Textual Analysis Of Galaga

“We have the ability to project ourselves into just about anything we control.” [J.Schell, 2008] Galaga is a Japanese shoot ‘em up arcade game that was released in 1981, developed and published by Namco [Japan] and by Midway in North America. The following is my analysis and experience having played/studied the game under the headings: story, technology, aesthetics, and mechanics.

Story

“We filter reality through our sense, and through our minds, and the consciousness we actually experience is a kind of illusion – not really reality at all.” [J.Schell, 2008]

Anyone who grew up in the arcades is very much familiar with Galaga, as it was one of the most popular games of the 1980s. The sequel to 1979’s Galaxian, Galaga is a timeless classic. [Fig.1]

The graphics in Galaga matches nicely with the optical experience/flow of the games design. [Fig.1] The aesthetics in Galaga are extremely effective; the use of CRT fixed colours for the monitor completely determined the game’s visual style. The scene creates a kind of ‘hyper-real’ look, which fits perfectly with the theme. This resulted back with the objects in the game being more emphasized and making the gamer more aware of where everything is. As the colours outlined against the black background, this allowed room for motion in the game to perfectly flow in a continuous manner. Galaga is visually a classic arcade game in the 1980s, due to all its unique characteristics it carries compared to its contemporaries, and even compared to today’s games. [Fig.5] “Really, the problem is that games have only recently emerged as anything like a serious medium of expression. It will take time for the world to grow used to this idea. But we have no reason to wait. We can create games with powerful themes right now.” [J.Schell,

Genres are defined primarily by their gameplay and mechanics. The basic interaction is moving along the bottom of the screen, shooting at the enemies either in formation or as they fly about. Most enemies are destroyed by one hit, but the Galaga’s take two hits they turn blue when hit once. You must avoid being hit by enemies and their fire. You must also be aware of the Galaga's tractor beam, which can capture your ship and it turns red. To free the captured ship, you must destroy the captor Galaga while it is attacking you, otherwise the captured ship will be destroyed. When you free a captured ship, it will dock alongside your current ship, thus creating a dual ship. Ships are lost when the player gets hit by enemies, leading to the dual ships getting destroyed individually. The following will be discussed in the mechanics and the resulting gameplay. Game mechanics are the core of what a game truly