Defender (Red Label) 1980 Williams Mame Retro Arcade Games

[@MrLawdog725]

I am 52 years old.......and just the sound brings me to tears.

[@michaelborgelt1600]

I´m 61 and it really btings me back to 1980. A buddy of us was as good as this player here. Many greetings from Germany : - )

[@ksportz66]

55 year old Synth Musician agrees. Mezmorizing

[@Chris-jo3nb]

same here - those were the days.

[@davidsenger4833]

I am 53 and its me favorite arcade Ever .Rules

[@GizmoMaltese]

I built an MAME cab so I can play this whenever i want. It's awesome. You can buy one if you want.

[@phnigra1313]

No matter how old I get, there will always be a place in my heart for Defender

[@shawdowsanddust5301]

Just the sound of this game teleports me back to the early 1980's. Great game, great memories.

[@roomark2]

Me too 🙈🤣

[@DS-ss396]

Indeed it does.

[@IIDeCkArDII1]

...aw' th' memories 😅...aw' mah wrists 😖...999,995 MDC (c)

[@jocat2004]

Me 2...amazing sounds!!!

[@desolationangel5136]

Who wants to hop aboard a time machine... just for a weekend. 🙋‍♀️

[@VietLe-USA]

A walk down to memory lane of the '80s growing up. Hard but addicting game. One of the best of the '80s

[@ChiquitoKan]

One of the greatest arcade games ever. Thank you for bringing back good memories from our childhood

[@MamePlayer]

Couldn't agree more!

[@KnightOnBaldMountain]

One of my favorite games from that period. Going to the arcade, exchanging dollar bills for tokens, seeing your friends from school. It was a social event.

[@Dethmeister]

I remember being a kid at the arcade and being amazed while watching people play this. This game seemed so much more epic, fast and intimidating than the other games.

[@robinmeade7573]

Same thing. I saw that game for the first time when I was kid and a good player was playing and I was mesmerized by the light show that game put on. The moment the machine cleared up a little bit, I immediately inserted my coin expecting some fantastic experience just to be done in a matter of maybe 30-40 seconds total! 😂😂🤣😂😂🤣🤣 To this day I love this game and to this day I SUCK at it!

[@CamiciNera-17m]

It is intimidating

[@myob214]

I was so obsessed with this game, I bought a Stargate in 1985. Still have it in my basement.

[@sixeightsevensix9145]

The sound designer on this game is a genius

[@Techumsa]

Kids of today won't understand

[@dtvjho]

Williams used these sound effects on so many games after Defender, even pinball's Firepower II.

[@johanprb357]

I read that the sound programmer of Defender was Sam Dicker who later was responsible for the code libraries for the sound chip in Commodore Amiga.

[@steved2656]

Joust, another Williams game, had some similar sounds

[@noisecore7]

@@Techumsa kinda exactly how y'all won't ever understand how good games are today. not saying games from 30-50 years ago aren't good, just saying that games today are 1000x what they used to be.

[@johnhorton1516]

I was hopeless at this game, but it probably remains my favorite game ever. Spent allot of time (and coins) trying to master it - never did. Love it.

[@electro1622]

me too...

[@eastbaymauiboy]

Me3!. Always went into space and then died. It's so fast and hard to be strategic enough like this dude. I think it's the coolest game of its generation though. I remember being mesmerized by the sounds and visuals when I was a whippersnapper, compared to things like Space Invaders or Missile Command

[@bobwho1986]

Hey never thought of the “casteling” maneuver: kill all your colonists except one, carrying him with you, then minimize the crazy zombies. This dude was good!

[@manfredmann2766]

Never thought about killing all the humanoids, except one. It is a good strategy, but you sacrifice points. Outer space is tough.

[@Playsinvain]

Me too...this game gets ludicrously difficult. In hindsight, I had no chance.

[@flipfloridalandebookbundle]

The sounds are so amazing! This and Tempest were some of my favorite games!

[@shadowr2d2]

Hours, and hours in front of this. Plus spending so many quarters. To have bragging rights. That is my score up there. Thank you from a 54 year kid. Good time back then.

