Chicken Invaders (mobile)

Chicken Invaders brought to Java phones its distinctive, humor-packed take on the classic vertical shooter, in which humanity defends itself against an invasion of chicken aliens. The player controls a spaceship moving along the bottom of the screen and faces formations of chickens dropping eggs as projectiles, while collecting weapon upgrades and bonuses dropped by defeated enemies between waves. The game's lighthearted, comic-book tone - including the occasional grilled chicken as a reward for a job well done - set the title apart from more serious shmups and made it a suitable choice for a wider, even casual, audience that classic space shooters might otherwise not have reached.

On the mobile phone, controls were reduced to lateral movement and a fire button, and the graphics and number of enemies on screen were simplified compared to the computer version, but the basic patterns of formations and falling projectiles remained recognizable. The sound retained its lighthearted tone, with cartoonish clucking and explosion sounds that fit well with the overall jokey feel of the game and set it apart from more seriously-toned competitors. Short rounds and a simple scoring system suited the playing style typical of mobile phones of the time well, when a player often reached for the game for just a few minutes between other obligations.

Chicken Invaders on Java appealed to players seeking a lighthearted alternative to more seriously-toned space shooters, and thanks to its recognizable humor found its own loyal audience. The mobile version showed that even the shmup genre has room for parody and exaggeration, without that taking anything away from the fun and addictiveness of the core game loop, and it became a pleasant relief for many players among the more seriously-toned titles of the catalog. Through its combination of simple gameplay and distinctive humor, it earned its own place among the mobile arcade games of the time.

Why play it: For players looking for a lighthearted, humor-packed alternative to more seriously-toned space shooters - the parody here takes nothing away from the fun and addictiveness of the core game loop.