Controls to far apart
Wed Nov 28 2018 paulsl45This game was literally my teenage years the game graphics are not to bad but the actual controls the up and down buttons are to far apart that and the lack of responsiveness in the middle part of the direction buttons that makes it difficult to play with the vigor this game is famous for. Hopefully the developer may fix the spacing between the direction buttons until then two stars with hope for updates. It’s a great game on an arcade mechanic and is difficult to replicate especially without actual buttons.
Like being back in 1982!!!!!
Sun Mar 06 2022 Michael CzaplewskiOmg! Whoever says this game isn’t like the old one and the controls are too hard, they weren’t good at it in the first place! I LOVE this game! I mean I FREAKING LOVE it! It took me about an hour to start to figure it out. It’s probably as close as we will ever get to having the game in our basement. The ONLY thing is it’s a little hard to go up and down sometimes but what do you expect on a phone screen???? I miss the hyperspace unless you can tell me how to do it. I’m up to 100,000 so far and it’s so fun remembering the old days and the sounds are incredible!!!! Thank you for bringing this back from the past and to the future!!!!!!!!! 5 stars!!!!!
Terrible purchase
Sat Jan 12 2019 KansaiConnect2If I could give this game a less-than-a-star rating I would. I was so excited to see this game in the App Store, but after purchasing it and playing, or should I say trying to play, I realized I just gave away $1.99. This game shouldn’t even be for sale.
It’s hardly responsive and the controller buttons are barely useable. The only good thing is the graphics. They are almost identical. However, in this day and age, this game could be designed with much better non-pixelated graphics like we had back in the 80s.
I doubt I’ll ever get the money I spent on this game back. So I’ll chalk it up as a lesson learned. Buy no games that I can’t play first then buy and/or games designed by this company unless they make changes to this game and upgrade everything.
Crashes to often
Thu Jun 19 2025 LardbassLove this game, thanks for putting it together. Unfortunately it crashes often. Have to unload and reload to get rid of cache. Also little known hack of saving 3 or more astronauts then warping to a star gate isn’t included.
Cute but not quite playable
Fri Nov 20 2015 jicemagooThe behavior (when in auto-thrust mode) and appearance are quite authentic but the translation of the original controls to the touch screen is not working well.
If memory serves, the original game had a very direct up-down control and the direction reversal button very close by, within thumb reach I think.
As it is on screen, the up-down control is way too slow, it should be a slider or something, and the reverse direction is as far as can be from it, and on the same side, so it isn't even possible to use the other hand for it.
Can't play that game like that. I'll be eagerly waiting for an update that has better control.
Shocking
Sun Jan 27 2019 I can hear you Clem Fandango.I really couldn’t believe my luck when I found this game for sale after looking for years......Then I made the mistake of buying it!! The controls are absolutely terrible and the game play is both slow and anything but enjoyable. If you want to waste 1.99 on a game you’ll never play for more than two minutes then go ahead and buy this one. Such a shame that a simple game like this has been ruined by such bad controls :-(
Retro Fun!
Fri Apr 01 2022 GM ScottThis is a faithful reproduction of the defender I played as a kid. Lots of retro fun to be had!
I know some people didn't like the old joystick. I never used that one so I can't say, but the newer 8 direction virtual joystick works great.
Love It!
Sun Jan 10 2016 Dmguth3While you can't have a joystick, this is as close as it gets and still a blast to play. Tap the screen anywhere to fire, that took me an inquiry to figure out. A great flashback play anytime.
Don’t Waste Your Money
Sat Mar 08 2025 Couch Pot8oThe controls are awful in my opinion. They needlessly made the entire joystick one small area of the screen and same with fire button. Your finger will stray away from the tiny joy stick and fire button every time. I played twice and deleted it. Sorry to be harsh but want to save people money.
Good memories rough execution
Tue Feb 15 2022 uhprofengThe game is fun but the control is lag a little and the lasers don’t react properly when you change direction they do not streak across the screen but stop when you move at first.
