Deluxe Galaga (ECS)

Title		Deluxe Galaga  (ECS)
Programmer      Edgar M. Vigdal, PD
Game Type	Shoot-em-up
Players		1 or 2
Compatibility	All
HD Installable  Yes
Submission	Edgar Vigdal

	This Amiga Report review appears here by courtesy of Jason Compton

I feel like a fool for not reviewing Deluxe Galaga sooner.

For those who haven't been in an arcade for the past 10 years or so, Galaga
was a next-generation Space Invaders game, in which you defended yourself
against endless waves of alien attackers.  These attackers, though, took
dive-bombing raids at you.  A very few of the attackers had the ability to
literally scoop your craft out of the sky-allowing you to shoot it down
later and join up with it, forming a more powerful fighting machine.

It was quite a bit of fun. (Movie-watchers will note that the main
character of WarGames plays it at least once during the early parts of the
movie)

Vigdal came along and decided to do an Amiga version. Of course, Galaga
was written during an age where powerups were unheard of, but in the 90's,
powerups are what define an arcade game. So, we have the concept of money
that can be used to buy more ships, firepower, or speed. Many of those
goodies fall from the baddies when they're shot, and the action is capped
off with "level bosses", challenge screens and kamikaze levels, and two
types of bonus levels.

The game has evolved considerably over time. Initially, the selection of
weaponry was more limited, power-ups seemed a bit rarer, and the likelihood
of a bullet scoring a kill on an alien was about as likely as the
likelihood of the bullet to pass right through. Now, though, Galaga is a
top-notch arcade extravaganza, nearly flawless in its execution and intense
fun to play. Registering the game for a pittance (US$10) is well worth the
effort: you get an enhanced version, most noticable in the sound file,
which adds old-arcade style voice effects to the game.

At this point, it sports 75 unique levels, which (if you're good) just wrap
around and become more difficult if you survive. With three difficulty
levels, you'll be kept busy.

Seasoned Deluxe Galaga players will want to note some recent additions:

Memory game: Sort of weird, I think, but a bonus screen that puts up a grid
of tiles, gives you a time limit, and challenges you to match what's under
the tiles, anything from points to money to rank markers. A skull ends the
bonus round immediately.

Built-in Autofire: Autofire has become a powerup, meaning that all you have
to do is hold FIRE to make it work.

200 dollar coins: Mo' money.

Armor: Build up resistance to dying.

Even Higher Weapons: Weapons now go up to the cryptically named "War.I.
Plasma", which costs 3000 coins and is incredibly powerful.

The game is ECS, and runs on anything with a meg. Don't be fooled, though:
build a stand-up console around an A1200 and market it to the older gaming
set. They'll put quarters in it.

DGalaga 2.5 is a great presentation of a classic gaming concept. Quite
well done.

Alphabetical list.