[@ShayneManiapoto]

Say no more mate this game is the greatest game of all time in my world it rocked I rocked I had a special relationship with this game for a few years and I felt invincible I could defeat the most challenging strategy and stress it could throw at us and we one!!!

[@georgeshelton6281]

Scramble is more of a cheesy VG, just like Targ is.

[@JohnnyTran-qh3ot]

Me too. But I have a confession to make: I used to hammer a nickel into the size of a quarter to play arcade games. I was the best time to be a kid.

[@ivegotaporscheandalambo3318]

We had a way of fiddling the credits for free games. Got fought and thrown out

[@jado5705]

I’m 54 from uk. Always struggled to get through wave 3 but watched a master at work one day in arcade on Bournemouth pier who seemed invincible! People crowded round machine in awe. Days of my youth 😌

[@PA28140]

Thanks for the memories. This was the coolest arcade game EVER!! It was so complex, and had the best sound effects. There was a pecking order at the arcade I went to, and the older dudes would not let me play until they ran out of money. By then, it was usually about closing time, so I rarely got to play it. I must have one of these some day...

[@rocker-barrel4786]

i got it on my p.s 2! buy a cheap consol and you will find the game on e bay! i only brought the consol to play this game lol

[@eastbaymauiboy]

@@rocker-barrel4786 good idea!

[@camfritz1449]

Very challenging game. So fun. Amazing sounds. 56 now. Rolls and rolls of quarters went towards this game.

[@JASFMXL]

This game was ahead of his time in graphic and sound quality. But it was very difficult to play.

[@joemartin1253]

JASFMXL I agree 100%

[@mrk1075]

Probably difficult because it was set on -hard- we want your quarters!

[@supercoolyguy]

Yes this game would PMO and take my quarters too quick. They're were too many other fun games around. Joust was my favorite

[@davidsenger4833]

He'll yeah. Rught

[@rabbitskinner]

It was very fast paced

[@Kakorot77]

Playing Defender at the local disco in 1980 must've been so awesome.

[@deborahchesser7375]

Or bowling alley or the pool, heck yeh it was. I wish I could take people on a tour of the 70’s-80’s, you wouldn’t want to leave.

[@Dr.MSC.W.Krueger]

I never saw a single arcade machines at "discos" or clubs. Arcades, bars, roller rinks, bowling alleys, stadiums....that sort of places.

[@steveneumeyer681]

discos were dead by then. but playing them at the arcade in the mall was a blast

[@steved2656]

For me it started at the convenience store by my house. Some convenience stores back then kept a couple video games in them. Later on it was the skating rink.

[@maxbrazil3712]

The sounds have sent my brain spinning into a bizarre nostalgia trance.

[@1000000trs]

me too

[@williggg]

The flashing multicolored text at the beginning set my brain back to the early 80s in my college Student Union building.

[@phnx4life]

one of the best games ever made..sound effects bar none..

[@michaelszczys8316]

Best game ever made but funny how I didn’t see it in any of the ‘Best Games ‘ videos. I knew there was a game that went sideways

[@Carlos-nq7up]

Robotron 2084?

[@ninelivecat]

Sound effects courtesy of Steve Ritchie were pinball sound effects of the time as Williams were mainly a pinball company

[@ninelivecat]

@@Carlos-nq7up Prefered Defender to Robotron 2084 although that was also a great game

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

I remember pumping many quarters into defender. IIRC, it was the first video game with super vibrant colors.

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

Arguably the first video game that required you to employ complicated tactics. An all-time classic, Top 5.

[@TaiChiQi]

Man I was 14 years old when this came out and boy was I obsessed with it or what.You can’t beat a classic like this one.

[@Techumsa]

They should develop the same game for our pc's and smart phones.... maybe not I'd get nothing done. 😂

[@TaiChiQi]

@@Techumsa me too 😂

[@todd0628]

I was 14 also, my favorite game. I’d love to play this again. Sounds awesome!

[@co94]

This was one of the most difficult games to play in an arcade. Everything happens so fast!

[@deborahchesser7375]

Same here I wasn’t near quick enough to be good at this one. Remember Robotron ? Man it was fast too. My bro was a Pac-Man pro, that shit made me nervous once it got cooking 😆

[@co94]

@@deborahchesser7375 was robotron the one with two joysticks and you'd have to be in constant motion? yeah, that one was nuts.

