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galaxian: MAME ROM Information.

History:

Galaxian (c) 1979 Namco.

Galaxian is a legendary single-screen shoot-em-up that took everything that made Taito's ground-breaking "Space Invaders" so good, and improved upon it on every level. Each screen starts with a wave of multi-coloured aliens moving left and right at the top of the screen; the aliens quickly break ranks and start dive-bombing the Galaxip (player's ship) - either in single units or in groups of 3 - dropping multiple missiles as they descend. All of the aliens need to be destroyed before the player can progress to the next wave.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Galaxip : This is the name of the ship which you control at the bottom of the screen.

Galaxian : These attacking aliens come in 3 varieties, blue, purple, and red. They begin in formation at the top of the screen and will occasionally swoop down to attack you before returning to their position in the formation.

Flagship : At least two of these appear at the top of the formation at the start of each stage. They will swoop down to attack with one or two red Galaxians if any are nearby. If a flagship is one of the last enemies left of the screen, it will run away and appear as a third Flagship at the start of the next stage.

- TECHNICAL -

This was the first title to use the now familiar 'Namco Cabinet', which was used for Galaxian, "Galaga", "Pac-Man", "Ms. Pac-Man". Several other titles used nearly identical cabinets as well. These machines are white, with painted sideart of a green dragonfly alien (done up in blue, green. and black). The marquee is rather large and displays a blue and green 'Galaxian' logo (which is painted on a sheet of glass, they don't make them like that anymore). The control panel and monitor bezel are not highly decorated, but do feature some game instructions. Finally this machine uses neon green t-molding (edge trim), it is difficult to find replacement trim in that same exact shade.

The earliest Galaxian machines used a 25-inch G02 monitor, but later machines shipped with the standard 19-inch Electrohome G07 monitor. Any normal standard resolution arcade monitor should work as a replacement. "Pac-Man" PCBs will work in Galaxian machines, but require a 4-way joystick, instead of the 2-way model that Galaxian normally has. The sound pinout is also different, so one would need to rewire the connector to hear any Pac-Man sounds. You can also plug a Galaxian PCB into a Pac-Man. Again, the sound would need to be wired up at the connector and you'd have to push UP on the joystick to fire.

Main CPU : Z80 (@ 3.072 Mhz)

Sound Chips : Tone generator and discrete circuits

Players : 2

Control : 2-way Joystick

Buttons : 1 (FIRE)

Alternate Japanese cabinet versions):

Buttons : 3 (LEFT, RIGHT, FIRE)

- TRIVIA -

Space battles of all kinds played a major role during the golden age of video games. With the introduction of Galaxian in 1979, players were transported to the most colorful and challenging space battle yet.

This was the first video game released with 100 percent of its graphics displayed in true R.G.B. color.

* A place in video game history : "Galaxian captivated the minds of quite a few arcade enthusiasts," said Chris Lindsey, director of the National Video Game and Coin-Op Museum in St. Louis. "It was a relatively early entry in the golden age of video games, and it capitalized on the enthusiasm created by the earlier video game classic, "Space Invaders", while providing a more colorful, enjoyable, and demanding gaming experience.

Galaxian had smarter bad guys than "Space Invaders", and it demanded that the player really pay attention to what was going on. And there were no shields, like many games have today. You really had to stay on the ball. Galaxian also had great sound and used elements that have since become standard -- such as flags and other symbols to mark the player's progression through different levels of game play.".

* The great 25-cent escape : "Galaxian definitely gets an enthusiastic response," Lindsey said. "In fact, I deliberately position the game near the entrance of the museum. Often it's the first game people go to." Lindsey often sees parents trying to convey to their child the excitement of these great games. "It is funny for me when I see a father trying to explain a game to his kid. Junior really just wants to get on the game and figure it out, and Dad wants to do a demo. Dad starts instructing Junior while Junior is sort of looking around, wondering how he can get away. But Dad continues, busily explaining the nuances of the game, which he knows Junior can't get on the first play. This all shows the enthusiasm that a certain generation still has for these terrific games."

