Editing Defender (1981 video game) (section)

== Gameplay ==
[[File:Defender Gameplay Screen.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A horizontal rectangular video game screenshot that is a digital representation of a planet surface. A white, triangular spaceship in the upper right corner battles green alien enemies. The top of the screen features a banner that displays icons, numbers, and a miniature version of the landscape.|The spaceship (upper right) flies above the surface to protect humans. The minimap (top) shows the entire world.]]

''Defender'' is a side-view, horizontally [[scrolling shooter]] set on the surface of an unnamed planet. The player controls a spaceship flying either to the left or right. A joystick controls the ship's elevation, and five buttons control its horizontal direction and weapons. The player starts with three "smart bombs", which destroy all visible enemies. As a last resort, the "hyperspace" button works as in ''[[Asteroids (video game)|Asteroids]]'': the player's ship reappears in a random—possibly unsafe—location. Players are allotted three ships at the start of the game; another ship and smart bomb are awarded every 10,000 points (adjustable per machine). Two players can alternate turns.

The object is to destroy all alien invaders, while protecting astronauts on the landscape from abduction. Landers pick up humans and attempt to carry them to the top of the screen at which point they turn into fast-moving mutants. A captured human can be freed by shooting the lander, then catching the human before it falls to its death, and dropping it off on the ground.

Defeating the aliens allows the player to progress to the next level. Failing to protect the astronauts, however, causes the planet to explode and the level to become populated with mutants. Surviving the waves of mutants results in the restoration of the planet. A ship is lost if it is hit by an enemy or its projectiles, or if a hyperspace jump goes wrong (as they randomly do). After exhausting all ships, the game ends.<ref name="Ultimate">{{cite book| title = [[The Ultimate History of Video Games]]| last = Kent| first = Steven|authorlink=Steven L. Kent| year = 2001| chapter = The Golden Age (Part 1: 1979–1980)| publisher = [[Three Rivers Press]]| pages = 144–147| isbn = 0-7615-3643-4}}</ref><ref name="GWR08-1">{{cite book| editor= Craig Glenday| title= Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008| series= [[Guinness World Records]]| date= 2008-03-11| publisher= Guinness| isbn= 978-1-904994-21-3| page= [https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/234 234]| chapter= Top 100 Arcade Games: Top 20–6| chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0| url= https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec00guin_0/page/234}}</ref><ref name="Joystik1-2">{{cite journal| journal = JoyStik| title = The Evolution of Space Games: How We Got From Space Invaders to Zaxxon|date=September 1982| pages = 8–29|issue = 1| first = Mark| last = Stearny}}</ref><ref name="Fever">{{cite book| title = Arcade Fever: The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games| first = John| last = Sellers| pages = 50–53| publisher = [[Running Press]]|date=August 2001| isbn = 0-7624-0937-1}}</ref>