+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                           | G A L A X I A N |
                           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

              GAME:  GALAXIAN
          PLATFORM:  ARCADE
             GENRE:  ARCADE SHOOTER
           CREATOR:  NAMCO licensed to MIDWAY Copyright 1979
AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ:  Kevin Butler AKA War Doc
            E-MAIL:  kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com
       FAQ VERSION:  1.01

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                              TABLE OF CONTENTS

    UNIT   I:  INTRODUCTION

1.  Legal Stuff
2.  Version Information
3.  Acknowledgements
4.  Welcome
5.  Overview

    UNIT  II:  GAME INFORMATION

6.  The Game

    6.1  The Controls
    6.2  The Playing Field
    6.3  Scoring

    UNIT III:  STRATEGIES

7.  Playing the Game

    UNIT  IV:  CONCLUSION

8.  Conclusion

_______________________________________________________________________________

To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following:

1.  Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find.
2.  Press CTRL-C
3.  Press CTRL-F
4.  Press CTRL-V
5.  Press CTRL-F
5.  You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter.

_______________________________________________________________________________

                                **************
********************************* U N I T  I **********************************
                                **************
+=================+
| 1.  LEGAL STUFF |============================================================
+=================+

This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal
private use.  It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advanced permission from the author.  Use of this guide on
any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and
a violation of copyright.  All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by
Kevin Butler.  Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this
work or to display it:

www.gamefaqs.com
www.cheats.de
faqs.ign.com

If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask.  Save yourself
the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask
a simple "Can I post your guide on <insert site>?".  If you wish to use info
in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so.

If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please
e-mail me.  If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please
e-mail me.  Just have Galaxian as the subject so I know it isn't another kooky
vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have new
friends.

+=========================+
| 2.  VERSION INFORMATION |====================================================
+=========================+

Version 1.0   8/17/03:  A guide is born.

Version 1.01  8/27/03:  Fixed some minor mistakes.

+======================+
| 3.  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |=======================================================
+======================+

The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ
possible:

My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard)
Namco for making a great arcade game
GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ

+=============+
| 4.  WELCOME |================================================================
+=============+

Welcome to my FAQ for Galaxian.  Since the game has you continuously cycling
through space battles, there is no walkthrough per se.  Instead it will be
broken up into the game itself and strategies for survival.  Input is
appreciated along with constructive criticism.  If you wish to e-mail me
thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing things, other strategies, etc., feel
free.  Make sure you put Galaxian in the subject.  If you don't, I'm liable to\
discard the e-mail as spam.

+==============+
| 5.  OVERVIEW |===============================================================
+==============+

Galaxian was one of the first games, in a long line, in the partnership of
Namco and Midway.  Galaxian took the space theme and created a more dynamic
style game.  It was one of the first games to feature actual color graphics.
Galaxian was also the precursor game to Galaga (which in itself became a major
hit).  The game did prove itself to be popular even when Pac Man came out the
same year.  As a matter of fact, Galaxian survived in a few other video games.
It is one of the mazes in Pac Man.  If you look at the prize, you will see it
is the Galaxian flagship.  In Galaga, it is represented as one of the suicide
ships.  Also, it is Mission 3 in Gorf although that configuration is different
then in the original game.  Good luck in stopping the Galaxian attack.

                               ***************
******************************** U N I T  II **********************************
                               ***************

+==============+ 
| 6.  THE GAME |===============================================================
+==============+ 

Galaxian is a two-dimensional arcade shooter style game.  You are responsible
for stopping the Galaxian invasion.  Once you clear out one wave of Galaxian
invaders, there is another wave to take its place.  Nope, there is no rest for
the weary.

 ____________________
/ 6.1  The Controls /__________________________________________________________
--------------------

The controls on this game are very easy.  It may, though, take just a little
bit of time to get used to them.

-  A two-way joystick for moving left and right.

-  A fire button

 _________________________
/ 6.2  The Playing Field /_____________________________________________________
-------------------------

Galaxian consists of one playing field.  The Galaxians are arranged in the
following pattern:  Three rows of blue Galaxians ten long; one row of purple
Galaxians eight long, one row of red Galaxians six long, and two Flagships over
the second and fifth red Galaxians from the left.  The playing screen looks
like this (of course, larger then normal):

   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
   |                                                                       |
   |                      \|/                  \|/                         |
   |                       |<---- FLAGSHIPS --->|                          |
   |              --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|-- <- RED          |
   |               /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\                  |
   |        --|-- --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|-- <-PURPLE |
   |         /|\   /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\           |
   |  --|-- --|-- --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|-- <+|
   |   /|\   /|\   /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\   ||
   |  --|-- --|-- --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|-- <+|
   |   /|\   /|\   /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\   ||
   |  --|-- --|-- --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|--  --|-- <+|
   |   /|\   /|\   /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\    /|\   ||
   |                                                                      ||
   |                                                               BLUE --+|
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                                                                       |
   |                               /\                                      |
   |   /\                        | || |                      CURRENT  |\   |
   |   || <- SHIPS               |/||\|<- YOUR SHIP           WAVE--->|/   |
   | |/||\|  LEFT                | || |                               |    |
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

You control your ship through these screens.

