructible barriers used as cover. You must fend off a swarm of evil aliens slowly advancing toward you, and if they reach the bottom of the screen, it's game over. The aliens even speed up after each loss they suffer, which was actually a convenient bug that Nishikado left in to make the game more difficult. While you don't "beat" the game per se, you can rack up a remarkable high score if you choose your targets carefully, are fast and accurate with your movements and attacks, and keep an eye out for a red flying saucer that pops up sometimes so you can destroy it for extra points.

Sure, the game is ancient by 21st century standards, it was very advanced in 1978 the first arcades began to open. And the fact that Nishikado designed it by himself from the ground up is even more impressive. The sound effects sound great for the time, like the high-pitched whine of your laser, explosions, and whirring hover of the UFO. There's a fairly good color range too, like the green turret and barriers, white aliens, and red saucer. The music even speeds up as the aliens do to keep you tense and on your toes.

In the end, Space Invaders is an unforgettable arcade masterpiece that is still enjoyable today. Not only did it help solidify the video game market, but even inspired future game designers, including Shigeru Miyamoto.

Space Invaders was created by the recently hired programmer Tomohiro Nishikado, who worked in the Taito game factory. His boss said only: " Make a game that would be the best". Nishikado was with no ideas, then he go watch a sort of Star Wars in the same day. Then he said that the game would be a space combat game between a giant army of aliens and a human Starship. Then he go to an Aquarium and saw all types of octopus, squids, and then he said that the aliens of the game would be like squids. And then Space Invaders was born. Is the best NES game I have.

Based on the popular arcade game, the Atari 2600 translation of "Space Invaders" was an instant hit and became one of the coolest games for the console next to "Asteroids" and "Missile Command." The game had cool graphics and the controls were perfect. The ship was easy to move and fire. With 112 game options, "Space Invaders" was very challenging for one or two players, so there was never a dull moment.

The object was to shoot down thirty-six alien invaders (as opposed to the arcade version's fifty-five). Your only defenses are three shields (that can also be destroyed, leaving you vulnerable to invaders' fire). As you progress, the invaders start to move very fast, with the very last one at supersonic speed that must be destroyed before it crashes down on the ground, ending the game. Every now and then, a flying saucer will fly across the top of the screen and can be shot down for bonus points.

This game was the reason why people bought Atari 2600 consoles. Although they're both obsolete, you might have some luck at a flea market. If you find them, grab them and relive early 80's gaming history. Stay away from the PC remake and the imitations that followed. My evaluation: 8 out of 10.

A great example of how a concept so simple can be executed so perfectly for its time, Space Invaders kicked the quick arcade action of the 70s/80s into full gear. It's good for what it manages to do, which is find a way to make now archaic graphics into a surprisingly exciting, albeit repetitive, space shooter adventure. If you have just a little bit of spare time, it's certainly worth checking out.

Despite the impending doom, Space Invaders has a number of nice features. Smooth animation for the day, 'cancelling shots' with foes, tri-chromatic graphics (white, green, red), sound of approaching aliens.

On-screen there's no intro, story, cut-scenes, or ending, which is common for the era, but also deflates motivation for continuing to drop in coin. Speedy last alien can be a bit unfair.

The Atari 2600 version actually improved upon this with a more reasonable game play, more colour, better graphics, options like co-operative multiplayer, and improved sounds.

Iconic hit and retro game that paved the way for many to come.