With or without a parent's help, Lindsey sees a younger generation embracing the classic arcade games. "Kids by themselves will actually do quite well on these games," Lindsey said. "I'm somewhat surprised when I see how good kids are at picking up games. I sort of think that because I'm older, I should be able to play better, and that's not always the case with video games. That's a lesson an entire generation has had to learn.".

* Namco notes : Galaxian was one of Namco's first video games, and engineers throughout the company were gathered into a special team. As the game neared completion, the engineers suspected they had created a good game because other Namco employees were extremely "excited and crazy about the game." Once Galaxian was released, they knew they had a winner because, as one Namco engineer reported, "People [at the arcades] piled their coins onto the game cabinets to keep playing, and those who were waiting were very irritated because their turn never came. There were huge lines of people around each machine.".

The Galaxian Flagship became a trademark of Namco as it makes cameo appearances in other Namco classics :

Pac-Man (1980): The flagship makes an appearance as a bonus fruit on rounds 9 and 10, and is worth 2000 points if Pac-Man eats it.

Galaga (1981): The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "transform" ships. It splits into 2, then 3 clones of itself. If all 3 are killed, they are worth 3000 points.

Dig Dug (1982): The flagship makes an appearance as a bonus vegetable on rounds 16 and 17, and is worth 7000 points if Dig Dug picks it up.

Super Pac-Man (1982): All regular edible items on rounds 15, 31, 47, and 63 are flagships, and they are worth 150 points each. Starting from their second appearance, Round 31, they are 160 points instead.

Pac-Man Plus (1982): The flagship's role is exactly the same as its role in Pac-Man.

Pac & Pal (1983): The flagship makes an appearance as one of the "special items" that make Pac-Man turn blue when eaten, and allows him to stun the ghosts for a short while by shooting a Galaga style capture beam. It is worth 1000 points if Pac-Man eats it.

Pac-Land (1984): The ghosts in airplanes sometimes drop flagships and they are worth 7650 points (765 being Namco's goroawase number in Japanese) if eaten.

Super Xevious (1984): The flagship makes an appearance in a silver form and as an enemy, and sometimes several of them attack at once. They are worth 300 points each.

Quester (1987): In Round 5, the bricks form a Galaxian Flagship.

Pac-Mania (1987): The flagship makes a 3-D appearance as a special item and in 2 forms as well, the other one being the silver form from Super Xevious. The regular one and the silver one is 7650 points if eaten.

Pistol Daimyo no Bouken (1990): The flagship makes an appearance as an enemy along with the other Galaxian characters, and they attempt to hit Pistol Daimyo with their fire.

Tinkle Pit (1993): The flagship also makes an appearance with the other Galaxian characters, but this time they appear as bonus items. It is worth 800 points if collected.

Tekken (1994 - Arcade, 1995 - PlayStation) and Tekken 2 (1995 - Arcade, 1996 - PlayStation): Winning at least seven rounds in Arcade Vs. mode will reveal the Galaxian flagship on the lower left (or right) hand corner of the screen. In order for this to work, "Number of Wins Shown By" must be set to Fruit.

Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1 (1995): The flagship makes an appearance in Galaga Arrangement as a Challenging Stage enemy in Space-Plant Zone (Stage 20) and Normally in Space-Flower Zone (Stage 26). If killed normally, they are worth 150 points. If killed in Challenging Stage, they are worth 300 points.

Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 (1996): The flagship appears in both Pac-Man Arrangement and Dig Dug Arrangement. In Pac-Man Arrangement, the Galaxian Flagship makes its appearance in World 4-1 and 4-2 and it is worth 5000 points if Pac-Man eats it, and in Dig Dug Arrangement, they appear in Stages 17 and 18 and it is worth 7000 points if Dig Dug picks it up.

Pac-Man World (1999): The flagship appears again in a Pac-Man game. This time, the item must be collected in order to access the mazes.

Pac-Man World 2 (2002): The flagship teleports Pac-Man to mazes. The point value will be the same as the points earned in the maze (if completed), plus 2,000.

Pac-Man World 3 (2005): The flagship has the exact functionality as it does in Pac-Man World 2.

Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005): The arrangement versions of Pac-Man and Dig Dug, later called Pac-Man Remix and Dig Dug Remix in the iOS version, feature the flagship. Pac-Man Remix features both the flagship, worth 3200, and the red drone, worth 2800, as fruit items, while on Dig Dug Remix, the flagship is a vegetable item and is worth 7000.

Dig Dug: Digging Strike (2005): Just like the first Dig Dug, the flagship appears as a vegetable on stage 13, except it's worth 6000 points.

Pac-Man Championship Edition (2007): The flagship reappears, but is this time joined by the Galaga Boss, Queen Gaplus, and two drones, one each from Galaga and Galaxian.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (2010): The flagship and Galaga/Galaxian drones, Queen Gaplus and the Galaga Boss serve the same purpose as the original Championship Edition.

Gary Whelan holds the official record for this game with 1,114,550 points, achieved the 24th August 2006 at Dukinfield in the UK.

A Galaxian unit appears in the 1983 movie 'Joysticks' and the sitcom 'Two and a Half Men'; Season 5, Episode 2 (People Who Love Peepholes). It is also heard (but not seen) in the 1987 James Bond movie 'The Living Daylights'.

Original releases :

Namco's Galaxian (October 1979)

Licensed releases :

Midway's Galaxian [Upright model] [No. 866] (December 1979)

Midway's Galaxian [Cocktail Table model] [No. 869] (December 1979)

Nichibutsu's Moon Alien [Upright model]

Nichibutsu's Moon Alien [Cocktail Table model]

Taito's Galaxian

Unofficial releases :

CGI's Galaxian Part 4

Galaxian Part X

Galaxian Turbo

Space Invaders Galactica

Zaccaria's Super Galaxians

Subelectro's Swarm

PETACO's Zero Time

Super Galaxy

Jeutel's Galaktron

- UPDATES -

The only code difference between the original Namco version and the licensed Midway version is that the 'Bonus Galaxip' text is printed on a different line.

In Namco Set 2 :

* Lives dip switch can be set to 3 or 5 lives. The default is 3 lives.

* Extra life dip switch can be set to 4000 (meaning a bonus Galaxip at 4000 points), 5000 points, 7000 points, or None (meaning no bonus Galaxip at any time). The default is 4000.

In Midway Set 2 :

* Extra life dip switch can be set to None, 3000, 4000, or 5000. The default is None.

In the bootleg version :

* Extra life dip switch can be set to None, 20000, 40000, or 80000. The default is None.

- SCORING -

Blue Galaxian: 30 points in formation, 60 points in flight

Purple Galaxian: 40 points in formation, 80 points in flight

Red Galaxian: 50 points in formation, 100 points in flight

Flagship: 60 points in formation, 150 points in flight

Flagship: 200 points in flight with one escort

Flagship: 300 points in flight with two escorts, Flagship killed before both escorts

Flagship: 800 points in flight with two escorts, Flagship killed after both escorts

* The maximum possible score shown is 999990. Scores higher than this roll back to zero, but the high score will show the last score achieved before the rollover, which can vary from 999990 to 999200.

- TIPS AND TRICKS -

* The action starts immediately as soon as you start your game. The Galaxians will be set up in formation and your Galaxip will be placed in the middle of the bottom of the screen. The action starts immediately. You can only have one shot in the air at any time so plan your shots accordingly. The game starts off slowly with only 2 or 3 Galaxians attacking your Galaxip at one time. They will drop 3 to 4 laser shots. As the waves progress, more Galaxians will come after your Galaxip until you will usually have 10-15 at any one time swooping down on it.

Each wave starts out with the Galaxians in formation, in the following quantities (in order from top to bottom) :

Flagships : 2 (plus any that have escaped from battle in the previous wave, up to a maximum of 4 altogether)

Red Galaxians (Escorts) : 6 (in 1 row, directly below the flagships)

Purple Galaxians : 8 (in 1 row, directly below the red Galaxians)

Blue Galaxians : 30 (in 3 rows of 10, directly below the purple Galaxians)

Flagships and red Galaxians are special enemies : they create convoys. Flagships have other special properties (see below). Purple and blue Galaxians are regular enemies.

* The Galaxip can fire only shot on the screen at a time. It is possible to kill 2 enemies with one shot if they are flying extremely close to each other.

