Galaxian (ARC)
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Galaxian is a very early space shooter game developed by Namco. Its premise is summarized in two sentences during the attract mode: "We are the Galaxians. Mission: destroy aliens." Its gameplay is not much more complex than that: the player's ship shoots down a series of aliens, all of which start in formation but begin heading down individually to shoot at you. "Flagships" (always at the top of the screen) are worth the most point and always come down with two escort ships: you can get bonus points by shooting all three of them.
As simple as it seems, the game was a commercial success, becoming the second highest-earning arcade game of the year in Japan (just below Space Invaders (ARC), a very similar game which impacted Galaxian's development).
Contents
Screenshots
Music
The game only has one real song, a short jingle played when a new game begins. During gameplay, the only "music" is a pulsing series of notes that amps up the tension.
Recording
The song title below is derived from the album Namco Arcade 80's.
| # | Title | Composer | Arranger | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Game Start | Toshio Kai | Toshio Kai | 0:03 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper: N/A
- Recorder: Theand
- Game Credits:
- Uncredited Composer: Toshio Kai
- Uncredited Sound: Shigeichi Ishimura
(Sources: The Untold History of Japan Game Developers Volume 2, "Untold Stories of the Creation of PAC-MAN - Part 1")
The game lacks credits, but outside sources have given insight into the people responsible for its sound.
One chapter of The Untold History of Japan Game Developers Volume 2 is dedicated to an interview with former Namco employee Yoshihiro Kishimoto, which includes a spreadsheet giving credits for various early Namco games. Galaxian's entry there credits Shigeichi Ishimura for its sound. However, an official Namco interview from 2021 mentions in passing that Toshio Kai was responsible for the game's music. Since both men worked on Pac-Man (ARC), which was released a year later, it can be inferred that their contributions to Galaxian follow a similar pattern: Kai handled the music while Ishimura worked on sound effects.
Albums
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Game Rip
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Download |
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N/A |
There is currently no available rip for the original arcade version of Galaxian, as it uses discrete sound and not a (known) specialized chip.
Audio Devices
The game's hardware has a unique portion dedicated to playing sound.
Releases
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Links
- https://www.mobygames.com/game/137/galaxian - MobyGames.
- https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/583825-galaxian - GameFAQs.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxian - Wikipedia.
- https://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7885 - Killer List of Video Games.
- Arcade Games
- Games Released In 1979
- Games Developed By Namco
- No Amazon
- Games
- Galaxian (ARC)
- Games By Toshio Kai
- Games By Shigeichi Ishimura
- Games With Albums
- Games That Use UNK
- Incomplete Rips
- Games Released In Japan
- Games Published By Namco
- Games Released In USA
- Games Published By Midway Games
- Games Released In EU
- Needed Song Descriptions
