Arcade Video game published 42 years ago:

SWAT (c) 1984 Sega.

An abstract one or two player shoot-em-up in which the aim is to stop swarms of aliens from building a sectional tunnel from the bottom of the screen to the top.

At the top of each level are blue tunnel sections, while at the bottom are purple ones. Aliens start at the bottom of the screen in the purple sections. As they move through a tunnel, they can build new sections in any direction.

Players can either destroy blue tunnel sections, or 'shove' them to re-align them and prevent the aliens from completing their mission. Purple sections cannot be destroyed but they CAN be shoved. A 'smart bomb' can be deployed which will destroy all nearby enemies, as well as the players, on-screen counter-parts should they be within the blast radius when the bomb explodes. Additional bombs can be earned by destroying blue sections of tunnel.

If the aliens succeed in connecting up a tunnel, additional enemies appear and the challenge increasing substantially. Each round ends when a preset number of 'Blocker' aliens have been destroyed.

There are four types of enemies:

* BLOCKERS - These foes build the tunnels and they can exit the tunnel system or be forced out. If they exit the tunnels, they produce 'Expelers' (see below) and quickly make their way to the bottom of the screen to re-enter the tunnels. This is the only time that they are vulnerable.

* EXPELERS - These enemies, produced by the Blockers, chase the players around the screen and attempt to corner them. They travel at different speeds, generally moving faster as they get closer to SWAT agents.

Player layout in our catalog: 2P alt.

If you are exploring by feel rather than by title, jump from the tags above into the matching genre rooms, or return to the Arcade hall for the full wall.

Open Play on this page to start SWAT (315-5048). Keyboard, USB/Bluetooth pads, and the on-screen touch gamepad all work inside the emulator bar. Save states and fullscreen live on that same bar so you can pause mid-session and resume later.

SWAT (315-5048) is filed in our catalog as a 1984 release.

Player layout on this cabinet: 2P alt.

Genre tags on Classic Arcade Games: Shooter.

Credit line lists Coreland / Sega as developer.