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Cosmic Alien
宇宙异形
Cosmic Alien is a fixed-screen shooter released by Universal in 1979. Players control a cannon at the bottom of the screen and fire upward at waves of descending aliens. The game supports two players taking turns. Enemy formations move across and down the screen in patterns reminiscent of Space Invaders, but Cosmic Alien adds its own visual style with distinct alien designs. Players must eliminate all enemies in each wave before the aliens reach the bottom of the screen. Controls consist of left and right movement plus a fire button. Difficulty increases as waves progress, with aliens moving faster as their numbers thin. The game ran on Universal's own arcade hardware and was part of the wave of Space Invaders-inspired titles that populated arcades in the late 1970s.
- Developer
- Universal
- Released
- 1979
- Platform
- Arcade
- Genre
- Action
- Players
- 2P
- Rating
- 4.4 / 5 (3.7K)
- Last updated
Cosmic Alien Controls — Arcade Keyboard Keys
Default keyboard bindings for Cosmic Alien on our in-browser Arcade emulator. Plug in a USB or Bluetooth gamepad to auto-detect mappings, or rebind any key from the emulator settings menu.
| Keyboard | Console button | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| ↑ | Joystick Up | Move up |
| ↓ | Joystick Down | Move down |
| ← | Joystick Left | Move left |
| → | Joystick Right | Move right |
| X | Button 1 | Primary action (jump / confirm) |
| Z | Button 2 | Secondary action (attack / cancel) |
| S | Button 3 | Tertiary action |
| A | Button 4 | Quaternary action |
| Q | Button 5 | Fifth button |
| W | Button 6 | Sixth button |
| 5 | Insert Coin | Insert coin |
| 1 | 1P Start | Start / Pause |
Coin and Start are convention "Insert Coin: 5" and "1P Start: 1". Some arcade boards expect specific button mappings — check the in-game prompts on coin-up.
Rebind any key from the EmulatorJS in-game settings menu (gear icon → Controls). A connected gamepad auto-maps to the same buttons.
Cosmic Alien Longplay & Gameplay Videos
Watch a full playthrough of Cosmic Alien on Arcade before you dive in — recommended for getting a feel for the game's pacing, story beats, and difficulty curve.
Watch longplay on YouTube
"Cosmic Alien" Arcade longplay 1979
External references
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Cosmic Alien released?
Cosmic Alien was released in 1979 for the Arcade.
Who developed Cosmic Alien?
Cosmic Alien was developed by Universal, available to play in your browser on RetroGameSpace.
How many players does Cosmic Alien support?
Cosmic Alien supports up to 2 players, ideal for couch co-op or competitive sessions on the Arcade.
What type of game is Cosmic Alien?
Cosmic Alien is a Action game for the Arcade, playable instantly in your browser — no downloads, no installs.
How can I play Cosmic Alien for free?
Open this page and click "Play Now" — Cosmic Alien runs free in your browser via WebAssembly emulation. No account, no payment, no installer.
Do I need to download anything to play Cosmic Alien in the browser?
No. Cosmic Alien streams from a public archive into a browser-side Arcade emulator. Nothing is installed on your computer.
Can I save my progress in Cosmic Alien?
Yes. Save states are stored in your browser (IndexedDB) per game, and you can also use any in-game save the original Arcade cartridge supported.
Does Cosmic Alien work on mobile devices?
Yes — the Arcade emulator runs on iOS Safari and Android Chrome. Touch controls overlay the game; landscape mode is recommended.
Is it legal to play Cosmic Alien this way?
RetroGameSpace is a transient caching reverse-proxy and does not host first-party copies of Cosmic Alien. Game files are fetched on demand from publicly-accessible archives. You are responsible for compliance with your local laws and the bring-your-own-ROM principle.
