Defender Game Online - Play Fun Classic Space Web Games

Defender is a legendary arcade shooter that will have you on the edge of your seat as you fight to protect astronauts from waves of alien invaders! Released by Williams Electronics in February 1981 and developed by the visionary Eugene Jarvis, Defender is set on a fictional planet where your mission is to defend helpless astronauts from hostile forces. Inspired by classics like Space Invaders and Asteroids, this game introduced fast-paced, side-scrolling action that revolutionized the shooter genre. Despite facing development delays, Defender became an instant hit, selling over 55,000 units and earning its place as one of the highest-grossing arcade games of its time. With its groundbreaking audio-visuals and challenging gameplay, Defender quickly became a staple of the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games, known for its unforgiving difficulty and addictive nature. Still one of Eugene Jarvis' greatest contributions to gaming, Defender remains a must-play for fans of classic arcade shooters. Ready to save the astronauts and conquer the alien hordes? The challenge awaits!

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How to Play Defender Game

The controls to Defender were unusually difficult for the time, and continue to be involved. They are: UP and DOWN arrows to move your ship up and down the screen. ALT/OPTION to thrust your ship. CONTROL to fire. SPACE to fire a Smart Bomb. SHIFT to go into Hyperspace. Z for Reverse. If you'd like to change these settings, press TAB and go to Input (This System) to make changes - please bear in mind these changes will disappear when you close your browser. Defender is a two-dimensional side-scrolling shooting game set on the surface of an unnamed planet. The player controls a space ship as it navigates the terrain, flying either to the left or right. A joystick controls the ship's elevation, and five buttons control its horizontal direction and weapons. The object is to destroy alien invaders, while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction. Humans that are successfully abducted return as mutants that attack the ship. Defeating the aliens allows the player to progress to the next level. Failing to protect the astronauts, however, causes the planet to explode and the level to become populated with mutants. Surviving the waves of mutants results in the restoration of the planet. Players are allotted three chances (lives) to progress through the game and are able to earn more by reaching certain scoring benchmarks. A life is lost if the ship comes into contact with an enemy or its projectiles. After exhausting all lives, the game ends. SPECIAL NOTES ON THE OPERATION OF DEFENDER IN THE BROWSER: Defender is a particularly difficult game to play, both in the original Arcade version and especially in this browser-based edition. Here are some basic tips: First, all Williams games of this era require the "ADVANCE" button to be pressed after the game has booted and in Operator Mode. You can press F2 on your keyboard (although many browsers will not understand you pressing F2 or try to do other actions), or you can use the virtual keyboard next to the screen to press the "ADVANCE" button. At this point, the game will be in attract mode and playable.