* Missiles shot at the formation which miss by going between columns or near an outer edge of a column, will cause the formation to pause its left-right movement for a very short moment. This will usually, but not always, prevent missed shots near the columns from hitting the enemies in the upper rows of the formation which might otherwise be hit by moving into the shot as it flies by.

* Enemies peel away from the formation and attack the Galaxip. Enemies fire at the Galaxip during their attack, but they can’t fire after they pass an invisible horizontal line just above the Galaxip.

* Enemies always begin attack runs from the edges of the formation, never from the middle. This also applies to Flagships but it is not readily observable unless there are 3 or 4 Flagships present.

* A 'swarm' is triggered by either of 2 criterion :

1. The total number of enemies in formation is 3 or less.

2. The total number of blue and purple Galaxians in formation is zero. This can occur when there are many Flagships and red Galaxians still present in formation.

* When the 'swarm' starts, enemies that begin an attack do not return to formation : they keep attacking. Once started, a 'swarm' can only be ended by killing all of the enemies and/or letting them escape, or by the Galaxip getting hit.

* Before the 'swarm' starts, enemies that attack, which are not killed, return to the formation. Since these enemies were on the edge of the formation and able to attack once, they are very likely to attack again soon.

* When not in 'swarm', a maximum of 4 regular enemies can attack at any one time.

* Flagships and convoys can attack at any time as long as another convoy attack is not already commencing; only one convoy attack can happen at a time.

* A Flagship will always create a convoy with the maximum number of red escorts available to it, unless the 'swarm' has started.

* The Flagships 'capture' up to 3 red escorts while they are in formation : Whenever there is a Flagship in formation directly above an escort or above it to one side, that escort is captured and cannot attack on its own. This capture effect ends when a 'swarm' begins.

* The Flagships can escape from the battle only if all three red escorts under their place in the formation have been killed. Flagships that escape will appear on the next attack wave, up to a maximum of 4 Flagships at the start of any wave.

* When an attacking Flagship is killed, all enemies stop firing for a short period of time. If this kill occurs before the 'swarm', there will also be no new attacks from the formation during this period. These benefits never occur for killing a Flagship that is in formation.

* The flags which count the rounds show a maximum of round 48; rounds 48 and up are shown as round 48. However if round 256 is achieved, the flags start to roll over, but with some graphical glitches; the flags that were showing round 48 begin to get overwritten, one at a time. This results in the big 10-flags being cut in half by the regular flags which start to appear, until all 4 of the 10-flags are replaced by small ones. 16 single flags show during rounds 256+8 and 256+9 (rounds 264 and 265). The glitch ends at round 256+10 (266), which shows a single 10 flag.

* After wave 1, it is possible to kill any one enemy, even a Flagship, in a brand new formation by shooting at just the right time and place before the formation teleports in at the start of a new round.

* The Galaxians that come down in a smooth pattern are the easiest to kill plus their shots are easy to avoid. The hard ones to kill (usually the purple Galaxians) are the ones where the Galaxian 'bounces' from side-to-side dropping shots since those shots cover a very large area.

* The corners can be a death trap. When the Galaxians come down firing, their shots do not come straight down but they angle toward the direction that the Galaxian is traveling. In addition, the Galaxians have a tendency to 'charge' into the corners. You get the points if a Galaxian rams your Galaxip but you also lose your Galaxip in the process.

* The Flagships are the big points in the game. Try to avoid shooting the red Galaxians since they act as escorts for the Flagship. Wait until a Flagship comes down with two escorts. If you can't get aligned to take all three out quickly, let them pass. If you do get a good angle on them, you will have to fire quickly to pick off the two escorts first, then the Flagship. If you hit the Flagship first, you get significantly less points.

* Do not stop moving. If you do, you will be caught in a crossfire. The Galaxians tend to leave small areas of safety open between their shots. Also, make sure you are constantly hitting their formation to reduce their numbers (again, don't kill off the red ones).

* As you progress into the higher waves, the Galaxians tend to move quicker, fly more erratic patterns, and 'gang up' on your Galaxip. Plan accordingly for this.

