Avenger

Descending swarms of enemies hurling themselves down in a horde, and you with a single cannon between them and the end of the world. Avenger is an early embodiment of what made space shooters so addictive, and for the Commodore VIC-20 it was one of the important launch titles.

Avenger was one of the first games available for the VIC-20 and genre-wise it clearly draws on the tradition set by arcade machines like Space Invaders and Galaxian: the player controls a defensive gun at the bottom edge of the screen and fires at formations of enemies that gradually descend and attack. It was a title that helped define what players at the start of the 1980s could expect from their cheap home computer.

Gameplay is based on mastering side-to-side movement, precise fire, and reading the patterns by which enemy formations move and swoop down. The longer the player survives, the faster and more aggressive the attacks become, so the key is to keep a cool head and clear the screen before the swarms get too close.

The VIC-20 entered the market as one of the first affordably priced home computers, and its success rested on the ability to offer instant fun from a cartridge. Shooters like Avenger were exactly the kind of game that quickly drew in new owners and showed them what their machine was for even beyond programming.

Today Avenger recalls a time when the space shooter genre was only just settling in and every new platform needed its own variation on the immortal theme of defense against attacking swarms.

Why play: For a pure, instantly comprehensible space shooter from the dawn of home computers, where all that matters is reflexes and precise aim.