"Prepare yourself for annihilation!"

If you ever stood between a Space Invaders and Galaxian game, wondering which beast to feed your quarter, Bally/Midway created the perfect solution – play Gorf instead. With five distinct levels, two of which that were perfect clones of those beloved predecessors, Gorf gave you plenty of bang for your quarter – as long as you had thick enough skin to withstand some occasional verbal taunting.

"My Gorfian robots are unbeatable!"

Armed with a pistol-like joystick, complete with trigger, players were in familiar territory with level one. Dubbed Astro Blasters, it was almost identical to Space Invaders, with the exception of an arched force field that took the place of the familiar four shields and a bright blue background.

Make it through that level and you entered the second stage, Laser Attack. Here, you had to fend off two formations of five enemies – each made up of three yellow dive-bombing ships, a white laser-firing ship, and a small Gorf robot.

"Some galactic defender you are… ha-ha-ha!"

The third level, Galaxians, left little to the imagination as to what was in store. A clone of the popular arcade game, the only difference was that you only faced 24 rapidly descending enemies, instead of the 46 found in the original game.

From familiar territory, it was on to something new for Space Warp. Placed within a wormhole-like web, players contended with a series of enemy ships that emanated from the center of the screen. In this level, players could not only shoot enemy ships, but also the missiles that they fired. Or you could just destroy them by ramming into them.

The climactic five-stage battle concluded with Flag Ship, a formidable vessel that shot fiery projectiles at you, under the protection of a force field. Luckily, this shield wasn’t invincible, allowing to blast holes through it in an attempt to reach its Achilles Heel, the “Internal Power Reactor Vent” (which, on any other vehicle, might simply be called a tail pipe.) Should you miss and hit other sections of the ship, however, you ran the risk of them breaking off and colliding with your ship. Then again, if you hit one of these deadly projectiles, you could earn valuable bonus points. And if you did manage to hit the vulnerable vent of the mother ship, you were treated to a spectacular explosion before starting things all over again at level one, this time with increased difficulty.

"Survival is impossible!"

As players moved through the various levels, their rank increased with each successful mission. Starting as a Space Cadet, it was possible to advance to the ranks of Space Captain, Space Colonel, Space General, Space Warrior and Space Avenger. And as a sign of twisted respect, the ever-taunting computerized voice remembered to call you by your appropriate rank while hurling its verbal jabs. One particular line, “I devour coins” was less of a taunt and more of a warning. For Gorf allowed players to do something that no other game offered – insert more quarters to continue game play. After starting the game with the typical three lives, each quarter bought you two additional lives (you could only do this twice, for a total of seven lives.)

And if that little ship on each level reminded you of another space vessel, it wasn’t a coincidence. Gorf was originally supposed to tie-in with the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and, although that merger didn’t pan out, this ship still bore a striking resemblance to Captain Kirk’s trusty Enterprise.

Gorf remained popular in arcades around the country, at least until the new wave of challengers emerged, such as Pac Man and Centipede, with its seemingly high-tech trackball. And verbal assaults aside, nostalgic players still have a soft spot in their hearts for this interstellar five-in-one shooting game that finally settled the eternal dillema of "Space Invaders or Galaxian?".

"I devour coins."