Defender

SAM Defender was programmed back in the summer of 1998. The project took about four months from start to finish. The initial goal was to write an accurate version of the Williams classic for the SAM.

The SAM version contains faithful reproductions of the original arcade machine graphics, even down to the planet surface which is almost a pixel-by-pixel reproduction of the original. The original arcade machine has a slightly taller vertical screen resolution, so the SAM landscape is 'squashed' a little. However, the contours remain exact.

The font used in the SAM version is an exact reproduction of the original, as are the pulsing palette colours. However, some colour resolution was lost due to the original having a palette of 256 colours opposed to the SAM's 128. The movement and actions of the various enemies are also faithful to the original, as is the overall game speed.

This game was due to be published by Persona but was ultimately released as freeware.

An updated version was released by the author Chris Pile in 2007 with various improvements and without the Persona logo from the 1998 version.