Space Raiders is a distant clone of Defender for the Arcadia 2001. The player pilots a spacefighter ship capable of both horizontal and vertical movement that is charged with shooting lasers at mutants and flying saucers that periodically appear on the screen. Additionally, there are missile launching bases that can fire upon the player, but these bases can be disabled by bombing them. The player's spacefighter ship also features an energy meter that counts down from 40 seconds and can be partially re-energized by docking at disabled missile bases. The object of this 1-player game is to score as many points as possible by destroying enemies with the five lives provided. Space Raiders also features a pausing feature known as "freezing," which was relatively uncommon at the time of the game's release in 1982.