Galaga - Perfect Challenge Stages

How to get Perfects on all the Challenge Stages in Galaga.
I put this together after seeing too many Galaga videos with pitiful Challenge Stage play. Hopefully, this will help some of you since there's a lot of points to be made on the Challenge Stages. I figured all this stuff one quarter at a time but now with MAME save states, you can practice at home with ease so no reason not to improve your game.
The secret is... shoot really fast! :p Positioning and timing are helpful too and that's what this video is for.
This video demonstrates the Challenge Stages with Dual Ships. Most of them (if not all) can be done with a Single Ship too - see this video:
• Galaga - Single Ship P...
For the 1st and 2nd Challenge Stages (Stages 3 & 7) you need to align your ships in the middle of the screen. Line your ships up centered underneath 'HIGH SCORE' - if your bullets are hitting the right leg of the 'H' on the end of 'HIGH' and the right side of the 'S' in 'SCORE' then you are in the right spot. You shouldn't have to move from that spot for either of the 1st two Challenge stages.
Challenge 3 (Stage 11) line up between the 'G' & 'H' in 'HIGH' for the first convoy. Move just a little to the left to get the ships coming in from the left side of the screen on the 2nd & 3rd convoys and then quickly move to the right, under the 'C' & 'O' in 'SCORE' to catch the guys that came in on the right as they head down. Back to the left under 'GH' for the 4th convoy and over to the right again under 'CO' for the last.
Challenge 4 (Stage 15) line up under 'GH' again and for the 1st and 2nd convoys, drifting to the right with the 2nd as necessary. Line up under 'CO' for the 3rd then back to 'GH' for the 4th and back once again to 'CO' for the last.
Challenge Stage 5 (Stage 19) move all the way to the left side of the screen and then come back right just a hair for the 1st convoy. Line up over your 2nd & 3rd extra ships for the 2nd convoy - try to hit everything as it comes out from the left and then finish off the Boss Galagas when the loop back around over you. Move as far to the right as you can for the 3rd convoy, then all the way back to the left for the 4th and all the way back to the right for the last.
Challenge 6 (Stage 23) line the middle of one of your ships over the left edge of the 'Stage 20' marker for the first convoy. For the 2nd & 3rd convoys, line up in the middle, like the for first Challenge Stages and if your timing is perfect you can nail everything as they cross over you. If a few get through, move slightly to one side or the other so that one bullet is going straight up the middle and time your shots carefully to catch them as they criss-cross and then exit up the middle. For the 4th convoy, line up over your 2nd & 3rd extra ships and then move back to the 'Stage 20' marker for the final convoy.
Challenge 7 (Stage 27) get all the way in the right corner and shoot right when they're on top of you. Line up the middle of your left ship over the 'Stage 20' marker and start shooting just as the first Boss starts to turn over and come straight down at you. Move over your 2nd & 3rd extra ships for the 3rd convoy, all the way to the left for the 4th and all the way back to the right for the 5th.
Challenge 8 (Stage 31) Line up under 'GH' for the 1st convoy. Try to hit the first two ships on the left just as they enter the screen and then the two behind them - wait for the ships that entered on the right to come to you and then blast them as they cross over you. Stay in the same spot for the 2nd convoy - try to hit everything as they go past the first time and then polish off the Bosses when the loop back over you. Move to the right under 'CO' for the 3rd convoy and then back to 'GH' for the 4th & 5th (you could stay under 'CO' for those last two, and the 1st one too if you prefer - it's up to you)
The Challenge Stages repeat in the same order after the 8th Challenge - they never get any harder but you do get the maximum 3000 point bonus for each convoy so that's about 30,000 points to be made on each challenge stage!
Try not to just mash the fire button willy-nilly - time your shots so that you're not wasting them. Sometimes a missed shot can cost you the time you need to nail one last ship before he heads off the screen. I left a couple of some messy stages in the video so you can see the importance of timing your shots to clean up any missed ships.
More Galaga Videos:
- Perfects on all Challenge Stages with a single ship -
• Galaga - Single Ship P...
- 500k run without losing a ship -
Part 1: • Amazing Galaga Gamepla...
Part 2: • Amazing Galaga Gamepla...

[@mikecarlson8229]

The first time I beat level 3 perfect, (a level that I’ve been familiar with but never previously perfected) I was met with the biggest jumpscare I’ve ever experienced. I had never before heard the perfect jingle, and from expectations I had not expected it, and I jumped back from the cabinet and ended up falling on my back on the floor and then I realized, “oh I won yay”

[@aaronyang718]

*PERFECT!* NUMBER OF HITS: 40 SPECIAL BONUS: 10000 PTS

[@srarcade]

Ha! "Back in my day..." I remember being forced to get perfects on all challenge stages in a row WITHOUT the help of a second ship and WITHOUT fast shoot just to unlock Devil Kazuya in Tekken on PS1 during the load game of galaga. You bet I still have that memory card.