[@caputomaru]

Absolutely your comment matches mine above I see!

[@paxonearth]

@@deborahchesser7375 Robotron rules! That was really the only arcade game I was able to get very good at. The speed and stress are unreal!

[@deborahchesser7375]

@@paxonearth no doubt it was nerve wracking, best game I ever played on Robotron was when I had a busted arm from my dirt bike. Those were the summers my friend, bikes parked outside, mouthful of bubblegum a pocketful of quarters and no worries or concerns.

[@MerkinMuffly]

A very difficult game and very difficult controls. I spent countless quarters on this.

[@Playsinvain]

The sound, was awesome, and this game turns into chaos. Agree, a tough game, but I too tried

[@garyh4458]

No doubt. This is one game I could never get the hang of. I was always drawn to the sound effects and played anyway.

[@ninelivecat]

Not that difficult with enough practice controls were not difficult the controls were elegant

[@paul.9828]

There were something like 42 buttons you had to keep track of. I'm only slightly exaggerating. The sequel, Stargate, upped it to 57.

[@martinrincon630]

Watching this video made me realize how much I really sucked at playing Defender as a kid.

[@alejandrocaceres7361]

Right!!!

[@wayland7150]

I used to watch my friend who was this good. I was nearly as good.

[@steveneumeyer681]

it's one of the hardest arcade games, ever. you would have to be a machine to even approach the gameplay in this video

[@ChazKnight-m3k]

I am 58 years old and I haven't heard these sounds since the 80's. Defender was my favorite game and I'm sure I put thousands of dollars worth of quarters in that game. Oh my, just the sounds are making me get younger. I am ready to jump back in right now. So many wonderful memories.... This is just great. Thank you for posting this....

[@Larryjoyce]

Wow....I have gone back in time....Southport 1982/83 bunking off school to play this and other classics....the sounds and graphics bring it all back....life was so much easier then....thank you for the upload...

[@enorwood4293]

That's my childhood all over again, I wanna go back.

[@silajeep1]

Before I even finished attack wave 2 I had already used up all my smart bombs lol.....the most exciting game I ever played, helluva fun!

[@Rendclaw]

I remember when I first saw this game... James E. Strates shows, Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT, summer 1980... it was unlike any other video game I had ever seen, even at 11 years old.....

[@fabienzaca]

It's a very beautiful game. You are lucky to have seen it at the height of the golden arcade years.

[@eastbaymauiboy]

Same experience only different location and same age, when I was 10 or 11

[@eastbaymauiboy]

Same experience only different location and same age, when I was 10 or 11

[@Techumsa]

I'm 60 and I remember the times my friends and I competed on this machine, many of those friends are now dead but it was sure a great memory maker seeing this.

[@fuzzywzhe]

The visual effects of this game were well ahead of it's time. The laser from the ship.. I'm an electrical engineer now, and doing this with the memory available of the day, couldn't have been trivial and I doubt it was cheap.

[@timdavis4332]

Just that first sound,when the game came on, I feel like a teen again, all the memories of the heart pumping thrills surrounding these games, comes flooding back to my body.🤔👍💥💥💥💥💖💥💥💖💥💖💥💓💓💓💓💓💓

[@cageordie]

This was the game that broke me from video games. I did Battle Zone the previous year at university and when I returned from vacation it had been replaced with Defender. Two guys had already been back a week and were already competent, so I watched them instead of playing. A UK engineering course doesn't have the spare time for game playing anyway. The two Allans were expert at running the game up to 999995 and dying before it rolled over. One of them failed the year and was kicked out, the hours he spent playing can't have helped.

[@adrianbates7621]

Still one of the coolest games out of the 80's

[@deancroxall9931]

I spent my whole childhood trying to master this game hahah what a brilliant game

[@deang5622]

So did I and I did not succeed!

[@optimisticwhovian1726]

This is such an early 80s arcade game, you can picture this being in Flynn's arcade in Tron, the midnight black environment with the neon objects and minimalist terrains.

