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Defender Clones and Ports (Defender-likes)


Clones & Ports of Williams' Defender



This article is concerned with clones and ports of Williams' Defender coinop of 1980/81 that have appeared on Western home computer game machines.

The original Defender coinop was designed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar.

Defender-likes are defined by me as shoot 'em ups that feature bi-directional horizontal or vertical variable-rate scrolling anhored to the player's spaceship. And since the scrolling can usually be "pushed" at a rate of knots, Defender-likes are almost invariably super-scrollers.

In Defender-likes the player's spaceship fires only in two directions (left and right or up and down), but is capable of 2-to-8-way thrusting movement and hyperspace jumps. The spaceship can also activate a limited-use smart bomb that destroys hostiles, screen-wide. True Defender-likes feature on-screen radar and involve saving allies from capture or extermination by aliens or some other invading force. The object of the original Defender is to defend the planet from an alien invasion by protecting the people from alien attack waves. The aliens in the original Defender are the Baiter, Bomber, Lander, Mutant, Pod and Swarmer. Each alien has its own behavior and awards points upon being vanquished.

In my estimation Defender is the King of all shoot 'em ups because Defender is about different strategies coupled with pure and unadulterated skill, not memorization. In addition, Defender's action is non-stop; it does not stop; to stop is to die. For me, Defender and its top-tier clones never get old.

Defender used to and still does feel like a space-age game; a game from the future. Defender graphics are like fireworks and its soundscape is superb. Defender is the God-king not just of coinops, but of all games. Defender is the God-king of ALL games.

The article is only concerned with Defender clones and ports that appeared on Western home computer game machines. The clones and ports are presented chronologically.

Defender games are not the same as Scramble or Gradius games. But as with Scramble and Gradius games, Defender games do not have to scroll horizontally to be considered Defender-likes.

However, Defender-likes should scroll bi-directionally and feature largely unmemorizable attack waves and spawn-points.

The Original Defender Coinop Technical Specifications


Powered by an 8-bit Motorola 6809 microprocessor clocked at 1 MHz, the original Defender coinop runs at 60 FPS while displaying at 360x240 resolution and with 16 on-screen colors drawn from a palette range of 256. Defender consists of five dedicated circuit boards.

When assessing ports and clones of Defender, consider that some microcomputers did not have any custom chips or coprocessors, let alone five dedicated boards packed with specialized circuitry.

Defender Clones


Gorgon Apple 2 1981


Gorgon is an early Defender-like programmed in assembly language by Nasir Gebelli of Sirius Software for the Apple 2 in 1981. The impressive graphics were drawn in E-Z Draw by Michael Carroll. 4-way movement of the spaceship, not 8-way.


Protector Atari 8 bit 1981


Synapse Software released Protector for the Atari 8-bits in 1981. Protector was programmed by Mike Potter. Protector features exacting 8-way controls and smooth variable-rate bi-directional horizontal scrolling. In terms of gameplay and audio-visuals Protector is the best shooter of 1981.


Yeah, now this is what I'm talking about: going up against the Fraxullan Slimehordes! This is early 80s shooters at their best.

In Protector the city is under attack by the Fraxullan Slimehordes. The Fraxullan Mothership is beaming people up and dropping them into the Dragonmaw volcano of death. Players control 3-5 Needlefighters tasked with transporting 18 people to the City of New Hope and the Verdann Fortress via the Cave of Fear and the Strakk fields. The Needlefighter is equipped with a laser cannon that is used to destroy xytonic pulse-trackers, meteoroids and laser trackers. Shielded by Baltheric anti-matter the Fraxullan Mothership is impervious to the Needlefighter's laser cannon attack and fires a transport beam that insta-kills the Needlefighter. Protector consists of 6 levels. Protector requires 32K of RAM.

God-tier.

Defense Command TRS-80 1982


Bill Hogue & Jeff Konyu of Big Five Software coded Defense Command in 1982 for the TRS-80. Defense Command is highly playable Defender-like that came out a year after Williams' Defender coinop of 1981. Defense Command's machine code language seems to bang the TRS-80 harder than other shooters.


