History VideoGame / SpaceInvaders

* PinballSpinoff: A year after its release, [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally]] released a ''Space Invaders'' [[Pinball/SpaceInvaders arcade pinball machine]].

The game was so popular that it caused a Japan-wide shortage of the 100-yen coins that the game's coin slot demanded, and the home version was [[KillerApp largely responsible for the runaway success]] of the [[{{Atari 2600}} Atari VCS]] (later 2600) home console system. It also spawned the medical term "SpaceInvaders wrist." In United States arcades, it was the first video game to out-gross any and all pinball machines (the top selling arcade game the year before had been the ''Evel Knievel'' pinball machine). It was the first game in which play could last an [[EndlessGame open-ended amount of time]], given sufficient skill, rather than being timed to a finite clock, and it immediately spawned a host of equally classic imitators, such as ''Galaxian'', ''Gorf'', and the entire top-scrolling rail shooter genre.

"Space Invaders" was at one point used by many non-gamers (in SmallReferencePools style) as a generic term for any game/console, as with "Atari" and "Nintendo" later on, a testament to the game's cultural impact. There are also many references and {{ShoutOut}}s in other media: for example, the Invaders show up (randomly) as {{Mooks}} in ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''` infamous Turbo Tunnel Level, and Creator/TerryPratchett in his novel ''{{Only You Can Save Mankind}}'' (which is about a contemporary 90s space shooter turning out to be taking place in another dimension) has a wrecked Space Invader ship encountered at one point, suggesting that all space shooters take place in the same dimension and the Space Invaders, from the 1970s, were the first wave of aliens.

* StarfishAliens: The Invaders resemble octopuses, crabs, and squids. WordOfGod says the octopus ones were directly inspired by HG Wells' description of the Martians from ''TheWarOfTheWorlds''.

"Space Invaders" was at one point used by many non-gamers (in SmallReferencePools style) as a generic term for any game/console, as with "Atari" and "Nintendo" later on, a testament to the game's cultural impact. There are also many references and {{ShoutOut}}s in other media: for example, the Invaders show up (randomly) as {{Mooks}} in ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''` infamous Terror Tunnel Level, and Creator/TerryPratchett in his novel ''{{Only You Can Save Mankind}}'' (which is about a contemporary 90s space shooter turning out to be taking place in another dimension) has a wrecked Space Invader ship encountered at one point, suggesting that all space shooters take place in the same dimension and the Space Invaders, from the 1970s, were the first wave of aliens.

* AnticlimaxBoss: The true final battle of ''Infinity Gene''. [[spoiler: And then the solitary final invader, which is arguably harder than ''even the boss before it''.]]

"Space Invaders" was at one point used by many non-gamers (in SmallReferencePools style) as a generic term for any game/console, as with "Atari" and "Nintendo" later on, a testament to the game's cultural impact. There are also many references and {{ShoutOut}}s in other media: for example, the Invaders show up (randomly) as {{Mooks}} in ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''` infamous Terror Tunnel Level, and Creator/TerryPratchett in his novel ''Only You Can Save Mankind'' (which is about a contemporary 90s space shooter turning out to be taking place in another dimension) has a wrecked Space Invader ship encountered at one point, suggesting that all space shooters take place in the same dimension and the Space Invaders, from the 1970s, were the first wave of aliens.

The game was so popular that it caused a Japan-wide shortage of the 100-yen coins that the game's coin slot demanded, and the home version was [[KillerApp largely responsible for the runaway success]] of the [[{{Atari 2600}} Atari VCS]] (later 2600) home console system. It also spawned the medical term "SpaceInvaders wrist." In United States arcades, it was the first video game to out-gross any and all pinball machines (the top selling arcade game the year before had been the Evel Kinevel pinball console). It was the first game in which play could last an [[EndlessGame open-ended amount of time]], given sufficient skill, rather than being timed to a finite clock, and it immediately spawned a host of equally classic imitators, such as ''Galaxian'', ''Gorf'', and the entire top-scrolling rail shooter genre.

The game was so popular that it caused a Japan-wide shortage of the 100-yen coins that the game's coin slot demanded, and the home version was [[KillerApp largely responsible for the runaway success]] of the [[{{Atari 2600}} Atari VCS]] (later 2600) home console system. It also spawned the medical term "SpaceInvaders wrist." It was the first game in which play could last an [[EndlessGame open-ended amount of time]], given sufficient skill, rather than being timed to a finite clock, and it immediately spawned a host of equally classic imitators, such as ''Galaxian'', ''Gorf'', and the entire top-scrolling rail shooter genre.