[@andrewallan6802]

Beautiful. Thank you. When I played this as a young ‘un I usually ended up in awe at the graphics and the sounds and didn’t play very well at all. It’s amazing to watch someone else playing and seeing and hearing even more of this classic design, and watch a master into the bargain.

[@Exotic3000]

This is awesome! I played this game from 1980 to 1984. Those were fun days! Thanks for posting!

[@shonc8338]

This game had some of the coolest sound effects of all time

[@ninelivecat]

Sound effects courtesy of Steve Ritchie were pinball sound effects of the time as Williams were mainly a pinball company

[@kouroscologne1622]

@@ninelivecat Yes, Williams is a company that makes pinball But the '70s-era pinball sounds match the electro-organ reverberating sound, that prevalent in the songs of that era It looks like bells or an old electric guitar also As for the sounds of this game, they are sounds caused by electronics and with transistors, which are beginning to make strange sounds in the world of video games that are unusual or uncharacteristic.

[@aldogastelbondo4060]

Omg.. bring me to tears... im 53 i always look whit respect a boy who can play good this difficult game.

[@HughJorgan1]

Good memories. Hate to brag, but I mastered this game and had the high score in the 3 machines in our town (an Al Bundy-like boast). Once I mastered, it's the best value for 25 cents I've ever had. Of course, that was only after spending a couple hundred to get good.

[@ShayneManiapoto]

Likewise buddy every town I went through I left a 999 975 high score with crowds of arcadees looking at me like I was a god!!!

[@Chordonblue]

Same here. After awhile, the local pizza joint got fed up with me and turned their machine up to the highest difficulty. I came in on day and they were all smiles. 3 hours later on one quarter and they weren't smiling anymore. Eventually, I was forbid to play the machine at all. :P

[@mcfcguvnors]

wow its like you scored 4 touchdowns in 1 game m8 :D

[@bobwho1986]

Stud!

[@leeclark3047]

was champion time out 12000000

[@rickanduiza186]

Loved this game growing up. Some bully punk challenged me when I was 12yrs old. He was beating me and laughed at his friend half way through. I ended up having my best game ever and scored over 400K and crushed him. He walked away before the game was over mad and didn't say anything. Felt great!

[@yukonakajima3980]

Over 400,000 k 😮 That was awesome 👏 Very difficult game.

[@lavoltare6307]

One of my all time faves, hard as hell to play yet so addictive.

[@ynnebbenny]

This game gobbled up my coins. LOVED the sounds. Golden days.

[@theseus27]

The sound effects to this game are music to my ears. Love it. Lol classic but tough game to master! :-)

[@ninelivecat]

Sound effects courtesy of Steve Ritchie were pinball sound effects of the time as Williams were mainly a pinball company

[@gastonave]

I remember how blown away I was by the graphics on this game.

[@M-E-G-A]

6:00 that saucer thing won’t stop getting you.🛸

[@joeharris8233]

Hearing the sound makes me smile. I spent a lot of quarters on this

[@mengerhotel66]

999,999 was the top score. One point over and you start over. You had to die with your last life ending the game with 999,999 perfect points. The game runs were 1 or 5 hours. I could feel the game again watching the video. I knew the player was toast when he used the smart bombs too much. Once I went over 999,999 and kicked the bottom corner of the machine and the screen exploded. Mr. Nam from Vietnam was not happy, ex South Vietnamese officer. He had some good stories in the early morning hours at the 7-ELEVEN.

[@ShayneManiapoto]

999 975 that's as close too 1000 000 I could get it!!!!

[@ORIGINALGAMESONLY]

YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT 999,975 IS BEST POSSIBLE

[@yukonakajima3980]

Total and utter respect to you with the 999,999 score !!! This game was brutal hard.

[@deang5622]

Reserve the smart bombs for three scenarios: (1) Multiple pods on screen (3 or more) , (2) In space when the land has disappeared and you have a screen full of mutants, (3) When you are very close to the end of the attack wave and you have got baiters on screen and the last remaining enemy.

[@sinbad8982]

This game has the best sound of any game ever!

