Defender
DOWNLOAD
MAME
RETRO
DOWNLOAD:
RETROMAME
Williams
–
1981
GENRE:
Shooter
DOWNLOAD

The first game by Eugene Jarvis and one of the most iconic and popular arcade games of all time, Defender's relatively simple concept masks its high level of difficulty. Players control a ship trying to rescue humanoids on a planet's surface from capture by aliens, while avoiding their increasingly aggressive attacks. Development of the game began as Williams was chasing the success of Space Invaders and Asteroids, but ended up introducing numerous new concepts and ideas to arcade games that influenced an entire generation of games, including more complex control schemes, scrolling environments, multiple competing objectives and more challenging gameplay. Defender was followed by sequel Stargate the same year, which added various new enemies and mechanics.

More overlays you may like:
Tapper
Bally Midway
 – 
1983
Action
Tapper
Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
Atari
 – 
1987
Shooter
Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
Revolution X
Midway
 – 
1994
Light Gun
Revolution X
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Capcom
 – 
1992
Fighting
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
BROWSE ALL OVERLAYS >
More overlays you may like:
BROWSE ALL OVERLAYS >
Lady Bug
Universal
 – 
1981
Maze
Lady Bug
Donkey Kong
Nintendo
 – 
1981
Platformer
Donkey Kong
Ikari Warriors
SNK
 – 
1986
Run and Gun
Ikari Warriors
Lunar Lander
Atari
 – 
1979
Action
Lunar Lander