In my younger years, i dropped rolls and rolls of quarters into the Galaga machine at my local arcade. It was so satisfying to allow your ship to be captured only to get it back moments later and double up your firepower...good stuff indeed.

So of course i jumped at the chance to plunk down my measly five bucks (500 Wii points) to download this NES classic

Well the good news is...i still love this game, its old school retro goodness was like chicken soup when you are feeling a cold. Great blast from the past. i still pick it up every couple of days and play

Now the bad news, this game wont appeal to most folks that dont already love this game, its just an arcade shooter ala' space invaders, with simple graphics and pretty blase' controls.

3/5: worth the $5 to me but maybe not for everyone

Details for those of you unfamiliar with Galaga:

Galaga is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1981 (and also licensed to Midway). It was one of the most popular arcade games and is still sought after by collectors.

Galaga is a sequel to Galaxian and has similar gameplay. The player controls a spaceship (which can move only right or left) and shoots at swarms of incoming insect-like aliens that fly in formation above him and occasionally swoop down to bomb him in a kamikaze-like dive. The enemies in the top row will sometimes dive with one or two escorts. Enemies that survive a dive will rejoin the formation from the top. When all enemies are destroyed, the player moves on to the next level. The game is over when the player's last ship is destroyed or captured.

Captured fighters

Perhaps the most famous element of Galaga is the ability for the player's ship to be captured by the enemy. Boss Galagas (the green enemies at the top of the formation) occasionally stop mid-dive and attempt to capture the player's ship with a tractor beam. If the ship is captured, the boss carries it back up into the formation. If the captured ship is the player's last ship, the game ends.

The captured player ship acts as an escort to the boss Galaga that captured it, and dives down simultaneously with the Galaga. To free the ship, the player must destroy the Galaga in mid-dive — if the Galaga is destroyed in the formation, the player ship will attack on its own and leave the playfield, returning with another boss Galaga in the next round.

If the player successfully frees the captured ship, the two ships join together side-by-side, moving and shooting as one and effectively doubling the player's firepower. If one of the ships is hit, only that ship is destroyed and the player continues with the surviving one. Because of the obvious benefit of double firepower, a common Galaga strategy is to purposely let a boss Galaga capture a player ship early in the game, then immediately free it.

Contrary to rumor, the double ship cannot be recaptured and released to form a "triple ship". Boss Galagas only attempt to capture when a single player ship is in play. However, the triple ship is a feature in the sequel game Galaga '88.

funfact: The TV series LOST included a submarine named Galaga, in honor of the arcade game. Writers of the series would often play the game between writing sessions

Galaga FTW

Cool!
I love the style of reviewing you have! Keep up the good work and don't forget that the Member Review section ROCKS!! lol

I might get this one...nice review