Space Raiders (originally Space Invaders)

Space Raiders intro screen Space Raiders game screen
Space Raiders intro and game screen.

Space Raiders is a clone of the arcade smash Space Invaders. This is probably the Coco's closest version to the original arcade version, although it adds a bit to it. One thing it adds: when you shoot a mother ship (that scrolls by on the top of the screen), it doesn't simply blow up; it gets wounded, changes color, limps to the right side of the screen, and then flys down and lands. You can wrack up a whole pile of them as the game progresses. It was pointed out to me by a visitor to the site (named Charlie), that if you get 3 of them in a row on the side, that you get a free ship.

It should be mentioned that this was originally sold by Space Cadet Enterprises with the actual name Space Invaders, with their first ad for the game coming out in March of 1982. In the July 1982 issue of Rainbow magazine, it was announced that Mark Data Products had acquired the right to sell it, and their first ad for it was in November of 1982 (and renamed to help avoid copyright issues).

Title: Space Invaders (Spade Cadet Enterprises), Space Raiders (Mark Data Products)

Author: Brian Bruderer

Publisher: Space Cadet Enterprises, then Mark Data Products

Released: March 1982 (Space Cadet Enterprises), July 1982 (Mark Data Products)

Requires: Color Computer 1,2,3, 16K RAM, cassette or disk, joystick.

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