Space Invaders was the 1978 arcade game that became the first major fixed-shooter hit and inspired countless space-themed games.
Designed by Tomohiro Nishikado for Taito, the game has players move a laser cannon horizontally while firing at descending alien formations. The enemies accelerate as their numbers decrease, creating one of the most recognizable difficulty curves in arcade history.
Space Invaders became a cultural phenomenon in Japan and was later licensed internationally. Its popularity was so great that it was often credited with causing a shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan, although the exact scale of that effect is debated.
The game’s influence can be seen in Galaxian, Galaga, Asteroids, and many later shooters. Unlike scrolling shooters, Space Invaders keeps the action on a single screen, making “fixed shooter” the usual genre description.