* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: C'mon, who ''didn't'' feel badass when the game opened with those synth guitar riffs?
* DifficultySpike: After the first level, the game takes a disproportionate leap in difficulty. Somewhat justified, since it was an arcade game, and it needed to be over at some point so other people could play.
* GoddamnedBats: Baiters and Swarmers.
* ItsHardSoItSucks: When ''Defender'' was first released, it was panned for having a complex control scheme with too many buttons. The button complaints diminished overtime, but today the game still does receive criticism for its relentless difficulty.
* PortingDisaster: The Platform/Atari2600 cartridge attempted to port a console game with five buttons and an up-down stick to a system with a joystick and one button... poorly.
* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Most gamers preferred ''Stargate'' (aka ''Defender II'') when it was released to vanilla ''Defender''.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: All of the particle and explosion effects in ''Defender II''--especially when the Earth is blown up by every human dying.