Space Invaders

• EASTER EGG: According to programmer Eric Manghise, there’s a way to turn the invaders into his initials, but he doesn’t recall how.  It may involve shooting invaders in a certain order.  {Eric Manghise}

• The 5200 version (pictures #1 - #4) is actually a modified version of the 400/800 version (picture #5).  The biggest changes were the elimination of the rocket, the addition of bunkers, and the different (and multiple) types of invaders.  There are 2 waves of one set of invaders (picture #1), 2 more of another set (picture #2), 2 more of yet another set (picture #3), and then 1 wave of invaders that all morph into 3 different types (picture #4).

• It takes multiple shots to shoot through the bunkers, unlike with Atari Invaders where it only takes 2 or 3.

• The 5th and 6th waves feature a different explosion animation for the invaders.  There’s even a “preview” of it on the 4th wave – the last invader shot will show the new animation.  The last invader shot on the 6th wave will show the original animation.  At the end of the 7th wave (and every 7th wave thereafter), the mystery ship comes down and takes your ship.

• The top invader found in the first 2 waves of the 5200 version of Space Invaders (picture #6) is based on one of the invaders found in the VCS version (picture #7)!

• The point value for hitting the mystery ship are not random but dependent on how many shots you fire, just like the arcade game.  Below is the chart:

• BUG: Hitting the mystery ship with every 15^th shot is worth 60 points, or at least it should be – “60” appears on the screen but you actually don’t get any points for it!

• BUG: When the invaders are moving to the left side of the screen, they never reach the edge.  This is because the rocket that is normally there in the 400/800 version was taken out, but their movement is still coded as if it’s there.  You also still hear the sound effect of the rocket dropping down after clearing each wave.  {Scott Stilphen}