Chapter 37: Return of the Invaders

You are finally down to the last Krylon, but there are so many asteroids you can’t even see what kind of ship it is. Your Star Fighter has taken so much damage you think it is likely to fall apart any second, but you keep firing photon torpedoes as best you can, when suddenly the Zylon ship shatters into pieces. There is a white flash, and you are back in the spaceport, your new rank flashing on the screen.

Despite a comfortable air-conditioned cabin, you are sweating, and your hands ache from wrestling with the flight stick. Panting, you stare out the window at the comforting concrete wall of the spaceport. Melvin says, “That was… insane. I never thought I would miss that Terran Warship!” But… wait… the battle is over, so why are you still hearing explosions?

Your ship’s door opens and the pilot sticks his head in. “We’re under attack!” he shouts. “The Administrator needs you, now!” Without thinking, you leap out of your seat, and run after him back down the blue and yellow hallway to the main hall. “Here we go again!” says Melvin, zipping after you. In the main hall, again you see the aliens marching relentlessly through space. “Why do you think they march like that?” asks Melvin, as you turn the valve on the airlock. “They could just drop straight down, couldn’t they?” This time, though, something is different. At first you thought it was an optical illusion, but once you get into the laser cannon, you see that it isn’t. Not only are the shields unstable again, but now the terrible laser bombs the aliens drop zigzag around unpredictably. “Yikes,” says Melvin. “They don’t make it easy! Don’t worry, I won’t zigzag like that… I’ll just go where you shoot me!” He jumps into the loading chamber. “Fire when ready!” You sit down at the controls, and slide the laser cannon away from the station wall, wondering how many times you’ll have to fight these weird invaders.

Place the Space Invaders cartridge into your Atari 2600. Use game select 4. Set both difficulty switches to b. Play until you get 6000 points. Post a link to a video in the comments section of yourself completing the challenge.