 _______________
/ 6.3  Scoring /_______________________________________________________________
---------------

Scoring in this game is relatively simple:

                    +----------++-----------+-----------+
                    |   COLOR  || FORMATION | ATTACKING |
                    +----------++-----------+-----------+
                    +----------++-----------+-----------+
                    |   BLUE   ||     30    |     60    |
                    +----------++-----------+-----------+
                    |  PURPLE  ||     40    |     80    |
                    +----------++-----------+-----------+
                    |   RED    ||     50    |    100    |
                    +----------++-----------+-----------+

The Flagship scoring works differently.  It is dependent on a few factors.
Listed below are the different Flagship scores:

Flagship in formation                                         :   60 points
Flagship attacking (no escort)                                :  150 points
Flagship attacking (Flagship killed before one escort killed) :  150 points
Flagship attacking (one escort killed before Flagship killed) :  200 points
Flagship attacking (Flagship killed before two escorts killed):  300 points
Flagship attacking (two escorts killed before Flagship killed):  800 points


You start with 2 or 3 lives.  You get a bonus life at 7,000, 10,000, 12,000, or
20,000 points.

                               ****************
******************************** U N I T  III *********************************
                               ****************

+======================+
| 7.  PLAYING THE GAME |=======================================================
+======================+

The action starts immediately as soon as you start your game.  The Galaxians
will be set up in formation and your ship will be placed in the middle of the
bottom of the screen.  The action starts immediately.  You can only have one
shot in the air at any time so plan your shots accordingly.

-  The game starts off slowly with only two or three Galaxians attacking your
   ship at one time.  They will drop three to four laser shots.  As the waves
   progress, more Galaxians will come after your ship until you will usually
   have 10-15 at any one time swooping down on your ship.

-  The Galaxians that come down in a smooth pattern are the easiest to kill
   plus their shots are easy to avoid.  The hard ones (usually the blue
   Galaxians) to kill are the ones where the Galaxian "bounces" from side-to-
   side dropping shots since those shots cover a very large area.

-  The corners can be a death trap.  When the Galaxians come down firing, their
   shots do not come straight down but they angle toward the direction that the
   Galaxian is traveling.  In addition, the Galaxians have a tendency to
   "charge" into the corners.  You get the points if a Galaxian rams your ship
   but you also lose your ship in the process.

-  The Flagships are the big points in the game.  Try to avoid shooting the red
   fighters since they act as escorts for the Flagship.  Wait until a Flagship
   comes down with two escorts.  If you can't get aligned to take all three out
   quickly, let them pass.  If you do get a good angle on them, you will have
   to fire quickly to pick off the two escorts first, then the Flagship.  If
   you hit the Flagship first, you get significantly less points.

-  Do not stop moving.  If you do, you will be caught in a crossfire.  The
   Galaxians tend to leave small areas of safety open between their shots.
   Also, make sure you are constantly hitting their formation to reduce their
   numbers (again, don't kill off the red ones).

-  As you progress into the higher waves, the Galaxians tend to move quicker,
   fly more erratic patterns, and "gang" up on your ship.  Plan accordingly for
   this.  

                               ****************
********************************  U N I T  IV *********************************
                               ****************

+================+
| 8.  CONCLUSION |=============================================================
+================+

When Galaxian first came out, everybody figured it was just another space,
shoot-em-up type of game.  When we did start to play it, we realized that it
presented more of a challenge then that.  The color graphics added to the over-
all appeal of the game for one thing.  Another thing was the fact that when
your ship was attacked, it wasn't from an enemy that was moving in a preset
pattern such as Space Invaders.  These enemies sometimes moved all over the
screen and they seemed to home in on your ship.  This especially became a
challenge during the later waves.  Different people developed different ways
to get through the game but there never seemed to be a consistent method to
surviving.  It seemed like quick reflexes and just plain luck enabled somebody
to survive.  I know I spent many hours playing this game because it could be
quite addictive.  Unfortunately, it is very rare to find this machine anywhere.
However, through the miracle of emulation, a whole new generation is realizing
what we "old" folks enjoyed those many years ago.  In addition,
www.shockwave.com is bringing many of these classic games back.  Check out
their site to see what ones are there.  I hope this guide helps you in being
able to get the most amount of gameplay for this game.  If you do have other
ideas or thoughts, please e-mail me and share them.  Who knows, maybe I'll
start a Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough people ask the same questions.
Anyway, thank you again for reading this guide.

To see other FAQ's I have written please go to:

           http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html

           ~~~  No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~