POG · Category / 12

Arcade & Classic Games

Alternating two-player modes created competition without simultaneous hardware; friends could share one cabinet and still turn every life into a public performance. The category's past supplies the companion fact. Galaga let captured fighters become part of the player's strategy: rescuing one could create a more powerful dual-fighter formation at the cost of a larger target. Nothing makes a joystick feel more important than having exactly one life left.