Though character-oriented games like Mappy and Pac-Man were always popular and heavily merchandised, some of the most memorable arcade experiences could be found in space-themed games, which encouraged players to imagine themselves actually defending the universe. (This was taken to its natural cinematic conclusion in 1984's The Last Starfighter.)
While Space Invaders set the stage for the land-based defense of Earth, Space Fury sent you into the heart of stellar battle, against a one-eyed, vector-based alien nemesis who taunts you throughout the game, issuing blistering insults like "Is there no warrior mightier than I?" and "You are starting to annoy me, creature. My destroyers will annihilate you." At least his combat abilities are much more refined than his insults.
Gameplay: You start out with a basic ship, which you can rotate left and right, and drive forward with a thruster. The alien ships start out as vulnerable individual pieces, which quickly join together to become more powerful and deadly. Good players quickly learn to blast the aliens before they assemble into fireball-spewing warships.