Eddie Galaxy (sometimes also known simply as Intergalactic Exterminator by eGames, and rarely Eddie Galaxy Intergalactic Exterminator) is an action arcade game released in September of 1999 and retailed for $17.99 on launch. It features a similar premise to Centipede whereby you must kill the centipedes that slowly make their way down to the bottom of the screen, along with passive destructibles like mushrooms. You play as Eddie, a one-eyed alien.
It was released by eGames in two flavours, the premium edition and the stripped down junior edition which only had five worlds instead of ten. The eGames release also had a little jingle with a pitched up voice saying "Eddie Galaxy!" which was reportedly done by Brent Christian, this appears to have been removed in the Hamumu release.
Story[]
Full Edition[]
Get ready for an out-of-this-world adventure with Intergalactic Exterminator™. The fearless Eddie Galaxy, space hero, battles hostile enemies on 10 alien worlds in his quest to save the universe. Blast away twisting, turning creatures as they wind their way through the maze of obstacles. But the action doesn’t stop there – to save the planets Eddie must face squadrons of enemy spaceships. Its fast paced excitement at its best![3]
Junior Edition[]
Get ready for an out-of-this-world adventure with Intergalactic Exterminator™. The fearless Eddie Galaxy, space hero, battles hostile enemies on 5 alien worlds in his quest to save the universe.[4]
Gameplay[]
There are a total of ten worlds, each with a unique theme and 'gimmick' monster that usually appears at the bottom as a distraction as you attempt to destroy the centipedes. Occassionally a 'special mission' will occur with a particular theme, once completed you will get a reward of varying kinds. Bonus levels are interspersed which are a hybrid of a top-down scroller and asteroids. After completing all 10 worlds you reach the final end game boss, which is built around the same 3D model later used for the Xeno Hunter in Dr. Lunatic.
The junior edition screen on the eGames release requesting for the 'premium' version to be purchased.
Keyboard Control[]
Eddie Galaxy does not actually need a mouse and can be completely controlled with a PC keyboard (which includes all menus and the game itself). The continue screen maps the cursor to the arrow keys allowing the player to select either option without the need of a mouse. Pressing spacebar simulates a left click. It can be assumed the keyboard-friendly implementation is to capitalize on the arcade focus of the game.
Legal Issues[]
After eGames published it, it underwent legal issues from Hasbro/Atari suing eGames for violating their copyright on Centipede (which became a big thing in the industry whether or not you could copyright a style of gameplay). From the original excerpt from eGames:
eGames Refutes Allegations by Hasbro of Copyright Infringement LANGHORNE, Pa., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- eGames, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGAM), a leading publisher and developer of Family Friendly(TM), value-priced computer software games for players of all ages, today announced that Hasbro Interactive, Inc. has filed suit against eGames and several other defendants in the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts alleging that eGames, among other parties, infringed Hasbro's copyrights and trademarks in the production of certain games. eGames believes that the allegations are without merit and intends to defend the action vigorously. Jerry Klein, CEO of eGames, commented, "Although Hasbro Interactive filed its suit in federal district court in Boston on Monday, February 7th, we were not served with a copy of the complaint until yesterday. While we have not yet had the opportunity to fully examine the allegations, it appears as if Hasbro is unfortunately trying to control the ideas behind certain video games when such ideas are free for others to use and improve upon. We have brought quality products to market at popular mass consumer price points and we will defend our right to continue to offer consumers extraordinary value." eGames, Inc., headquartered in Langhorne, PA, develops, publishes and markets a diversified line of personal computer software primarily for consumer entertainment and personal productivity. The Company promotes the eGames(TM), Game Master Series(TM), Multi-Pack and Galaxy of Home Office Help(TM) brand names in order to generate customer loyalty, encourage repeat purchases and differentiate the eGames Software products to retailers and consumers. Additional information regarding eGames, Inc. can be found on the Company's web site at http://www.egames.com .
SOURCE eGames, Inc.[5]
Eventually this caused Eddie Galaxy to be pulled from sale for a long time:
On a bad/good note, eGames has settled the lawsuit with Hasbro. Which means that as of Sept 30, Eddie Galaxy will no longer be available anymore. That's really sad and dumb, but I'm glad the mess is over anyway. Very glad. I don't like Hasbro. I have little to say today. Bye![6]
Trivia[]
- It was the first game to be released by Hamumu Software to run on the Dr. Lunatic engine.
- It was the first game Jamul had published with eGames.
- The Pteroids were re-used to become a summonable 'ptero' in Kid Mystic.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20000620180737/http://www.egames.com/egames2/categories/arcade_action.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040713125113/http://www.hamumu.com/game.php?game=EDDIE
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/19990922110200/http://www.egames.com/eGames/categories/Games/743999015807.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20000620180737/http://www.egames.com/egames2/categories/arcade_action.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20001024081322/http://frbinc.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=134053&TICK=ROMT&STORY=/www/story/02-10-2000/0001137570&EDATE=Feb+10,+2000
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20001001212349/http://www.hamumu.com/journal.html