Space Invaders

Space Invaders came to the Apple II in 1980, two years after the arcade version took the world by storm. This port brought the alien-shooting action home to computer owners who wanted arcade thrills without leaving their living rooms.

In Space Invaders, you control a laser cannon at the bottom of the screen. Your job is simple: shoot all the alien invaders before they reach Earth. The aliens move in formation across and down the screen, speeding up as you destroy more of them. Four shields give you some protection, but enemy fire slowly destroys them. A mystery ship worth bonus points flies across the top of the screen at random times.

The Apple II version uses the computer's limited graphics to recreate the arcade experience. White aliens march against a black background, just like in the original. The distinctive four-note bass line plays as the invaders move, getting faster as fewer aliens remain. This creates tension as the last few aliens zip across the screen. Players use either the keyboard or a joystick to move left and right and fire upward.

Each wave starts with 55 aliens arranged in five rows. The top rows are worth more points than the bottom ones. Players must think about which aliens to shoot first. Taking out entire columns prevents the formation from reaching the screen edges too quickly. Leaving the bottom rows intact gives you more time before they descend to your level. The game gets harder as you progress, with aliens starting lower on the screen in later waves.

The Apple II couldn't match the arcade's dedicated hardware, so programmer Richard Drushel had to be creative. He used character graphics instead of bitmap graphics to save memory. This let the game run smoothly on a 48K Apple II. The port included the arcade's two-player alternating mode, where friends could take turns trying to beat each other's high scores.

Space Invaders on the Apple II proved that home computers could deliver arcade experiences. While it lacked the colorful overlay of arcade machines, it captured the gameplay perfectly. The game sold well and showed other developers that arcade ports could succeed on home computers. It helped establish the Apple II as a gaming machine, not just a business computer.

This version remains a solid port that preserves what made Space Invaders special. Its simple concept and increasing difficulty keep players coming back for one more game, just like the arcade original did.