Choplifter! 1982 Apple II


Dan Gorlin's awesome Choplifter! was initially released on the Apple 2 in 1982 and ported to the Commodore 64 in 1983. Choplifter! features dual-playfield action and bi-directional parallax scrolling as well as sprite rotation and strafing.


In 1982-83 Choplifter! was one of the most technically advanced shoot 'em ups in terms of controls and graphics. The original Apple II version supports two-button analogue joystick for finer control of the chopper.

Choplifter Commodore 64 1983


In 1983 Choplifter! was one of the most impressive Commodore 64 shoot 'em ups in terms of controls and graphics, but unlike the Apple 2 original the C64 version supports only one-button digital joystick control. In addition, the C64 version should have featured smooth scrolling.


Protector 2 Commodore 64 1983


Ken Rose ported Mike Potter's Atari 8 bit Protector 2 of 1982 to the C64 in 1983. Protector 2 is a great Defender-like. There is no original Protector 1981 on the C64; Vic 20 only.


Jetpac ZX Spectrum 16k 1983


Coded by Chris Stamper of Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum in 1983, in controlling Jetman the object of Jetpac is to rebuild and fuel a rocket while fighting off aliens on a fixed-screen, horizontally-wrapping-around playfield. Note the vibrant colors and clarity of Speccy graphics.


Lunar Jetman ZX Spectrum 48k 1983


Lunar Jetman is Ultimate Play the Game's sequel to Jetpac, but Lunar Jetman scrolls horizontally and includes a driveable Lunar Rover. You can't ask for much more in 1983 on the Speccy.


Guardian Commodore 64 1984


Steve Evan's Guardian was the first fast and busy Defender clone on the C64. Most impressive.


Dropzone Atari 8 bit 1984



Arena Graphics of the U.K released Dropzone for the Atari 8 bits in 1984. Dropzone was designed and programmed by Archer Maclean. Dropzone left most early Defender ports and clones in the dust. Indeed, Dropzone is the one of the best Defender clones and one of the best super-scrollers in shoot 'em up history.

In Dropzone humanity of 2085 has been devastated by the Robot Wars. Players control one man of an 8-man consignment each equipped with pulse-laser jetpacks that allow the men to thrust over the volcanic moonscape of Jupiter's Io in 8 directions, fire a laser cannon and unleash Strata bombs at hostile aliens. In addition, the men can cloak themselves to become invisible for an interval.

The object of Dropzone is to destroy the alien waves and save Ionian crystal prospectors by picking them up and dropping them down on the moonbase landing pad. The Ionian crystals are being collected in order to build a Tacheon-propelled star cruiser that will allow humanity to travel new star systems.

Dropzone features a Hall of Fame, Mission Rankings and nuanced tactics. Dropzone consists of 99 levels with randomized waves of aliens that include planters, androids, spores, trailers and blunder storms. Dropzone requires 48K of RAM.

God-tier.

Dropzone Commodore 64 1984


Archer Maclean's Dropzone was ported to the C64 in 1984. 


Delta Patrol Amiga 1985



The Other Valley Software of the U.S.A. released Delta Patrol for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1985. Delta Patrol was programmed by Scott Spanburg. A clone of Choplifter, Delta Patrol is a mouse-controlled bi-directional horizontal scroller. The scrolling is smooth enough but not Amiga-smooth; the Amiga version being a port of the ST version which itself is a port of the Macintosh 128K version of 1985.

Protector Amiga 1986



Paradox Software released Protector for the Atari ST and the Amiga in 1986. Protector is a Defender-like and clone of Protector of 1981 on the Atari 8-bits. However, it is nowhere near as good as Protector on the Atari 8-bits; for example, its scrolling is not smooth whereas the scrolling of the original Protector is silky smooth. Protector was programmed and composed by Janko Mršic-Flögel and drawn by Mungo E. Amyatt-Leir.

Alleykat Commodore 64 1986


Designed and coded by Andrew Braybrook of Graftgold pre-Uridium, Alleykat is a C64-exclusive shooter-racer hybrid and seminal super-scroller. Alleykat features gameplay verticality, extremely fast and smooth variable-rate scrolling, destructible landscapes, six rival craft and eight types of races, with each race-track varying in obstruction density, lap requirements and prize money.