- SERIES -

1. Galaxian (1979)

2. Galaga (1981)

3. Gaplus (1984) also known as "Galaga 3".

4. Galaga '88 (1987)

5. Galaxian3 (1990)

6. Galaxian3 Theatre 6 : Project Dragoon (1990)

7. Galaxian3 Theatre 6 J2 : Attack Of The Zolgear (1994)

8. Galaga - Destination Earth (2000, Nintendo Game Boy Color, PC CD-ROM and Sony PlayStation)

9. Galaga Legions (2008, XBOX 360 [Xbox Live Arcade])

- PORTS -

* Consoles :

Atari 5200 (1982)

Colecovision (1983)

Atari 2600 (1983)

Emerson Arcadia ("Galactica" clone, as "Space Attack")

Bally Astrocade ("Galactic Invasion")

Atari XEGS

Nintendo Famicom [JP] (Sep. 07, 1984; "Galaxian [Model NGX-4500]")

Nintendo Famicom Disk (1990)

Nintendo Game Boy (1995, "Galaga & Galaxian")

Nintendo Game Boy (1996, "Namco Gallery Vol.2")

Sony PlayStation [JP] (June 21, 1996, "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SLPS-00390]")

Sony PlayStation (1994, "Ridge Racer") : you can play the game while the main game loads.

Nintendo 64 (1999, "Namco Museum 64")

Sega Dreamcast (1999, "Namco Museum")

Sony PlayStation 2 (2001, "Namco Museum")

Nintendo GBA [JP] (Dec. 07, 2001; "Namco Museum [Model AGB-ANMJ-JPN]")

Nintendo GameCube (2002, "Namco Museum")

Microsoft XBOX (2002, "Namco Museum")

Sony PlayStation 2 (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary")

Microsoft XBOX (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary")

Nintendo GameCube (2005,"Namco Museum 50th Anniversary")

Sony PSP (2005, "Namco Museum Battle Collection")

Nintendo DS (2007, "Namco Museum DS")

Nintendo Wii (2007, "Namco Museum Remix")

Microsoft XBOX 360 (2008, "Namco Museum Virtual Arcade")

Nintendo Wii (2010, "Namco Museum Megamix")

Note : In the Korean version of Namco Museum Battle Collection for the Sony PSP, Galaxian goes by the name of 'Old Galaga', marking the only ever official connection between the Galaxian and Galaga series.

* Computers :

Apple II (1980, "Galaxian" - Star Craft Tokyo)

Commodore Vic 20 (1981, "Star Battle" - Hal Laboratory)

Apple II (1981, "Alien Typhoon" - Star Craft)

Tandy Color Computer (1982, "Galax Attax")

Tandy Color Computer (1982, "Space Ambush")

BBC B (1982, "Arcadians" - Acornsoft)

Acorn Electron (1982, "Arcadians" - Acornsoft)

Sinclair ZX81 (1982, "ZX Galaxians" - Artic)

Atari 800 (1982)

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982, "Galaxian" - Artic)

Commodore C64 (1983, "Galaxions" - Solar Software)

Commodore Vic 20 (1983, Atarisoft)

Exidy Sorcerer

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1983, "Galaxian" - Atarisoft)

Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1983, "Galactians" - DK'Tronics (UK))

PC [Booter] (1983)

PC [MS-DOS] (1983, "Galaxian" - Atarisoft)

Apple II (1983, Atarisoft)

MSX (1984)

Fujitsu FM-7 (1985)

Sharp X1 (Dempa)

NEC PC-88

Atari ST (1993, "Galaxian" - PD / Shareware - Sinister Developments)

PC [MS-DOS] (1997, "ChampGalaxia" - CHAMProgramming)

PC [MS-DOS] (1996, "Galaxi" - PD / Shareware - Kurt W. Dekker)

Commodore Amiga (1998, "Galaxians v1.3" - PD / Shareware - Kev Gallagher)

PC [MS Windows 95, 3.5''] (1995, "Microsoft Return of Arcade")

PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2000, "Microsoft Return of Arcade 20th Anniversary")

PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2005, "Namco Museum 50th Anniversary")

* Others :

VFD tabletop game (1980, "Galaxian") released by Bandai.

