Way back in 1980 Williams Electronics gave us the classic arcade game Defender.
This game turned out to be a huge hit and is rightly regarded as a classic game in the shoot em up genre.
It ended up being ported to pretty much every home gaming console and computer of the 1980s, with official conversions as well as plenty of unofficial ports churned out on a huge number of platforms.
So, when this version was released for the Commodore Amiga in 1994 it was already regarded as a retro game back then!
As shareware games go this is a pretty good effort and any fans of the arcade original will have enjoyed this version a lot...
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| An all time classic |
Defender was a two dimensional side-view scrolling shooter set on the surface of an unnamed alien world.
The player controlled a space ship as it navigated the terrain, flying either to the left or right. The ship could also be moved up or down as well as moving in either direction.
The object of the game was to destroy alien invaders whilst also protecting astronauts on the surface from abduction.
Humans that were successfully abducted by the invaders (by being taken to the 'top' of the game screen) returned as mutants, which rendered them incredibly hostile. It was fast flying and rapid shooting all the way to outsmart these fast moving mutant attackers.
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| Astronauts are being abducted |
Defeating all of the aliens in the current level allowed the player to progress to the next level (naturally).
Failure to protect the astronauts caused the planet to explode and for the level to become populated with mutants. Taking out all of these mutants was difficult, but if you did the planet was magically restored!
Players were allotted three lives with extra lives awarded (in classic arcade style) by reaching certain scoring benchmarks. A life was lost if the ship flew into an enemy or was shot.
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| Fancy flying defeats level 2 |
After all of your lives were gone the game ended, and your defending days were over.
We recommend getting hold of the real Amiga hardware - but if not then download an Amiga emulator and download Defender. Alternatively you could try and play it online.
Please see our other Amiga Game reviews - all links are listed in alphabetical order. Cheers guys
GENRE: Arcade Game
RELEASE DATE: 1994
RELEASED BY: Ratsoft
DEVELOPER(S): Giles F McArdell
PRICE: Shareware
Classic Arcade Action
Classic Games, Arcade Games and Amiga Games