Alleykat technical features are as follows:

  • Virtual Sprite System (VSS)
  • Flicker-free hardware & software sprites
  • Auto-detects & Enhances for C=128
  • 50 FPS Super-scroller
  • Color-cycling "rainbow text"
  • 3-voice audio
  • 32 race-tracks
  • Playfields 20-screens in length
  • 1-player or 2-player non-simultaneous coop
 
God-tier.

Iridis Alpha Commodore 64 1986


Jeff Minter of Llamasoft coded the psychedelic Defender-like and super-scroller, Iridis Alpha, for the C64 in 1986. As with all Minter's games the playability is 10/10. Iridis Alpha was coded on a C128 in JCL assembler.


God-tier.

Uridium Commodore 64 1986



God-tier.

Goldrunner Atari ST 1987



King-tier.

Insanity Fight Amiga 1987


LINEL Switzerland released Insanity Fight for Amiga in 1987. A push-scroller and super-scroller, Insanity Fight was programmed by Christian Haller.


Phalanx 2 Amiga 1987



Kingsoft released Phalanx 2: The Return for the Amiga in 1987. Developed by Digital Dreams, Phalanx 2 was programmed and drawn by Oliver Czesla and composed by Thomas Lopatic. Phalanx 2 was influenced by Uridium.

Task 3 Commodore 64 1987


Cybernetic Arts of Germany coded Task 3 aka Task III for the Commodore 64 in 1987. Task 3 is a vertically-scrolling super-scroller. Published by Databyte, Task 3 was developed by Frank Endler, Peter Hemmer and Volker Roth, and composed by Frank Endler.


Uridium IBM PC 1988



Skyrider Atari ST 1988


Wayne Smithson of Creation Software released Skyrider for Atari ST in 1988. Skyrider was the first horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up on the Atari ST. As such the scrolling is not smooth even though the active drawspace is only 288x112.


Return to Genesis Atari ST 1988


Firebird Software released Return to Genesis on Atari ST and Amiga in 1988. Return to Genesis is a Defender-like that features smooth horizontal scrolling even on the ST, but the active drawspace is only 288x96.


Return to Genesis was programmed by Steve Bak, drawn by Pete Lyon and composed by David Whittaker.

StarRay Amiga 1988


Coded by Erik von Hesse of Hidden Treasures in 1988, StarRay was one of the first good Defender-likes on the Amiga. Published by Logotron, StarRay features parallax scrolling, sampled sound and 21 enemy waves on seven different worlds.


Retrograde Commodore 64 1989



Thalamus released Retrograde for the C64 in 1989. Developed by Apex Software Productions (Creatures), Retrograde was programmed by John Rowlands and drawn and composed by Steve Rowlands of Apex Software Productions. Retrograde was also programmed by Rob Ellis of Transmission Software.

Retrograde is an innovative combo of horizontally-scrolling Defender-like and vertically-scrolling beat 'em up. In the beat 'em up phase the bounty hunter runs and jumps while wielding a powerfist that is upgradeable in five tiers.

Retrograde features seven sprawling world-stages, end-of-stage bosses and 12 upgradeable weapons with up to 16 connector-points but only eight power-points. The object of Retrograde is to acquire planet busters, prime them and defeat the bosses in Nerve Centers. Boss-fights are time-limited. The bounty hunter must accumulate blue-crystal ARA currency in order to purchase weapons and prime planet busters.

Flying weapons include Shot, Radian, Supashot, Quad, Triple, Atomize, Fireball, Zenith, Diverger, Spread, Powabolt and Laz gun.

God-tier.

Datastorm Amiga 1989


Shifting around 128 simultaneous objects while maintaining super-smooth scrolling, Datastorm is a king-tier Defender clone that came out on the Amiga in 1989. Datastorm is really well presented: it tells you everything you need to know about the game -- in-game.


Datastorm was programmed by Søren Grønbech of Sword of Sodan fame.