VFD tabletop game (19??, "Moon Alien", alt. name) released by Bandai.

VFD tabletop game (19??, "Beam Galaxian", Japanese release) released by Bandai.

VFD handheld game (1981, "Galaxian 2", called Galaxian 2 because it can be a two-player game) by Entex (or Futuretronics).

VFD handheld game (1981, "Astro Galaxy", Japanese release) by Entex.

VFD handheld game (1981, "Astro Invader", Hales release) by Entex.

VFD tabletop game (1981) released by Coleco.

LCD Keychains handheld game (1997) released by Bandai.

Namco Classics TV Game (2003 - Jakk's Pacific)

Mobile Phones (2003, "Galaxian Mini")

Arcade Gold featuring Pac-Man (2007 - Jakks Pacific)

Retro Arcade featuring Pac-Man (2008 - Jakks Pacific)

Ipad/Iphone (2011, "Galaga 30th Collection")

- SOURCES -

Game's rom.

Machine's picture.

F.A.Q. by Kevin Butler A.K.A. War Doc

MAME Info:

0.15 [Nicola Salmoria]

0.05 [Nicola Salmoria, Robert Anschuetz]

Artwork available

Bugs:

- The backround sound during gameplay is slow by about a factor of 2. dropdeadhippie (ID 00443)

WIP:

- 16th April 2011: Mr. Do - Thanks to Zorg for getting in contact with Etienne over at Dragon's Lair Fans. He scanned and vectored the Italian version of the Namco Galaxian bezel.

- 17th December 2010: Smitdogg - Darran dumped a bunch of early 80's bootlegs from New Zealand, mostly Galaxian and Galaga bootlegs and hacks.

- 12th December 2010: Smitdogg - Darran dumped an alt version of Galaxian Part X.

- 0.135: Luigi30 changed references to galaxiaj in game names to galaxiana. Changed description of clones 'Super Galaxians (galaxiaj hack)' to 'Super Galaxians (galaxiana hack)' and 'Space Invaders Galactica (galaxiaj hack)' to 'Space Invaders Galactica (galaxiana hack)'. Fixed unable to use normal coin slots (coin lockout) in clone Kamakazi III (superg hack).

- 0.133u3: Galaxian sound updates [Couriersud]: Moon Cresta and Galaxian now have their respective schematics emulated, i.e. Moon Cresta has a slightly different mixing stage. Cleaned up driver, added some section titles and comments, removed old code. Removed emu_timer, this was causing a stream of stream_updates only updating 3 samples. Replaced with discrete timer module DSS_TIMER now. Use DISCRETE_NOTE for pitch generation; it is more accurate (within the one ms where the pitch changes) and saves a node. Use DISCRETE_BITS_DECODE and save 2 nodes.

- 0.133u2: Created discrete sound emulation for galaxian [Couriersud]: Changed all audio related AM_WRITE to AM_DEV_WRITE. Moved discrete sound related pieces such as initialization into audio/galaxian.h. Split some memory maps into sound related and not sound related parts. Added possibility in discrete.h to select hardware (galaxian/moon cresta) at compile time. This leads to slightly different volume levels. Hit sound (explosion) has been hacked to increase volume. Currently, we can not accurately model the switch/opamp filter circuit. Rewrote timer code so that the pitch timer is only used when it produces audible results. Brian Troha fixed Kamakazi III's dipswitch setting (the same as superg) and relabeled it a superg hack. Also the dipswitch setting for the Taito license was the same as superg so I eliminated one. Changed description of clone 'Kamakazi III' to 'Kamakazi III (superg hack)'.

- 0.133u1: Darran added clone Kamakazi III. hap switched Galaxian LFO sound to use the long-disabled NEW_LFO. It's not entirely fixed, but it's closer. Renamed (galaxiaj) to (galaxiana), (galmidw) to (galaxianm), (galmidwo) to (galaxianmo) and (galtaito) to (galaxiant).

- 6th June 2009: Smitdogg - Thanks to Darran we got Kamakazi III!

