Cosmic Alien (version II, set 1)

Cosmic Alien is a two-player vertical shooter released by Universal in 1979, part of their broader Cosmic series of arcade games. Players control spaceships navigating a screen displaying 192 x 256 pixels and a limited palette of eight colors. Using a two-way joystick and single button for firing, the objective is to defeat waves of alien enemies appearing on the screen. This early example of the space shooter genre challenges players with increasingly difficult patterns and formations of hostile spacecraft. As one of several games in the Cosmic series, including Cosmic Monsters and Devil Zone, it represents a snapshot of arcade game design from late 1970s, utilizing a Zilog Z80 processor to power its gameplay. The game’s high score record stands at 502,950 points, achieved on April 1, 2012, demonstrating the competitive challenge and lasting appeal of Cosmic Alien's straightforward yet engaging gameplay loop.