God-tier.

Goldrunner 2 Amiga 1989


Featuring more of the same, Goldrunner 2 came out in 1988 on Atari ST and 1989 on the Amiga. Amusingly, Goldrunner 2 has a Top-99 High Score table. This is the Amiga version:


Guardian 2 Commodore 64 1990


Steve Evans of Hi-Tec coded Guardian 2: Revenge of the Mutants for the C64 in 1990. Guardian 2 is a solid shooter, but it came out too late in the C64's life-cycle.


Anarchy Amiga 1990


Coded by Wayne Smithson in 1990 for ST/Amiga, Anarchy is a slick Defender clone with four-layer parallax scrolling, 80 on-screen objects, 48 on-screen colors and 450 separate screens of graphics.

Refresh rate can be toggled in-game between 50 and 60 Hz. On Amigas 60 Hz results in approximately 20% faster gameplay than 50 Hz ( = more difficult).


Note that Anarchy's Top-50 High-score table is saveable.

Defender 2 Amiga 1990


Llamasoft released Defender 2 for the Amiga in 1990. Coded by Jeff Minter aka Yak, Defender 2 includes Defender, Defender 2 and Stargate. A great release for the Amiga in 1990.


King-tier.

God-tier.

Overkill Amiga 1993


Vision Software Inc.'s Overkill AGA of 1993 is another Defender clone. Overkill features silky-smooth 50 FPS screen-scrolling and sprite-shifting. The way one enters the next level is also inventive (via rotating galaxy-map).


King-tier.

Defender Amiga 1994


Giles F. McArdell of Ratsoft cloned Williams' Defender coinop of 1981 to Amiga in 1994.


Jetstrike IBM PC MS-DOS 1994


Team HOI Games ported Shadow Software's Amiga version of Jetstrike of 1994 to IBM PC MS-DOS in 1994. Jetstrike is a Defender-like that features fine-tuned controls, 200 missions, 60 aircraft, 40 weapons and fast and smooth 8-way parallax screen-scrolling via VESA Local Bus.


PC Jetstrike was programmed by Martijn Pieterse and designed, drawn and composed by Adam Fothergill.

Jetstrike displays in square-pixel 256-color VGA 320x240. Jetstrike audio supports Sound Blaster.

Jetstrike is a v1.97 Rational Systems DOS/4GW Protected Mode Run-time.

Jetstrike was distributed by Rasputin Software on 2x 3.5" 1.44MB HD diskettes and extracts and installs to hard disk drive via Jetstrike Installation Utility. The install size is 5.3 megs and consists of 364 files.

Apano Sin Amiga 2000


Developed by Level One Entertainment in 2000, Apano Sin is a bi-directional vertically-scrolling shoot 'em up that runs on Amiga 500s with 1 meg of RAM. Apano Sin is another technically impressive shoot 'em up that came out post-prime Amiga.


Apano Sin was programmed by Alex Piko and Alexander Eberl.

Apano Sin Weapons System: Blue Blizzard, Bomber, Green Flash, Power Cannon.

Defender Ports


Defender IBM PC 1983


The legendary Williams Defender coinop of 1981 was ported to IBM PC i808x by Atarisoft in 1983 in 4-color CGA 320x200. A bi-directional horizontally-scrolling shoot 'em up, Defender's 60 kbytes executable requires an IBM PC compatible with 128 kbytes RAM.


Defender supports 8-way movement and 3-button joystick or keyboard controls. It also supports the holding-down of two joystick buttons to execute the hyperspace jump.

Obvious audio-visual downgrade aside, the port's gameplay differs somewhat from the coinop as well. For example, the port features only one simultaneous abduction, no friendly fire and more generous point-rewards.

The variable-rate line-draw scrolling of the terrain is about as smooth as can be expected on i808x; that is, nowhere near the silky-smooth scrolling of the arcade-machine. That said, you can't ask for much more in 1983 on i808x.

Defender Commodore 64 1983


The legendary Williams Defender coinop of 1981 was ported to C64 by Joseph Simko of Atarisoft in 1983.


cf.


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