- 0.124u1: Changed Moon Alien Part 2 (moonal2), Moon Alien Part 2 (older version) (moonal2b) and Super GX (supergx) to Galaxian clones. Changed visible area to 224x768 and palettesize to 32 colors. Changed description of clones 'Galaxian (Midway)' to 'Galaxian (Midway set 1)', 'Galaxian (Midway, old rev)' to 'Galaxian (Midway set 2)', 'Super Galaxians' to 'Super Galaxians (galaxiaj hack)', 'Galaxian Part X' to 'Galaxian Part X (moonaln hack)', 'Space Invaders Galactica' to 'Space Invaders Galactica (galaxiaj hack)', 'Galaxian Part 4' to 'Galaxian Part 4 (hack)', 'Galaxian Turbo' to 'Galaxian Turbo (superg hack)', 'Swarm (hack of Galaxian)' to 'Swarm (bootleg?)' and 'Star Fighter (bootleg of Galaxian)' to 'Star Fighter'.

- 0.123u1: Stefan Lindberg added clone Galaxian (Taito).

- 0.119: David Haywood added clone Galaxian (bootleg). Changed description of clones 'Swarm' to 'Swarm (hack of Galaxian)' and 'Star Fighter' to 'Star Fighter (bootleg of Galaxian)'.

- 11th February 2007: Mr. Do - We have a bezel for Galaxian.

- 0.111u1: Atari Ace fixed 'Galaxian Test ROM' by adding extra ram (0xfffc, 0xffff).

- 2nd October 2006: f205v dumped Galaxian (bootleg).

- 0.104u8: Pierpaolo Prazzoli added clone Star Fighter.

- 19th March 2006: f205v dumped Star Fighter (Jeutel 1979).

- 0.88: MASH added clone Super GX.

- 0.85u1: Added 2nd player and dipswitches 'Cabinet', 'Service Mode' and 'Coinage'.

- 0.74u2: Mike O'Malley added 'Galaxian Test ROM' (19??) for region cpu1 ($0).

- 30th September 2003: Mike O'Malley submitted an addition of Space Invaders and Galaxian test ROMs.

- 0.68: David Haywood added clone Moon Alien.

- 25th April 2003: David Haywood added Moon Alien to the Galaxian driver.

- 12th December 2002: Zsolt Vasvari fixed the graphics in Galaxian that broke with the previous changes.

- 0.59: Added clone Galaxian (Midway, old rev). Added 'Unused SW 0-3' dipswitch.

- 0.55: Fixed starfield isn't moving in Galaxian.

- 1st June 2001: Zsolt Vasvari fixed the Galaxian / Scramble starfield graphics emulation.

- 0.37b12: New filtering code for the audio mixer. It is applied to audio streams generated at a sampling rate different from the sound card's one, improving quality. Some examples with a very audible difference are Galaxian.

- 0.37b11: Added clone Galaxian (Namco set 2). Changed parent description to 'Galaxian (Namco set 1)'. Removed Galaxian (bootleg).

- 0.37b3: Zsolt Vasvari added clone Zero Time (Petaco S.A. 1979).

- 23rd May 2000: Zsolt Vasvari added Zero Time to the driver.

- 26th February 2000: Michael Soderstrom fixed some Galaxian memory handling bugs.

- 12th December 1999: Quench fixed Galaxian and clones from crashing when run without sound.

- 0.36b11: Lee Taylor added clone Swarm (hack 1979). Juergen Buchmueller and Tatsuyuki Satoh improved emulation of the Galaxians sound subsystem. Samples are no longer used.

- 22nd November 1999: Lee Taylor added a Galaxian clone called Swarm and four Space Invaders clones.

- 31st May 1999: Zsolt Vasvari made the Galaxian/Scramble hardware games multi-session friendly.

- 29th April 1999: Nicola tweaked the Galaxian tone generator to fix the coin inserted sound.

- 0.35b9: Nicola Salmoria fixed the Galaxian-style starfield. Believe it or not, it had been broken since day 1.

- 0.35b7: Splitted 4k and 10k roms into 2k in Galaxian (Namco) and clones Space Invaders Galactica and Galaxian Part 4. Removed clone Galaxian (Namco, modified). Changed description of clone 'Galaxians (bootleg)' to 'Galaxian (bootleg)'.

- 0.35b5: Zsolt Vasvari added clone Galaxians (bootleg).

