Spider Fighter

Name:	Spider Fighter
Company:	Activision
Model #:	AX-021
Programmer:	Larry Miller
Year:	1982
Released?	Yes

With a name like Spider Fighter I envisioned a game with a spider doing kung fu, but luckily Activision isn't as strange as I am and went for a far more "normal" game.  Spider Fighter is a shooting game similar Galaxian in which crazed spiders are attempting to steal your fruit (I didn't even know spiders liked fruit!).  You must attempt to hold off the spider horde and save your fruit for the good of all mankind (or something like that).

The game starts with four "Master Nests" at the top left of the screen, and three pieces of fruit in the upper right.  A Master Nest will come down from the top of the screen and start pumping out various types of creepy crawlies as it slowly makes its way towards your fruit.  The three types of enemies it pumps out have their own purposes and attack patterns.  Spy Pods fly around the screen and instruct the Master Nest to make more insects, Green Widows will act as living shields in an attempt to protect the Master Nest, and Stingers will aggressively attack your gun.

Master Nests cannot be attacked until they come down from the ceiling and start releasing enemies; this makes it so you can't attack the other Master Nests while they're defenseless (darn it!).  Once you destroy a Master Nest any Spy Pods or Green Widows flying about will instantly turn into Stingers and go straight for your gun.  Needless to say, it's best to mop up all the enemies before tackling the Master Nest.  If the Master Nest steals all your fruit or you lose all your lives it's game over.

Spider Fighter provides an interesting twist to the standard Galaxian or Pheonix style shooter.  One can't help but think that Activision was trying to see how close they could come to a Galaxian style shooting game without getting sued by lawsuit happy Atari.  While Spider Fighter is better than most other 3rd party games, it's pretty average when it comes to Activision games.  Still, Spider Fighter is good for a quick burst of action when you feel the need to slaughter vegetarian spiders.

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