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3. Design
In Galaga '88, the story revolves around the return of the Galaga Legions, an alien force that has learned from its past failures. This time, they are not only attacking Earth, but have taken control of every planet in their galaxy, using them as military bases. Throughout the game, players face a much more strategic enemy than in previous installments.
The story kicks off when the Galaga Legions acquire advanced technology called Icems, which enhance their fighters and allow them to travel at incredible speeds, giving them a tactical advantage over humanity’s defenders. Meanwhile, the UGSF (Unified Galactic Space Force) has prepared for war, keeping their best pilots and ships stationed at base, waiting for the Legions to make their move.
The attack comes when the alien forces invade a UGSF outpost, triggering the launch of all the fighters from the Lunar Command Center, with orders to destroy any Galaga fighters on sight. From here, players take control of one of those fighters, facing wave after wave of alien enemies while traveling through different dimensions, encountering new challenges and upgraded foes.
Galaga '88 is the first game in the series to feature multiple endings. The difference lies in the dimension where the player defeats the final boss, leading to different story conclusions.
Canonical endings: Depending on the dimension in which the player defeats the final boss, they will witness up to four different endings, adding an element of replayability where players can explore different routes and discover new conclusions.
Non-canonical ending: If the player fails and their ship explodes at the end of the game, an alternate non-canonical ending plays, offering a different conclusion to the story.
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X8
x4
X2
X2
x4
X1
X2|
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X10
x4|
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X2
X2
X1
x3
X4
X4
X1You can move left or right, but you are relegated to the bottom of the screen. As in the previous Galaga games, your Fighter has a special ability to link up with other Fighter ships, allowing the two to work side by side, firing simultaneously. In order to accomplish this, you must allow one of your Fighters to be captured by a boss Galaga (the one that shoots tractor beams). At this point, your Fighter will turn red as it becomes cotrolled by the Galaga, and the next available Fighter will take its place. (Note that if you have no more available Fighters when you allow your current Fighter to be captured, the game will end.) In order to enable a double Fighter, you must rescue a red captured Fighter ship first.
Once you rescue a red captured Fighter ship, it will line up with your existing Fighter. At this point you can fire up to two missiles on to the screen at a time per ship. This means if you have two Fighters linked together, you can fire up to four missiles at a time. If you are struck by an enemy or a bullet, you will lose only one Fighter, while the other will remain.
New to Galaga '88 is the potential for a double Fighter configuration to be captured by a boss Galaga. If this happens, the two Fighters will merge and create a blue captured Fighter.
If you manage to rescue a blue captured Fighter ship while in double formation, the blue ship will join your duo and create a triple Fighter, the most powerful formation available. A triple Fighter can shoot three bullets simultaneously, creating a wave of force that few enemies can escape. It is not possible to have your triple Fighter captured by a boss Galaga. If this formation is struck by an enemy or a bullet, it will revert back to a double Fighter formation.
The blue capsules can be collected in one of two ways. They are left behind by the obstacles that appear on most non-bonus stages when you destroy them, and they are generated by the enemies which are generated when two small enemies join together to make one bigger enemy. Collecting one will make your ship invincible for a very short period. Once you have collected two of them, they will create a dimensional rift after you have cleared the next bonus stage.
Like its predecessor, Galaga '88 has indicator badges to show what level you are currently on. A combination of these will add up to your current level. However, while there are indicators for going up to 20 stages, we'll be using the one that signalizes 1st stage and the one that signalizes 10th stage.
| Stage Number | 1 | 10 |
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| Image |  |
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Boss Galaga
Boss Galagas must be shot twice in order to be destroyed. The first shot merely changes their color from a green theme to an orange them. In either color, they will do one of two things. Either they will go on a typical bombing run, or they will initiate a tractor beam run. When a Boss Galaga starts a tractor beam run, it loops just once at the top of the formation. It slides down to about mid-way along the screen, and starts the tractor beam. If your fighter is caught in the beam, it will turn red (if single) or blue (if double) and be captured and brought up to the top of the screen. Worth 150 points if killed in formation, 400-1600 while attacking.
| Dimension 1 | |
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| Original Color |  |
| Damaged Color |  |
Goei (Escorts)
Goeis tend to occupy the higher rows of the formation. They will break from the formation as well to go on bombing runs like Zakos, and have a tendency to quickly steer left and right while diving, making them harder to hit. New to Galaga '88, they also have a unique ability. Two of them can combine to form one larger Goei. If you destroy the first one that forms in a stage, it is likely to leave a blue warp capsule behind, if you don't have two capsules already. Worth 80 points if killed in the formation, 160 points if killed while attacking.
| Dimension 1 | |
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| Individual/Dvidived |  |
| Grouped/Combined |  |
Zako (Grunt)
The front line of the Galaga army. Zakos usually occupy the bottom two rows of the formation at the top of the screen. They will occasionally break from the formation and go on a bombing run, attempting to shoot you or crash in to you. After their initial dive, they may make a round swoop back upwards, attempting to hit the fighter from behind. Either is fatal to the Fighter. Worth 50 points if killed in the formation, 100 points if killed while attacking.
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Don
Dons appear in the first and fifth dimensions. When you shoot them, they explode in a burst of fireworks. However, they will on occasion break apart into a group of smaller "babies". These babies fall down in different formations, sometimes in a vertical line. If you destroy all of the babies in the group, you will earn a bonus score. You may also encounter these babies in much larger formations during the vertically scrolling stages of the game. The full sized Dons are worth 100 points if killed in the formation, 200 points if killed while attacking.
| Full Sized |  |
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| Baby |  |
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Formation Escort
The following enemy frequently lead squadrons of enemy fighters onto the screen before they ultimately take their place within the formation. They take four shots to destroy. If they are not destroyed before the enemies they escort reach their destination, they will fly away and never return. The final form of these escorts, the Babito in the arcade version or the Galaxian in the TurboGrafx-16 version, is the most deadly as they are very likely to dive towards your Fighter on their way off the screen.
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Hiyoko: 600 points |
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Bonus Stage Enemies
The six bonus stages feature unique enemies which do not appear anywhere else in the game. They are each worth 100 points individually, but if you manage to destroy all 40 of them within a particular bonus stage, you will be awarded a much larger bonus. The bonus you receive is determined by your current dimension.
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Hitode (Dimension 1) |
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Container Objects
The following object appear at the beginning of many stages (starting with stage 4), and the first one destroyed will drop a blue warp capsule down to the Player. As a result, it is important to time the release of the capsules during moments when collecting them won't pose a tremendous threat to the Player. These objects may also appear during your passage through the vertically scrolling stages (8 through 10, and 27 through 29), but will not drop anything when destroyed. As we'll only be making up to the 10th stage, only the red and the darker asteroid shown to the right will appear. Unlike their red counterparts, the brown asteroids only take four hits to destroy.
| Asteroid | Darker Asteroid |
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| Red asteroids take eight shots to destroy and become increasingly white the more damage they take. They are worth 100 points. | Darker asteroids are the same as their red counterparts, but they only take four shots to destroy. |
Bosses
At the end of stage 10, you will have to face off against this enormous enemy which resembles one of the purple Galaxian enemies that you encounter in the original game of this series. In order to advance to the next round, you must shoot this mini boss 15 times. If you succeed, the boss will retreat.
The controls of Galaga 88 are pretty simple, In the arcade machine, you use the joystick to move the player side to side, then with the yellow button you can shoot the enemies. Like you can see in the following image.
In the game we are making on pc, you can use either the A,D and the arrows to move side to side, and to fire you can press space. Is not implemented but we are thinking of the possibility to use the left click to shoot as well.
