Pixelvader is an Adobe Flash video game released in 2009. In it, you play as a green ship that shoots at red ships. The goal is beating 10 levels with an unlockable bonus level, though you can also try to beat all levels without taking damage. With each enemy shot down, you get cash which can be spent on upgrades that turn the ship into a superstrong killing machine. The game also has an optional two player mode, with the second player controlling a blue ship.
This game provides examples of:
- Boss Rush: The bonus level has you refight all 10 previously defeated bosses, with seemingly all of them also having higher HP.
- Bullet Hell: The enemies may not fire many bullets by themselves, but they do it very quickly and there are often large quantities of them, while bosses have rather complex patterns with lots of bullets by default. It can become uncomfortable at level 4 and overwhelming at level 8.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: Player 1 and their bullets are green, Player 2 and their bullets are blue.
- Flawless Victory: Each level can be beaten without taking damage. The game will mark those with a star.
- No Ending: There is no ending to see, even if you beat the game. Clearing the bonus level does give a humorous message, but it's not closure in any way.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: There is no in-game death for the player character, instead you just retreat when the shields get low.
- No Plot? No Problem!: No plot in-game. You just shoot at ships and beat levels.
- Red/Green Contrast: Your ship and the bullets it fires are green, while the enemies and the bullets they fire are red.
- Regenerating Health: An upgrade lets your ship regenerate health slowly. Upgrade it further for quicker recovery.
- Retraux: This 2000s Flash game uses a simplistic retro wireframe aesthetic, with the only colors being black, green, red, and blue.
- Skill Point Reset: You can reset all upgrades purchased, receiving all points spent on them with no additional cost.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: The second boss is likely to cause your first death. Its attacks deal a large amount of damage and can be tricky to dodge if you haven't gotten used to the game's controls yet or using the bullet-removing wave, plus it has a fair chunk of health.
- Warm-Up Boss: The first boss, thanks to not having much HP and a very simple bullet pattern.
