Defender put players in charge of a ship sent to protect mankind from wave after wave of attacking alien forces.

Armed with "smart bombs", and the ability to use hyperspace to move quickly around the planet, the player ship must fight against Bombers, Pods, Swarmers, Baiters, and Landers - that can capture the humanoids and transform them into deadly and relentless Mutants. Fail to save the humanoids from freefall or Mutant transformation, and the planet is destroyed.

Eugene Jarvis' Defender has been widely regarded as one of the most popular and addictive space shooters of the early 1980's

Defender is a legendary sideways-scrolling shoot-em-up - the very first of its genre - in which the aim is to pilot a laser-firing spaceship and protect humanoids stranded on the planet's surface from swarms of alien abductors.

A long-range scanner at the top of the screen shows the positions of both the humanoids and the attacking aliens. The userideal strategy is to shoot down the alien ships before they reach the humanoids. If a humanoid is captured, the alien abductor can still be destroyed, but the player must then catch the falling humanoid and return it to the safety of the planet's surface before it falls to its death.

If an alien is allowed to carry its victim to the very top of the screen, the humanoid will mutate, becoming a permanent part of the alien that captured it. This new and deadly mutation will then immediately join in the alien attack.

The challenge becomes more intense as action progresses. Fighter ships and their mines will soon join the abductors. There are also mother ships that must be destroyed; these are particularly difficult as a direct hit smashes the mother ship into a swarming mass of mini-ships that must also be wiped out. Throughout the entire mission, the player must act quickly or face possible destruction by the cosmic baiter, a fast and dangerous enemy.

Players have two escape options to use as a last resort. The first is the 'smart bomb', which destroys all on-screen enemies. The second option is 'hyperspace', which randomly teleports the player's ship to another part of the level. This is highly risky as it may place the player's ship in a position more dangerous than the one it left.

If all humanoids are successfully abducted, the planet will explode in a blinding flash and the waves remaining until the next planet is reached take place in outer space, and consist solely of destroying enemy waves.

In Defender, the player must defend the humans on the ground from the invading aliens. In addition to scoring points by killing aliens, the player will receive bonus points for saving humans that have been abducted as well as every human that survives the level.

You're the Captain of the Spaceship Defender, and your mission is to save the humanoids from alien abduction. Use your radar scanner, smart bombs, and hyperspace power to protect the planet from alien assault. If the aliens successfully abduct the humanoids, the humanoids mutate, joining the alien force. You must act quickly to prevent total destruction of your planet.

Save the humanoids from the impending aliens!

A coin-op conversion of the arcade game, this is the official sequel to its sister game Defender, also created by Williams electronics in the early 1980s. Improvements to gameplay include:
*More enemies
*Inviso button (makes you invisible to enemies but also yourself)
*The Stargate, which not only warps you to the nearest humanoid in jeopardy, but can also warp you ahead and give you lives if you warp with 10 humanoids
*Fast-paced gameplay

Alien marauders are attacking your planet. They're kidnapping resident humanoids and turning them into mutants! You pilot your ship along the planet surface, blasting away. But first you go for the Landers - the most treacherous of the aliens. You race to the nearest Stargate and whoosh! You experience that eerie - time warp - feeling as you're transported to the other side of the planet. Only you, with the help of the Stargate, can save the planet against attack!

Defender/Joust is a video game for the Game Boy, published by Midway in 1998. It features the classic arcade games Defender and Joust.

Midway Presents Arcade Hits: Joust / Defender is a Compilation game, developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Midway, which was released in 1999.

Alien marauders are attacking your planet. They're kidnapping resident humanoids and turning them into mutants! You pilot your ship along the planet surface, blasting away. But first you go for the Landers - the most treacherous of the aliens. You race to the nearest Stargate and whoosh! You experience that eerie - time warp - feeling as you're transported to the other side of the planet. Only you, with the help of the Stargate, can save the planet against attack!