Entex’s Astro Invader squeezes the swooping alien raids of the arcade hit Galaxian into a spaceship-shaped handheld with a glowing vacuum fluorescent screen – and lets a second player command the aliens.
It is the European name for the game Entex sold in America as Galaxian 2; the leaflet says it was made in Taiwan. The unit is held upright, Galaxy ship controls at the bottom, with two players facing each other from opposite ends.
Interesting facts
One game, four names. In America this was Galaxian 2 – the “2” meaning two players, not a sequel, as there was no Entex Galaxian. Japan got Astro Galaxy, Europe Astro Invader (some boxes also carry the Hales name) and Australia a Futuretronics version.
Light years ahead. Games magazine named it in its “Top 100 Games of 1981”, saying it “goes light years beyond” Entex’s earlier Space Invader. Collector Jaro Gielens, author of Electronic Plastic, later praised its very special spaceship-styled case.
GLXN inside. A teardown of the Australian twin found a Hitachi HD38820 4-bit microcontroller stamped “GLXN” – shorthand for Galaxian, perhaps – driving the screen at about 39 volts. A Futuretronics set even appears on screen in the 2005 film Doom.