When I was a kid, we never had a Nintendo. We had an Atari 800XL and about a zillion games for it. My favorite game by far was Galaxian. I actually practiced this game, honing my skills for reasons I couldn't explain then or now. I remember the day when my uncle told me that there was a sequel to Galaxian that was even better. My mind could scarcely conceive of the concept.
Galaga is basically the same game as Galaxian with a few more bells and whistles. The only thing about the bells and whistles is that each and every one of them is great. First of all, the enemy ships make a much grander entrance in Galaga. They swoosh and swirl before taking their place at the top of the screen. Also, one of the higher-ranking ships has a tractor beam that can steal your ship. This can actually be a good thing because if you shoot the enemy ship, you'll get your ship back and have two ships and double the firepower. One other bell and or whistle is the bonus stages. In these stages, ships will just come at you in rapid succession and you try to shoot them for extra points.
As a lifelong Galaxian fan, I can help but enjoy Galaga. This is exactly what a sequel should be. Every added feature is an improvement, and it still has the spirit of the original. I may be biased, but I'm giving Galaga...
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