Atari Invaders is a graphical hack of the game (it plays exactly the same as the original 2600 version), having changed game sprites, as the invaders, players' laser cannons, and the Command Alien Ship look different, as they were all changed into various Atari 2600 persona, as the player's laser base was changed to the player's ship from the Atari 2600 game Asteroids, the bunkers is the Atari "fuji" symbol (plus players can shoot through the gaps in them), the row 1 invaders are robots from Berzerk, the row 2 invaders is Pac-Man, row 3 invaders is a player from Football, row 6 is a ghost from Pac-Man and the Command Alien Ship is a plane from Combat.
It is unknown who created the hack.
Game variations[]
- Moving Shields--Fuji symbols move back and forth
- Zigzagging Laser Bombs--Invaders' shots zigzag back and forth towards the ground
- Fast Laser Bombs--Invaders Bombs drop quickly
- Invisible Invaders--Invaders are invisible unless one (or the plane) is shot, which they then briefly reappear
- Large Player--flipping a difficulty switch on the 2600 console to the A position makes players' laser cannons larger
Game variations, player setup[]
There are two player alternating variations, along with variations to not only have both players onscreen at once, but there are also several competing variations as well, such as ones where if one player gets hit by invader fire, the other player is awarded 200 points. Others include alternating shots where if one player takes too long to fire from their laser cannon then it will automatically shoot.
Other variations include ones where one player controls one laser cannon, along with one player can only move it to the right, while the other player can only move it to the left. Other variations allow one movement and one shot per player, then the other player gets to do the same, and others have one player move the laser cannon while the other player fires.
Scoring[]
- Row one invader--5 points
- Row two invader--10 points
- Row three invader--15 points
- Row four invader--20 points
- Row five invader--25 points
- Row six invader--30 points
- Plane--200 points, or 100 points in certain game variations
- Other player's laser cannon hit--200 points awarded to other player on certain competitive game variations
Controls[]
- Move laser cannon--joystick left and right
- Fire--button
Trivia[]
The original game came with several label variations, which are known as Picture, Text, Red, and Silver labels. This version comes as a ROM file only to be played on Atari emulators.
Links[]
Atari Invaders Atari Age page
This article uses material from the Invaders From Space article and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.