Defender

About Defender

Defender is an arcade video game developed released by Williams Electronics in 1980. A shooting game featuring two-dimensional (2D) graphics, the game is set on a fictional planet where the player must defeat waves of invading aliens while protecting astronauts. Development was led by Eugene Jarvis, a pinball programmer at Williams; Defender was Jarvis's first video game project, and drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. Williams planned to display the game at the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) trade show, though development delays resulted in the team working on the game up until the show started.

Defender was commercially successful, selling over 55,000 units to become the company's best selling arcade game. Praise among critics focused on the game's audio-visuals and gameplay. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis's best contributions to the video game industry, as well as one of the most difficult video games. Defender was ported to numerous platforms, inspired the development of other games, and was followed by sequels and many imitations.

1. 261 261 Hotline Miami2012 · Shoot 'em up 1,767 −84
2. 482 482 Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number2015 · Shoot 'em up 1,696 +21
3. 530 530 Alien Swarm2010 · Shoot 'em up 1,683 +112
4. 1,291 1,291 Metal Slug 42002 · Shoot 'em up 1,553 −48
5. 1,372 1,372 Zombies Ate My Neighbors1993 · Shoot 'em up 1,547 −114

Keep exploring

The standing

Where Defender ranks

The world rank mixes every family of games. Here is where Defender stands in each of the ones it belongs to. Its best standing, all families considered: 25 out of 70 (Shoot 'em up).