#6 Space Invaders

Released: 1978 - Arcade                               

Developer: Taito
Played: 3rd February 2013 - Online Host

This doesn't need to be a long one to be honest, everyone knows what Space Invader is, pretty much everyone has played at least one version of it. It's so ingrained into today's culture that i bet one of the pixelated aliens is just as recognisable as Mickey Mouse or Mario.

For the benefit of those of you who havn't played Space Invaders, i'll presume that you're a caveman who was flash frozen in the ice age, has just been discovered on a dig, you've been thawed and you're now using the internet to catch up on human history, Space Invaders is a monochromatic pixelated fantasy in which the fate of the Earth has come down to one tank with a single turret, he uses cover to battle the ongoing onslaught in the form of endless waves of alien squid things that are hell bent on invading through the most repetitive sequence of movements ever known to man. Drop a line, reverse direction, speed up, drop a line reverse direction, speed up..etc... The monotony often only broken up with a UFO flying overhead, hit it and feel the points roll in.

Space Invaders is all about panic...it all starts off friendly enough, well, as friendly as a group of alien squids pressing down onto you can be, but as the waves progress the sense of urgency rises, this seems easy you think but as you go on you notice your cover is failing and that repetitive noise is getting louder and faster, it's like the music from Jaws when the shark is onscreen, as he approaches the beach it gets faster and more dynamic. Until the next thing you know there's one left, moving so quickly you've got no hope of catching him, your cover is gone, the noise us unbearable, he lands on your face, it's over, your tank is gone, the earth is lost and an Alien Squid just laid it's eggs in your brain.

Give it a go here: http://www.freeinvaders.org/