Defender

"When they cry out to the Lord because of

their oppressors, he will send them a

savior and defender, and he will

rescue them"

Isaiah 19:20

Here is another great game and a great verse! Although I have to admit that Defender has to be one of the hardest games out there. I mean, your joystick only moved up and down, and then you had five buttons to manipulate: thrust, fire, reverse, smart bomb and hyperspace. Almost sounds like some of today's console game controllers (lol).

In the game, you are the captain of Defender. And your mission is to defend the human population from swarms of attacking aliens. You have a scanner at the top of the screen that lets you see where the humans and the aliens are located. Your job is to shoot all the aliens before they can take away the humans. If an alien captures a human, you still have a chance to save him by shooting the alien, but you have to catch the human, before he falls to his death, and set him on the ground.

This is where the game is so hard - controlling your ship. By pushing the thruster button you determine how fast you go - tap it and you only go a little bit, hold it down and its kamikaze. All the while you need press the fire button (conveniently located next to the thrust button); the reverse button (next to the joystick) to change directions; the smart bomb button in case you get surrounded by enemies; and the hyperspace button which transports you to a different location. Not to mention all the flying enemies and ammunition.

Just like in the game, we have a Defender and His name is God!! He sends His angels to guard over us. As David writes in Psalm 68:5, "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling." He is our refuge, a strong tower against the foe. He has come to save us and catch us when we fall!


It is funny that this game was deemed a flop when it was showcased at a 1981 Chicago arcade machine trade show because of it's difficulty, yet it shares the title as "Highest Grossing Video Game of All Time" along with Pac-Man. The world looks at us like that sometimes, as flops and failures, but God doesn't look at the outward man He looks at our heart. And to Him, we all share the title "All-Star".