[@justinlubbers6905]

0:03: to the batmobile!!!

[@patman0322]

Keep practicing! If you're getting up to 22~23 then you're getting close to being able to go a lot further. The game doesn't really get much more difficult after that - you just have to get better at not dying.

[@83226505]

Oh man, you have no idea how much I enjoyed watching you nail those landers. I have never got that far before. Great stuff indeed!

[@patman0322]

Yep, memorization and good timing. I've got an original machine too out in the garage but it's too hot to go out there and play it again until winter now :D

[@themirrorsofmymind]

Amazing! This is probably the ONLY way I would ever see these rounds, since I usually get zapped somewhere around 13 or 14. Stunning work!

[@burgerroder]

@patman0322 Good job. I also learned this game at a 7-11, and the Arcade. You learned this game back in the day. 1 play for a quarter. You did great in showing how to perfectly do the challenge stages.

[@patman0322]

Yeah, keep practicing. I find playing on a real machine much easier than on any console or the PC but maybe that's because that's what I'm used too. It's easier to shoot quickly with a real arcade button than on any controller or keyboard and I find the joystick way more responsive than a D-pad or thumbstick.

[@spoopster809]

and i was struggling with the 1st one :/

[@LukiePookie292]

Great help. Much appreciated!

[@mattgiguere5638]

Impressive....most impressive.

[@patman0322]

Congratulations - keep it up! Check out some of my other Galaga vids - there's some tips in the comments of one of them that might help you get even higher.

[@philsurtees]

Pleasure to watch!

[@jdaster64]

I got to the seventh and eighth challenging stages today for the first time; I really wish I'd seen this first, lol. I think I got about 20 hits on the seventh, and this was after having gotten a Perfect on the first five.

[@patman0322]

On these challenge stage videos I wasn't really concerned with scores but my highest score so far is 2.7 million - that's on a slow-fire machine, 3 ships, extra ships at 20K/70K/70K and default difficulty.

[@patman0322]

OK, no problem. I added a link at the end of the description.

[@patman0322]

@GoGoGadgetBeer Yeah. I learned at the arcades and 7-11's as a kid - you just needed a bike, a lot of free time and a bunch of quarters. It's nice having a machine now since it's getting hard to find them out in the wild anymore.

[@patman0322]

How far can you get? Watch some of my other Galaga videos and maybe you'll pick up something that helps.

[@patman0322]

I'm not sure what you mean? Are you referring to the rapid fire button feature on the XBox Live version? If so, then no I wasn't using that or any other rapid fire or turbo features - it's just fast and well timed shooting. This recording was made in MAME on a PC and I was using a USB converted NES Advantage joystick. The game's built in rapid fire was disabled in the DIP switch settings and the turbo feature on the joysitck was left out when I converted it to USB.

[@coolstuffgaming]

Thanks for the dragonfly tips. :)

[@burgerrider7773]

Nice job. Back in the day I used to be that good. But, 1 problem is home controllers you really can't get in a groove doing the challenge stages. Galaga is 1 of several games that I would rather play on an arcade game. Defender, and Pacman/Ms.Pacman being the others.

[@gsnman]

YOU ARE A PRO!

[@JohnRunaway.Official]

oh dude 😂 I was never able to crack level one lol - 2,3,4 have always been easier for me to perfect

[@UmongusSussehFrusseh]

I Non-Challenge stages, the creatures are bees, butterflies, and bats.

[@thebackstabgaming4375]

in space? getting shot down by a starfighter?

[@patman0322]

There are 255 playable levels and then there's Stage 0 that may or may not be playable depending on the difficulty settings. If Stage 0 is playable then the game wraps around to Stage 1 and you do it all over again. If Stage 0 is unplayable then you have to reset the game. There are 8 different Challenge Stages that repeat in order throughout the game and there are about 20 or so different levels of regular attack stages but after a certain point, it just repeats the same 3 over and over.

[@bumfilmpoo]

when i was a kid i sure i seen three ships firing, that wold mean one would have to capture two ships, can you confirm or deny this, and could it be done messing round with dip switches?? awesome vids by tha way.. my highest screen 47 or 48.. using the fast shoot hack on mame.. :)

[@gearsofwar3xXx]

The first 10 stages are fairly easy once you learn their flight pattern, but it gets tougher quickly.

