Arlasoft tackled the complexity of making a faithful rendering of the Famicom port of arcade game and released his version in 2021 and has continued to update it, adding 2-Player cooperative mode, pause and has worked to make it all look as close to the original as possible. Galaga is a vertical arcade shooter. You control a space fighter at the bottom of the screen, scrolling left and right in order to avoid oncoming bombs and kamikaze attacks from alien invaders--and to fire your own missiles to fight back!

There are a huge amount of stages to progress through. Every third level is a "challenge stage" in which you have a free chance to shoot as many aliens as possible and rack up bonus points.

Certain aliens have tractor beams they can use to capture one of your ships. If that wasn't your last "life," you can try to shoot that alien down and recapture your ship, giving you two ships at once and doubling your firepower.