The game also features support for the ProController.
Completing all 100 levels in Defender 2000 mode unlocks Vindaloo mode, which is a harder difficulty setting. Progress is automatically saved after completing five levels via the cartridge's internal EEPROM, which also keeps tracks of the high-scores and other settings made by the player across the three game modes available at the start of the game. The game features a total of 100 levels, with new color variations for the stages after level 50. Reviewers typically commented that the game, while reasonably fun, failed to update the original Defender to the point where its gameplay and graphics could stand out against contemporary shooters.ĭefender 2000 builds upon the gameplay from the original Defender by introducing more power-ups, bonus levels, more and sophisticated enemy types and level designs varying in thematic, among other new additions. The player, as a member of the System Defense Team taking control of the Threshold spacecraft, is tasked to protect the working space miners and defeat invading waves of aliens from the Alpha Proximian Empire, who seek to obtain the life-sustaining materials humans extract in multiple planets for an Earth that lacks natural resources in the future.ĭefender 2000 received mixed reviews since its launch. It follows a mostly similar premise to the original Defender with a few new additions.
Part of Atari Corp.'s 2000 series, it is a remake by Jeff Minter of Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar's 1981 arcade game Defender, which drew inspiration from Space Invaders and Asteroids. Defender 2000 is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar on December 1995.