[@GoGoGadgetBeer]

Heh heh, done this MANY times without continues. Of course, it helps when you have the Galaga upright parked in your casa!

[@patman0322]

Yeah, the emulator runs perfectly but my DVR glitches like that every so often when I record the computer output to it. I never see anything like that when I'm just recording TV with it though.

[@JeffBailey1999]

Awesome !! Great video. Galaga rules.

[@patman0322]

It's the original slow shoot roms. Yeah, no continues. Contra was the first machine I remember buying continues on but my buddy and I eventually got to where we could beat it on a pair of quarters and then finally on one life each with a little luck. 7-11 drained a lot of money out of us in quarters, Big Gulps and Slurpees.

[@marmin74]

This is weird.. when I played Galaga in the arcade as a kid the bullets seem to go much slower. Maybe some dip switch settings or something. or my memory.

[@starjet338]

Thanks for posting the tips!

[@StamfordBridge]

Those alien insects will now think twice before attacking you again.

[@acdcking1234]

There is a cheat I think as well you can use on mame

[@user-wy4wj3kv9c]

2:48

[@poppypkxd4190]

That's how you do that!

[@patman0322]

@dukenthaylor You didn't watch my other Galaga videos, did you?

[@robertcroxtonjr.7623]

the challenge stages are always the hardest part of galaga

[@BenDaijo]

i flipped the machine over back in the day, there's a trick with the bees

[@buzsub03]

I'm a bit rusty at the game right now, but hey thanks for the tips and video =)

[@patman0322]

This is an original slow shoot rom. Go check out a video of a fast shoot machine - the missiles are waaaaaaay faster. I don't like fast shoot machines because it's to easy for a shot to go right through an enemy - usually when they're right on top of you and it's too late to avoid them. I liked fast shoots when I was a kid 'cause they were easier at first but as you get better, a slow shoot machine is better - fast shoot is too easy but you die randomly due to collision detection misses.

[@bumfilmpoo]

yeh nah wasnt galaga 88 thats a certain.. this was bout 1985 in tha local chip shop.. so yeah i dunno.. i read somewhere, that it could be possible playing round with the dip switches.. or the likes. 100% seen it though.. :)

[@Rendclaw]

Yeah... seeing it in person makes me cringe... I just used this video as a visual reference as I was talking about Galaga strategies for my podcast... thanks much for the gameplay!

[@KingTyro242]

@BenDaijo yea i know those certain 2 u wait 4 4 like 15 minutes yea

[@glennzone12]

lol, i can only get close to perfection if i play the "fast shoot hack" version on M.A.M.E.

[@sethr.4048]

Badass.

[@iBossDawg]

The original 1981 midway machine shoots slow 2 at atime and u cant continuethe game i got 110k on tge older machine

[@PacGuy765]

3:00-3:30 yay, flag ships from Galaxian!

[@patman0322]

Thanks! Hmmm, no triple ships on a regular Galaga machine or the usual bootlegs. Doesn't mean there wasn't a hack out there somewhere. You could get 3 ships on Galaga '88 - if you had double ships they could be captured and then when you got them back the three would merge into one giant ship - maybe that's what you saw. Or, maybe it was Gaplus(Galaga 3) - you could capture enemy ships and you could have as many as 6 or 8 captured ships I think. I'm betting Galaga '88 is what you saw though.

[@patman0322]

Yeah, the game doesn't translate well to small devices. It's not too bad on my wife's DS though. Pac-Man, however, is awesome on my RAZR.

[@DevinRPena]

wow nice :D

[@patman0322]

@BrofessionaI Huh?

[@NebulaOcton]

I looks like you are using a "turbo" button, but that could jsut be great game play. Nice Video

[@kevansevans]

pretty cool... eh... I wish I could get that far

[@appy2131]

i have this game on my phone and its fun but the arcade version is way better

[@dukenthaylor]

C'mon Patman! ADMIT IT! To get that far on the CHALLENGE stages, you got them to STOP SHOOTING at you on the REGULAR stages, didn't you?

[@marmin74]

this the fast shoot cheat, right? original is much much harder.

[@S501Airborne]

Mar Min I'm abit late haha. But the machine only granted you 2 shots on the screen at a time (4 in the event you have the double ship) meaning once a shot lands on a ship or goes off screen you can then fire another. That's why he can rattle off so many in a row.

[@patman0322]

Must have been a hacked ROM then - there's no dip switch for triple ships on a normal Galaga machine or bootleg clone.

[@jbchar666]

haha omg..

[@alexistramirez]

My son suck at this

[@TheYankees1972]

all easy with double ship try 1 ship only

[@patman0322]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGjCkJ-Zhq2Fi6c