Deluxe Galaga

Deluxe Galaga is a shareware remake of the famous arcade Galaga for the Amiga. It was created in 1993 by Edgar M. Vigdal (also the author of Deluxe PacMan).

The game is an enhanced remake of the classic Namco's arcade Galaga, and it features the same top-down shooter based gameplay. In reality, it feels much more like a combination of games rather than it being a single one as it has elements of the Vic-20 game 'StarBattle' along with the original arcade versions of Galaga and Galaxians mixed into it. Plus, of course, Space Invaders.

The game progresses like most shoot-'em-ups, with waves and waves of different types of enemies the player must blow through to reach the end of the level. Each wave progressively increases in difficulty, along with the occasional boss battle.

However - and this is where the game takes a different route making it attractive - Deluxe Galaga has a creative powerup and minigame system brilliantly designed by Vigdal. Some powerups allow you to capture aliens to fight for you; some others give extra firepower and shields to supplement your fight. The minigame system is where you can take a break from the main action and hustle up some goodies such as points, money, extra lives, credits, and even multipliers to boost your score even further.

The shop will allow you to get game upgrades that come sometimes come with a price but overall make your playtime more enjoyable.

Although there are only 75 levels in the game, it undoubtedly won't be completed on a weekend as it takes a substantial amount of time to shoot through all of them. Sometimes the gameplay, especially the shooting, feels a bit clunky with the shots not getting registered at certain moments, but it's not significant.

Many people swear this game is the best version of Galaga/Space Invaders hey have ever played. That comes as no mystery looking at how well Edgar M Vigdal has managed to rebuild everything, perfecting the game to something that is almost legendary.

This was one of the best shareware games ever released for the Amiga, and it's still a lot of fun today!