In 1981, Williams Electronics released a horizontal shooter game by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar that took the arcades by storm. That game was Defender. In this game the player controls the
Defender to protect humanoids, who have been stranded in some planet, from their alien abductors. Though the premise is simple, the execution is anything but. The ship is controlled with a joystick and a series of buttons on the cabinet.
The joystick is only used to control the ship’s elevation while the buttons provide control for weapons and for reversing the ship’s direction. One button is used to activate a “smart bomb,” capable of destroying all enemies in view, while another button activates the hyperspace function, a feature that may save or doom you (something similar to what happens in Asteroids).
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Eugenio has been an avid video gamer since he was introduced to the Atari 2600 back in the early 80's. Since then, he has amassed a collection of 23 systems and handhelds with over 2000 games. He actively participates in various retro gaming forums, where he shares his love for video games, and where he is known as “the legendary” TrekMD. He has contributed retro game and system articles to Retro Video Gamer forum, The Retro Gaming Times, Vectorbolt Magazine, and Homebrew Heroes Magazine. Oh, and he’s also an avid Star Trek fan.
