After developing the Virtual Light Machine music lightsynth for the Jaguar CD player, Jeff returns with another updated arcade classic, Defender 2000. Gameplay Paradoxically, Defender 2000 is a wonderful action game that is sure to receive a lot of criticism. Tempest 2000 is, quite simply, a tough act to follow. Comparisons aside, Defender 2000 offers three distinctive games in one package. Aliens appear more frequently and attack more aggressively, while score thresholds are raised to higher levels.
Success comes with mastery of the ship and a resistance to panic.
In other areas, Defender 2000's flaws are merely picked nits. Controls are wonderfully responsive, with most features right at the player's fingertips, but there's no option to reconfigure button assignments. The three game modes offer a simple form of setting difficulty, but an option to adjust it would have been welcome. The manual is a major blemish, however, with many major omissions and errors. The player can learn about these with experience, but he shouldn't have to.