Talk:Galaga/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: TarkusAB (talk · contribs) 17:12, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

This looks pretty good, I'd love to review. It looks like your writing improved dramatically since I reviewed City Connection. I think I'll have time this weekend to read it through. If I don't get to it by this time next week, give me a ping. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 17:12, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate it. Namcokid47 (talk) 18:15, 6 August 2019 (UTC)

Starting review now. To save both of us time, I will make corrections on the page if I feel they would be uncontroversial. If you disagree with any of the changes, revert and we can discuss. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 17:21, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

Gameplay

• Should the player shoot down the Boss Galaga diving with a captured ship will transform the player's ship into a “duel fighter”... I'm not sure I understand this. Up until this point I've been assuming the game was single-player. Do you mean to say player 1 can shoot down a boss galaga while it has player 2 captured? You may want to explain that it can be played 2-player if that is the case and do a better job explaining this boss galaga / capturing mechanic.
  • I'm still having trouble with the second paragraph in gameplay. I feel I almost need to watch gameplay to get an understanding of this mechanic, which is not good, because it doesn't sound all that complicated. I was hoping you would reply here with an answer to my questions but you didn't. Is this game 2-player? Infobox says multiplayer but you never say multiplayer in Gameplay. (Just talking the original arcade version, not remakes) TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:39, 15 August 2019 (UTC)
    • I fixed it.  Done TarkusAB^talk/contrib 12:12, 16 August 2019 (UTC)

Development

• ...and becoming a popular game during the time This is kind of WP:PEACOCKy, and you already said it was a big hit in arcades so it's repetitive too. Recommend removal.
  •  Done
• I moved the second paragraph in development to merge with the first, because the pacing of talking about the first Galaxian board game then skipping a paragraph to talk about the second one felt really awkward.
  •  Done
• inspired by a film that Yokoyama had seen prior to the film Looks like an error, please revise
  •  Done
• where an enemy could capture the player's ship and need to be rescued. The "enemy" is the subject here. The way this is written, it sounds like the enemy could capture the player's ship and the enemy would need to be rescued. Suggest rewrite.
  •  Done
• To work around this, Yokoyama modified the duel fighter sprite, having a length of 16x16 pixels, shoot a 16x16 bullet sprite. I'm not sure I understand. So he shortened the length of the sprite, and then created one large bullet sprite with transparency in the middle?
  •  Done
• Enemies originally flew in one type of pattern, which was changed to increase the game's replay value Changed how? THey added more patterns?
  •  Done
• 'Forced' is very hostile, I changed to 'instructed'
  •  Done

Reception

• I understand finding reviews from the time of release will be virtually impossible, but are there any modern sources that talk about the game's reception in arcades back then? You start the section with Galaga was met with widespread critical acclaim upon release, with many applauding the game's... but you don't have a footnote and it's followed by modern reviews.
  • I did find some scans from Computer & Video Games that covered the game, but neither really "reviewed" them are were simply just explanations on what the game was. I'll keep digging though. Namcokid47 (talk) 18:49, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
    • I understand, what I'm saying is: Are there any articles from today that discuss the reception of the game in arcades back then? Like a retrospective piece saying "when it hit arcades back in 1980, it was a huge hit blah blah blah" TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:59, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
      • Have you checked stuff like Cashbox? Arcade Express? I can assist if you need help tracking down scans of these magazines. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:50, 15 August 2019 (UTC)
        • I've found a bit of coverage from Arcade Express, which I've added in the article. Looking through Cash Box to see if they have anything. Namcokid47 (talk) 20:09, 16 August 2019 (UTC)
          • @Namcokid47: Any luck looking through Cash Box? Also there are a few OR problems with arcade reception. The leading sentence in Reception "Galaga was met..." needs to be changed or removed because there's no source supporting it. The IGN source only says it was a viral hit when it was released, whatever that means. The sentence in the lead "Although early location tests proved unsuccessful, Galaga received critical acclaim" also needs to be changed because it implies it received critical acclaim at release but we don't know that for sure. When can say retrospective coverage has been positive, but we don't know what reception for the game was back in 1982, and we certainly should not be making any assumptions. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 23:17, 21 August 2019 (UTC)

@Namcokid47: Never heard back on this. I really don't want to have to fail this GA. It's really close. If you can't find contemporary reception that's fine, but the notion that the game was critically acclaimed at release needs to be removed from the article if it can't be sourced. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 13:54, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

I literally just found some contemporary reviews on it when you pinged me. I'll add them into the article. Namcokid47 (talk) 14:00, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

@Namcokid47: Ping me when you're ready for me to take another look. I can't tell if/when you're finished. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 17:56, 18 September 2019 (UTC)

@TarkusAB: I've added the reviews I found earlier, plus a couple that I came across this morning. Namcokid47 (talk) 15:51, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

• Eric Berlin of Games magazine You didn't mention any other author names, probably should remove this one unless they are somewhat important or something.
  •  Done

Conversions

• This whole section should be moved up ahead of Reception since most of the Reception is about the conversions. It can be its own major section, and Related Media can be its own section at the end.
  •  Done

Related Media

• No comment

Lead

• (I know it's first but I always review the lead last to ensure there is no OR and it accurately portrays the article body)
• however technical limitations instead shifted development to newer hardware — This is not corroborated by the body. The development section only says "The second game was instead made for newer hardware as suggested by Namco's Research & Development division." And does not give a reason. If it's true this is the reason, it should be mentioned in the body and sourced.
  •  Done
• with Namco's former president Masaya Nakamura even taking interest. If he was president at the time, then you should remove "former". It's understood we are talking about that time. The way it's written, it sounds like he was already outed by then.
  •  Done
• of the golden age of arcade video games in North America — Why "in North America"? It wasn't worldwide?
  •  Done
• Per WP:VGBOX, an English language region flyer is preferred for identification. Is there a reason you went with the Japanese flyer?

Sorry, I wasn't aware about VGBOX before writing this. I went with the Japanese flyer instead of the North American one simply due to the game coming out in Japan first. Plus I've seen a number of arcade game articles use the JP flyer instead of the NA version, notably Space Invaders. I'll change it back if needed. Namcokid47 (talk) 19:05, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

I personally don't have a huge problem with it and don't think it's pertinent to the GA review, but if someone challenges you and wants to replace it, just keep that in mind. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:34, 15 August 2019 (UTC)

Other Comments

• References are archived and everything looks to be formatted well.
• Images have proper NFUR templates

Great job, will take another look once we take care of the above. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:56, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

@TarkusAB: Okay, I believe I've fixed everything excluding the reviews. Namcokid47 (talk) 18:50, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

@Namcokid47: Sorry I wasn't done. Now I'm done. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 19:00, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

@TarkusAB: Everything has been fixed. Namcokid47 (talk) 22:40, 12 August 2019 (UTC)

I'll take a look Tuesday TarkusAB^talk/contrib 04:41, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

@Namcokid47: Two outstanding issues in Gameplay and Reception. Responded above. I will try and take a look at videos later to maybe try and help rewrite that Gameplay paragraph. TarkusAB^talk/contrib 18:51, 15 August 2019 (UTC)

Pass TarkusAB^talk/contrib 20:04, 24 September 2019 (UTC)