[@ninelivecat]

Sound effects courtesy of Steve Ritchie were pinball sound effects of the time as Williams were mainly a pinball company

[@trooperg1234]

this video never ever gets old! I love it to the core!

[@uncharted-desert-isle]

Born in 1970 and this is my all time favorite arcade game, my left🕹️thumb used to be so sore from playing....😀

[@rastanz]

Wow, great memories of my teen years clocking this game at my local arcade and the owner pulling the plug because he thought I was cheating.

[@desolationangel5136]

This was so awesome to watch - I felt like a teenager again.

[@mr.glennrickierossi9425]

love this game i am 56 played this after school............

[@vickyjacobs9680]

Great Well Done, Brought Back some memories of me playing this when I was 11, I am now 51, I was 11 in 1980, Wow, This was my Favourite Game, Along with Space Invaders and Pac Man, Great Playing, well done. !!!

[@TS77TS]

One of the hardest games of all time some people died 30-40 sec when started playing

[@mrmaunne]

I barely lasted 20 seconds on this game

[@ORIGINALGAMESONLY]

EVEN FASTER

[@ICONICPARIS]

They would be me

[@Chris_Goulet]

Wow, good memories! My middle finger was so tightly gripped to that non-ergonomic red ball of a joystick, that it got a blister! It got so bad that I had to bring one glove to the arcade, and had a scar for years after I stopped playing.

[@Playsinvain]

That quick trigger finger practice brought my gaming skills to the next level in the future. No game could equal the need for lighting fast twitches than Defender!

[@rcald-gz5jd]

40 years later, and I still think this is an amazing game (Atari 800 owner).

[@Kaos3ce]

Best sound effects in an Arcade !

[@chrisnnooirhjightytbrown9689]

The intro gives me chills! 😳

[@okeuwechue9238]

Great memories. Great game. Fantastic sound effects. After level#6 it gets pretty difficult, with all those mutated aliens hopping about. I notice OP had to hit the "hyperspace" button a lot to get out of those swarms.

[@kevmcdevitt8755]

fuck me....2 secs of this video clip of game starting and goose bumps all over....old memories flooding back...best game of all time....thanks for sharing this clip. those were the days.....

[@whatizreality0124]

This was THE MOST DIFFICULT game in the arcade . I don't think I ever got past level 3 . The controls were RIDICULOUS .

[@johncastellana4483]

I'm 55 y.o. ....this was the coolest arcade game when it came out...the sounds were out of this world...I used to play in the arcade room lower level at NYC Pennsylvania Station....ah what memories

[@darentsimon]

I was once lauded as the Sensai master of; Tron, Lady Bug, Bomb Jack, Space invaders (most variants) then later, Descent. But I stood in awe of those few beings that could play this to an even modest level. i just crapped myself whenever those berserker attacks came at you. Too frenetic, too strategic, too darned tough. But i loved it. The sounds are just brilliant. thx to the team behind this.

[@DanieiWeissenborn]

Wow flashback awesome I was just a kid again for a few minutes thanks

[@colonelkurtz2269]

Loved this game. 11 in 1980 perfect time to go to arcades and spend 25 cents a game. This player was patient and good pilot. The smart bomb is your friend.

[@yakbassin3604]

Its been 40 years since l played Defenders. Rico's Pizza Parlor Elkhorn Blvd Foothill Farms CA. One of the greatest arcade games EVER!

[@IanMoone-f2v]

I'm 55 and feel like i've gone back in time when i see and hear this game

[@ericfloyd9842]

One of my favorites when I was young. Never could get good at it, though. Nice to see someone who is.

[@yellowcloud9161]

Watching this on big screen! My god, back in the day who would have thought it? Absolutely Brilliant!

[@thomasyo75]

Outstanding, you sir are a master of your craft, very happy memories.

[@spongebobmx]

This was such a badass game

[@andiarrohnds5163]

the full size cab of this was bright and very impressive to look at, and fun play even though it was much older than the other systems by 1990

[@jamesjohns0]

My wife just came in to ask why I was yelling "Smart Bomb, Smart Bomb"

[@MasterZebulin]

Because you're Iron Man?

[@seka1986]

Get her to play!

