Category:Space Invaders

Space Invaders
Developer(s)	Taito Corporation, Midway Games
Publisher(s)	Taito Corporation, Midway Games
Year introduced
Genre(s)	Fixed shooter

Space Invaders is a series of seven fixed shooter arcade games that were released by Taito Corporation and Midway Games between 1978 and 1995.

• Space Invaders (1978): The initial title in the series started what is entitled the "Golden Age of Arcade Games", and was so popular that it caused a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan until the supply was quadrupled; entire arcades were also opened specifically for it. Licensed to Midway Games.

• Space Invaders Part II (1979): The second title for the series was released a year after the original, and introduced several new features (including invaders which break into two smaller ones when they are shot and a new type of flashing spaceship which can only be destroyed when visible and drops in reinforcement invaders); it was also the first arcade game to feature a cutscene. Licensed to Midway Games, as "Space Invaders Deluxe".

• Space Invaders II (Midway) (1980): The third title for the series was created by Midway Games without Taito's authorization, and was housed in a cocktail cabinet; as a result, the ships (and invaders) looked different to those of the first two games. Two players could also play it simultaneously, which made the game like a cross between its two predecessors and Irem's Space Beam (for one player could kill the other, then acquire his ship).

• Return of the Invaders (1985): The fourth (and third official) title in the series was released five years after the third and six years after the second official one, and was the only one not to have "Space" in its title; it also refers to the invaders as "Flector", the barricades as "Xero-Guards" and the player's ship as "Xerovy" on the title screen. If there are two or more "Zicon" (master invaders) left at the end of a stage it will invoke a bonus stage.

• Majestic Twelve: The Space Invaders Part IV (1990): The fifth, and fourth official, title in the series was released five years after the previous one and introduced several more new features (including: officially allowing two players to play simultaneously, giving the ships shields so they don't die immediately when hit, the spaceships leaving powerups behind when destroyed, boss battles, and a new "Cattle Mutilation" bonus stage); released in the United States as "Super Space Invaders '91", where it became the first of two SI titles to feature the FBI's "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen.

• Space Invaders DX (1994): The sixth, and fifth official, title in the series was released four years after the previous one and featured three different modes; Normal Mode (which replicated the original in four different ways), Versus Mode (which again allowed two players to play simultaneously), and Parody Mode (which replaced the characters with those from several other Taito games such as The NewZealand Story, The FairyLand Story, Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Mizubaku Daibōken, Arkanoid, KiKi KaiKai, Darius, and Don Doko Don, all got released between 1985 and 1990).

• Akkanvader (1995): The seventh, sixth official, and final title in the series was released a year after the previous one and again introduced several more features (including several different ships to choose from, one of which was piloted by "Sayo-Chan" from the aforementioned KiKi KaiKai, the ability to charge your shot like Apollo's sword in Namco's Phelios, and "cuter"-styled characters); released in the United States as "Space Invaders '95: Attack of the Lunar Loonies" where it went on to become the second of the two SI titles to feature the EPA's "Recycle It, Don't Trash It" screen.

• Minivader (1990): This title is not officially part of the series, and was only created by Taito as a test board on account of a Japanese law stating it was illegal to sell an arcade cabinet without a game in it; it features monochromatic graphics, no sound chips, no scoring system, and the invaders will not fire any bullets. This means that the only way it is possible for the player to lose this game is if the invaders reach the bottom of the screen.