Description
The original space alien vertical shooter. Move your tank back and forth along the bottom of the screen and shoot endless waves of aliens marching towards earth. Shoot the flying saucer for extra points.
Cabinet Information
The Taito version of the game features a large, rectangular cabinet with blue and white sideart, and uses a joystick versus the button set-up on the Midway version. The marquee is also slightly different in terms of colour and prominently displays the "Taitronics" logo. The overall quality of the machine is arguably superior to the Midway version since its cabinet graphics are much more detailed.
Cheats, Tricks and Bugs
Popularized right after the release of the game, the "FURRER" trick allows you to get 300 points per mystery ship every time. It has to do with the way the random number generator works - at the beginning of every board count 22 shots (whether you hit an invader or not). Wait for the mystery ship. Shoot once to hit it to earn 300 pts. Now count 14 shots. Wait again for the mystery ship. Shoot once at it for another 300 pts. count 14 shots and repeat for the rest of the level. once on the new level, start again at 22 and repeat to 14. This trick was invented by Eric Furrer who to this day holds the Stratford Record for non-stop Space Invaders play -- 38 hours and 37 minutes and an accumulation of 1,114,000 points (111 roll overs, averaging three rolls an hour).
Mystery Ship Shot Deflection: On the fifth wave of invaders, the second mystery ship will deflect your shot with the rarely heard "deflection shot;" a shot played backwards.

Game Play
Move your base left or right to shoot the endless waves of aliens marching towards earth. There are four buildings (shields) that you can hide behind, but eventually they will be destroyed either by enemy missiles or by the enemies themselves. The aliens' descent quickens as you eliminate them. Shoot the flying saucer for extra points. See the "FURRER" trick for information on receiving 300pts every time you hit the saucer.
Hacks
Galaxian Invaders - Uses Space Invaders graphics in a Galaxian game.
Oaty Invaders - Lets you play as an oat bowl.
Miscellaneous
LICENSOR: Taito
Play a JAVA emulated version of the game by visiting http://web.utanet.at/nkehrer/JInvaders.html

Technical
CPU: 8080
Trivia
The game was so amazingly popular in Japan that it caused a coin shortage until the country's Yen supply was quadrupled. Entire arcades were opened in Japan specifically for this game.
Many incidents of juvenile crime surrounded the release of this game. A girl was caught stealing $5000 from her parents and gangs of youths were reported to have robbed grocery stores just so they would have money to play the game.

Space Invaders, along with Pac-Man and Pong, shares the notorious distinction of being one of the most duplicated, bootleged and/or hacked arcade games.

In Italy in 1979, it was licensed to the manufacturer Sidam where it was released under the name "Invasion."