[@roomark2]

Lol

[@bobwho1986]

Yes!

[@kyj730]

Love this game. There are few things this player didn't do like use a smart bomb on those cluster bombs at the beginning and not dropping the people down on a planet when you only have a few more enemies to kill. Those will net you a lot of points that will almost give you an extra player and a smart bomb each time. I need to get me one of these game one day and relive my childhood.

[@Trojan858953]

Oh the sound gives me goosebumps and transports me back to 80s 🤪

[@Zorro9129]

I love how the meta in this game is to destroy humanity yourself except for one dude you carry around.

[@lordwilksy]

Best…. Firing…. Sounds…. EVER!

[@abuhaniyah]

You played a great game. And that was an excellent strategy as well!!

[@50caliber29]

I got so good on Defender I got banned from playing it at the Golden Penny arcade in Sheffield, I also got banned from playing Krull in the same arcade because I could clock the game which took a fair while and owner got pi££ed I was on it so long for 10p. Defender was THE GAME, I remember me & another good player had groups of kids watching us play. You got in the groove playing Defender it was almost transcendental.

[@1000000trs]

Very True, i expect you've still got the remnants of hard skin callouses on your left little finger joint - and maybe the adjacent finger too ?

[@mandalorian23]

The sound is just so beautiful. 80's on 8 (Sirius XM plays this between songs on occasion.

[@caliwaiiankev2279]

I played this game exclusively at Midtown Bowl in LA ! Beyond hooked on Defender by Williams !

[@speedyspeeds]

This game has one of the best death explosion sounds ever.

[@KevReillyUK]

I didn't play this much back in the day -- it was far too difficult and I never felt as though I was getting my "10p's worth" compared with other games like Phoenix or Moon Cresta that I could play for longer. But those sound effects! The bass thump as the Landers explode, and the drawn-out fade of the player ship's demise still sound amazing.

[@alfredocamacho9973]

I never could play it more than 40 seconds. Very hard to play !

[@n10cities]

I shudder to think of the hundreds of dollars worth of quarters I shoved into that freakin' game back when I was in high school. There was a Defender machine at a restaurant across the street from my Dad's shop and I would go there every chance I would get to play that game during the summer when I would help him out at the shop. SMH....memories...

[@SciSciToys]

Yeah similar memories, my vice was pacman

[@TheGodParticle]

n10cities I know what you mean, mine was Scramble, oh the memories lol

[@SciSciToys]

TheGodParticle Scramble? I remember the name but not the game, I loved Gorf, and that annoying game Berserk, frogger,but defender was ahead of its time, I remember playing TV tennis on a black and white screen, lol.

[@misitugaga1312]

n10cities you and me both lol

[@thewatchman2354]

n10cities. We all remember where they once sat dont we... Played 6 different machines across Canada.

[@jimbarrofficial]

Loved this game, used to watch the local hoodlums play it all day with 2 quarters. I sucked at it. Sounds bring back lots of great memories. This upload is very high quality, thanks for posting.

[@mr.silver7651]

My first game i ever bought with the atari 2600.......pure magic..... 😉

[@jkkay477]

3:55 Always LOVED the sound of getting a new ship at the end of a wave, what a trip!

[@captn_hanky]

best 2D action game ever created.

[@coyotterestoration1754]

Every Friday night at the Dream Machine at the mall 1981 1982 somewhere around there, it was the best time to be a teen. Times were so laid back no computers no cellphones and some of the best music.

[@leighanntyler1449]

Blast from the past! The best game I remember playing.

[@fourthhorseman4531]

Man, I love the 80's Williams Electronics arcade games. This and Robotron:2084 were always kicking the crap out of me as a kid, but I loved them anyway.

[@tutts999]

That sound at 1.19 just sends be back to high school. God I loved this game.

[@mrsci101]

Was playing this as a 7 year old...those space battles and hyperspacing took me back

[@Andrew-yb1uv]

This arcade game ate a lot of my money back in day. I never mastered it. A great game but very difficult.

[@Ranger4564]

I used to play this when it first came out, it was lots of fun. My friends and I were so good and fast at this game, we used to make the graphics skip, and when we were done, we were wired. Frantic. lol