- 26th February 1999: Zsolt Vasvari has added several clones (for Smash TV, Galaxian, Rampage, Satan's Hollow, Bosconian).

- 0.35b2: Nicola Salmoria fixed (?) the title in clone Galaxian Part X.

- 10th January 1999: Malcor dumped Galaxian (Taito).

- 6th January 1999: Malcor dumped Super GX.

- 0.34b1: Added color prom galaxian.clr.

- 0.33b7: Changed description of clone 'Moon Alien Part 2 (alternate)' to 'Moon Alien Part 2 (older version)'.

- 0.33b5: Al Kossow added clones Moon Alien Part 2 (Nichibutsu 1980) and (alternate). Attempt at making the main Galaxian / Moon Cresta sound channel more accurate [Nicola Salmoria]. Known issues: Sound is not completely emulated.

- 0.31: Known issues: Bullet placement is not correct in cocktail mode. Changed description of clone 'Galaxian Part 1' to 'Space Invaders Galactica' and clone 'Super Galaxian' to 'Super Galaxians'.

- 13th April 1998: Malcor dumped Moon Alien Part 2 (older version).

- 0.29: Andrew Scott improved the Galaxian background hum, it also is no longer incorrectly played in Moon Cresta & others. In some games (e.g. Pacman, Galaxian, Rally X) the NumLock and CapsLock leds emulate the 1 Player/2 Players start lamps [Sean Gugler].

- 0.27: Andrew Scott and Robert R. Anschuetz II improved sound support in Galaxian and clones. The background noise is now emulated, while the shoot noise still requires a sample. These changes also affect other games using the same sound routines.

- 0.26a: Mirko Buffoni worked with the wrong source, now everything is back to normality in Galaxian.

- 0.25: Robert Anschuetz provided infos about how to enable a shot sample with Moon Quasar, Moon Cresta, Galaxian and clones.

- 0.18: Nicola Salmoria added some lousy noise to Galaxian.

- 0.15: Nicola Salmoria added Galaxian (Namco). This version is known to be original, it has Namco copyright and the code is slightly different from the other Galaxian (which has Midway copyright). Renamed (galaxian) to (galmidw).

- 0.14: Nicola Salmoria added high score saving to Galaxian.

- 0.06: Star background in Galaxians & co [Nicola Salmoria]. The way I calculate it is probably not correct, anyway it looks reasonable.

- 0.05: Nicola Salmoria added 'Galaxian (Midway)' (Midway 1979) and clones Galaxian (Namco, modified), Super Galaxian, Galaxian Part X, Galaxian Part 1, Galaxian Part 4 and Galaxian Turbo. Game is playable with accurate colors and limited sound. Control: Arrows = Move around, CTRL = Fire and F2 = Test mode. There are so many clones here that I'm not even sure which is the "original" one. The dip switch menu might display wrong settings. Compiled from information provided by friends and Uncles on RGVAC. Info on Galaxians taken from Arcade Emulator by Robert Anschuetz. Known issues: Only one sound channel is emulated, and I'm not sure it's correct. No star background. What does dip switch 6 do?

- 4th January 1997: Malcor dumped Galaxian Part 4 (hack).

LEVELS: 255 (endless)

Other Emulators:

* CottAGE

* FB Alpha

* GalEMU

* HiVE

* JAE

* JEmu

* JEmu2

* Mimic

* Raine

* Retrocade

* Sparcade

* Tickle

* VAntAGE

Recommended Games (Galaxian):

Galaxian

Galactica

4 Fun in 1 (Galaxian)

Fantastic

Galaga

Namco Classic Collection Vol.1 (Galaga)

Tenkomori Shooting (Galaga)

Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga - 20th Anniversary Class of 1981 Reunion

Pac-Man - 25th Anniversary Edition (Galaga)

Galaga '88

Ghostmuncher Galaxian (bootleg)

Gaplus

Cosmo Gang the Video

Romset: 15 kb / 8 files / 9.92 zip

MAME XML Output:

<description>Galaxian (Namco set 1)</description>

<manufacturer>Namco</manufacturer>

</input>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</dipswitch>

</game>

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