Beast Invaders is a hack of the game (it plays exactly the same as the original 2600 version, although with the double shot bug automatically enabled), having changed game sprites, as the invaders, players' laser cannons, bunkers, and the Command Alien Ship look different, as the laser cannon more closely resembles the base from the original arcade game and all of the Invaders are now critters.
The hack was created by Jeff Minter.
Game variations[]
- Moving Shields--Bunkers 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 Command Alien Ship) is shot, which they then briefly reappear
- Large Laser Cannons--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
- Alien Command Ship--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.
- There is a bug on the original Atari 2600 version of the game where if the game reset switch is held down as the Atari 2600 is powered on, the game will start with the player firing two shots at once instead of just being able to shoot one shot at a time. These double shots are automatically enabled by default on this hack.
Links[]
Beast Invaders Atari Age page
This article uses material from the Space Invaders Arcade article and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.