* ''Space Invaders Part II'' (1980)

* MythologyGag: The power up items in ''Infinity Gene'' are the Newalone particles taken directly from ''Metal Black'', an obscure Taito shooter that has more in common with ''{{Darius}}'' than ''Space Invaders''. A more direct call back to ''Darius'' comes in the form of BossSubtitles in the familiar form, "WARNING - A FORMIDABLE ENEMY '[Boss Name]' HAS ENTERED THE BATTLE."

** The iOS version of Infinity Gene has DownloadableContent featuring Silver Hawk from ''{{Darius}}'', Inter Gray from ''NightStriker'', Black Fly from ''MetalBlack'', and the R-Gray2 from ''RayStorm''.

[[spoiler: ** TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of ''Space Invaders X'', the Alien World, is literally an arcade machine of the original. The final boss is a giant classic invader that shrinks as you hit it. By its last hit, it's like one of the normal final invaders, but smaller and faster.]]

The [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] that spawned a thousand other ShootEmUps, Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''Space Invaders'' debuted in 1978. Although {{Pong}} had started the industry, this game revolutionized it, virtually launching TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, establishing or [[TropeCodifier codifying]] many of the tropes used in later games, such as VideoGameLives, and a separate score counter for high scores.

"SpaceInvaders" was at one point used by many non-gamers (in SmallReferencePools style) as a generic term for any game/console, as with "Atari" and "Nintendo" later on, a testament to the game's cultural impact. There are also many references and {{ShoutOut}}s in other media: for example, the Invaders show up (randomly) as {{Mooks}} in ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''` infamous Terror Tunnel Level, and Creator/TerryPratchett in his novel ''Only You Can Save Mankind'' (which is about a contemporary 90s space shooter turning out to be taking place in another dimension) has a wrecked Space Invader ship encountered at one point, suggesting that all space shooters take place in the same dimension and the Space Invaders, from the 1970s, were the first wave of aliens.

There was also a less-well-known, though quite good fun, [[http://pc.gamezone.com/gamesell/p13366.htm version]] released by {{Activision}} in 1999. It would have been InNameOnly but for a very similar gameplay mechanic (most of the time, anyway. It had boss monsters, powerups, and a few levels which were more akin to puzzles than straight shooting galleries). It also contained an unlockable version of the original game.

* BreatherLevel: Every ten levels, the Invaders' starting positions are reset to the top of the screen.
** Stage [[spoiler:5-6]] in ''Infinity Gene''.

"SpaceInvaders" was at one point used by many non-gamers (in SmallReferencePools style) as a generic term for any game/console, as with "Atari" and "Nintendo" later on, a testament to the game's cultural impact. There are also many references and {{ShoutOut}}s in other media: for example, the Invaders show up (randomly) as {{Mooks}} in ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}''` infamous Terror Tunnel Level, and TerryPratchett in his novel ''Only You Can Save Mankind'' (which is about a contemporary 90s space shooter turning out to be taking place in another dimension) has a wrecked Space Invader ship encountered at one point, suggesting that all space shooters take place in the same dimension and the Space Invaders, from the 1970s, were the first wave of aliens.

* ''Space Invaders Get Even'' (2008, {{WiiWare}})

* ''Space Invaders Infinity Gene'' (2009; [[{{iOS Games}} iPhone, iPod Touch]], 2010; Xbox 360, Playstation 3)

* DifficultyByAcceleration: This was a lucky accident. Just rendering all the sprites of the enemies was a heavy load for CPUs of the time, but as the player killed more aliens, the computer was able to devote more cycles to moving the enemies, making them faster and resulting in one of the earliest examples of this trope (although not the UrExample--''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' did it first).

The [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] that spawned a thousand other ShootEmUps, ''SpaceInvaders'' debuted in 1978. Although {{Pong}} had started the industry, this game revolutionized it, virtually launching TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames, establishing or [[TropeCodifier codifying]] many of the tropes used in later games, such as VideoGameLives, and a separate score counter for high scores.

** one of the minor bosses extends a pixel-width tendril that makes a few random right turns, then develops a gunpod at the end; you fight it by shooting the gunpod, forcing it to retract along the tendril until it collides with the main ship. In a sense, the fight's with the tendril. The boss's name? [[JojosBizarreAdventure Jolyne]].

* DynamicDifficulty - UrExample due to AscendedGlitch

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