Rid the Universe of Space Vermin

A wave of bottom space shooters started with Space Invaders in 1978 and gained further momentum with the release of Galaxian in 1979. The response to Galaxian's popularity was space shooters by virtually every manufacturer in 1980- Phoenix (Centuri), Space Firebird (Nintendo), Moon Cresta (Sega/Gremlin), and The End (Konami) among many others.

Astro Fighter, one of the more popular shooters of the period, was Data East / DECO's entry in this category. It was also licensed for manufacture by Sega /Gremlin. The PCBs are not interchangeable between these manufacturers.

The intensity of Astro Fighter lies not so much with fast action, but rather with the need for accurate shots. It still remains a challenging game today and includes cool sounds common on games from this period. A sequel, Super Astro Fighter, was released for the DECO cassette system in 1982.