Play Space Invaders Online Free for Super Nintendo.
Space Invaders hits different when it boots instantly in your browser. Released in 1978 on the Super Nintendo, this retro classic from Taito is ready the second you press start — no downloads, no setup.
The goal is to defeat waves of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up game developed and published by Taito for arcades.
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| Action | Keyboard | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| D-Pad Up | ↑ | D-Pad up |
| D-Pad Down | ↓ | D-Pad down |
| D-Pad Left | ← | D-Pad left |
| D-Pad Right | → | D-Pad right |
| B (bottom) | X | Bottom face |
| A (right) | Z | Right face |
| Y (left) | S | Left face |
| X (top) | A | Top face |
| L | Q | Left shoulder |
| R | E | Right shoulder |
| Start | Enter | Start |
| Select | V | Select |
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The Story Behind Space Invaders
Nishikado was not satisfied with the enemy movements; technical limitations made it difficult to animate flying. It added Japanese instruction cards to the cabinets and referred to them as Space Invaders M. Because he worked alone and handmade many of the development tools, the process incurred minimal costs.
The developer wanted to adapt the same sense of achievement and tension from destroying targets one at a time, combining it with elements of target shooting games. Soon after release, the developers became aware of a bug with the coin mechanism. By July 1978, the company began mass-producing the game and had released it.
How Space Invaders Plays
In observing the lineage between Space Invaders and Wolfenstein 3D, English professor Ronald Strickland commented that the two, as well as all previous first-person shooting games, were grounded on the same theme of "kill or be killed". While planning the game, Nishikado made iterative improvements to the hardware. Despite the higher cost, he chose it to produce the mystery ship's sound effects because the smaller chip saved space on the board.
Taito produced a Space Invaders-themed animated music video to promote the album. Taito released it in Japan in July 1978 and overseas through a partnership with Midway Manufacturing later that year. Space Invaders Extreme, released on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable in 2008, integrates musical elements into the standard gameplay.
Why Players Still Load It Up
By the end of 1978, the game had grossed Taito (equivalent to in ) in Japan alone. Blumenthal suggested that it requires skilled agility and hand-eye coordination and concluded that it was "a highly competitive reaction game, and one of the best available." Electronic Games magazine writers rated the game a perfect ten overall, noting high rankings for single-player gameplay, while only finding the game's graphics and sound to be merely good. Nishikado's colleagues praised it, applauding his achievement while queuing up to play, whereas his bosses predicted low sales as games often ended more quickly than timer-based arcade games.
It remained the top arcade game for three years through 1980. Bill Kunkel and Frank Laney in Video magazine found the variants on the arcade game interesting but suggested that purists will probably focus on the original version of the game included. While amusement arcade owners initially rejected it, pachinko parlors and bowling alleys adopted the game; Space Invaders caught on in those businesses, with many parlors and alleys installing additional cabinets.
Space Invaders — Frequently Asked Questions
What console was Space Invaders released on?
Taito shipped Space Invaders for the Super Nintendo back in 1978, and this page runs that release.
Can I save my progress in Space Invaders?
Yes. Create a free account and the player unlocks save states — snapshot your progress at any moment and resume later on any device.
How many players does Space Invaders support?
This browser version of Space Invaders handles 1 player(s).
Can I play Space Invaders online for free?
Yes — Space Invaders runs directly in your browser on this page. There is nothing to download or install; the game boots in the player above.