Galaxy Invader 1000 vs BigPEmu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Galaxy Invader 1000
Relive the golden age of handheld gaming with this authentic recreation of a classic 80s VFD LSI game. Experience addictive gameplay, retro sounds, and a nostalgic vacuum fluorescent display. Enjoy three difficulty levels for endless fun.
- Accurate VFD LSI simulation
- Full retro sounds
- Three difficulty levels
- Simple and addictive gameplay
- Nostalgic experience
- iCade support
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First there was the original Galaxy Invader (Galaxy Invader 1978). Now this sequel, also known as Cosmic Fire Away, blasts you back to the 1980's again when games were simple but very addictive. An accurate recreation of the VFD LSI game by CGL, Gakken, Tandy and other companies of that time. Fun for all ages with three difficulty levels. All those retro sounds and that vacuum fluorescent display are here. This was a classic and very popular toy back then. Now it is a rare and collectable item but YOU can own it right now! These types of machines were made by companies such as Grandstand, Tomy, Entex, CGL, Tandy, Bandai and Epoch to name but a few. *Screenshots show actual app in action and original artwork based on the original packaging. See how close to the real thing it is! • Accurate simulation of the classic handheld machine • Full retro sounds • 3 difficulty levels • Simple and addictive • Totally nostalgic • iCade support HOW TO PLAY 1. Set speed control to the desired level. Slide power on/off switch to "on" 2. Move the Missile Launch lever side by side to aim at Invader or UFO and press Missile Launch button. 3. Game ends when you obtain 1,000 points or when all 3 Missile Launchers are destroyed or when Invader captures G-zone or when you have shot all of your 250 Missiles. * When you obtain 700 points, one Missile Launcher and 50 Missiles are given as a bonus. 4. To start a new game simply switch slide to "off" and then to "on" again. 5. If using with iCade or compatible controller, press the iCade button on top left and you can now use a joystick and red fire(5) button. NOTE: pressing this without connection to a compatible Bluetooth controller will bring up the keyboard. If this happens just press the button again to turn it off. The original version is also available by us called "Galaxy Invader 1978"
BigPEmu
This application emulates the Atari Jaguar console, offering high accuracy and performance for its entire retail game library. It provides advanced features like saved states, movie recording, and customizable controller support, enhancing the classic gaming experience.
- Full retail library compatibility
- High performance emulation
- Accurate emulation
- Saved states and movie recording
- Jaguar CD support
- Customizable controller overlays
- Fast forward and rewind
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BigPEmu is the first Atari Jaguar emulator to feature compatibility with the entire retail library, along with excellent performance and a wide variety of unique features: • Fast. The emulator runs the entire Jaguar retail library (with default settings) at full speed on most devices. • Accurate. It's the most accurate Jaguar emulator to-date, although it's still being improved all the time. • Better than hardware. Although the emulator defaults to settings which are catered toward compatibility and accuracy, it's capable of far more. BigPEmu enables you to play lots of Jaguar games at a full 60 frames per second for the first time ever! • Saved states and movies. Everything is completely deterministic, just like real life. That's right, I went there. This means that all "randomness" is also controlled by a preserved seed. BigPEmu can record movies from nothing but controller inputs, and play them back with perfect accuracy. You can even interrupt a movie's playback and start playing yourself at any point. • Jaguar CD support. In addition to supporting the entire retail disc library (along with Memory Track), complete hardware emulation means that the Virtual Light Machine is fully functional. Also featured is a virtual disc system with an audio loopback option, allowing the VLM to be used as a native audio/music visualizer. • Excessive presentation detail. There's native support for the Jaguar Game Drive's MRQ format in the software browser (as well as box art sourced from PNG files), support for global and per-game backgrounds, and even support for controller overlays! Everything about the touch overlay for the iOS port is fully customizable, from appearance to collision boxes. • Extra device support. Featuring emulated device support for analog controllers (both via external bank switching and the ADC), driving controllers, rotary controllers, and Team Tap. For native input devices, the iOS port supports any MFi "Extended Gamepad" type device as well as keyboards through Apple's Game Controller API. • Glorious shaders. The emulator comes equipped with a powerful, fully customizable postprocessing system. The system supports any type of effect you can imagine, from applying smoothing filters to simulating CRT displays. • Per-game profiles. Mapping the Atari Jaguar controller to anything other than a telephone with wings can get a little complicated, so you might want to switch your controller mapping up for different games. You can do that! With per-game profiles, you can automatically load up a new input scheme (or any other emulator setting) each time you load a game. • Time travel. Native fast forwarding and rewinding capability means you can speed forward through time or go back in time whenever you please. • Flexible scripting. BigPEmu features a powerful scripting system. The emulator comes with a variety of scripts to enhance popular Jaguar games in amazing ways, from analog controller support to native-resolution and stereoscopic rendering! • The usual. Enjoy all of the emulator niceties you've come to expect in modern times. Automatic preservation of EEPROM, PAL support, custom boot ROM images, native support for multiple display aspect ratios, resolution scaling, custom display cropping, extremely customizable input, and a whole lot more. BigPEmu and Swinecrafters LLC are in no way affiliated with Atari. The name "Atari" and all associated game console names are the property of their respective owners.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Galaxy Invader 1000 at $1.99 against BigPEmu's $9.99. Galaxy Invader 1000 also leads on chart position (#198 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15). BigPEmu's advantage is update cadence (every 4 months vs every 9 months). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Galaxy Invader 1000 costs $1.99 and BigPEmu $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Galaxy Invader 1000 against 5.0 for BigPEmu. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 27 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of Galaxy Invader 1000's written reviews are positive against 94% of BigPEmu's.
Galaxy Invader 1000 ships an update every 9 months, BigPEmu every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Galaxy Invader 1000 | BigPEmu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (17 ratings) | 5.0 (27 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.2% of reviews | 94.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 17 | 27 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #198 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 15 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +9 |
| Developer | Rob Wilmot | Swinecrafters LLC |
Customer experience
Galaxy Invader 1000
BigPEmu
Bugs and requests
Galaxy Invader 1000
Reported bugs
10 issues- Controls hard to grasp on touchscreen
- Left joystick placement awkward on some phones
- Game doesn't fit screen on some iPhones
- Lag/delay with left slider
- Left joystick fails to respond sometimes
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- Screen ratio issues on XS Max
- Sound not working for one user
- Game doesn't fit properly on 10r iPhone
- Left hand joystick tricky to work
- Left rudder too far left, hard for app to pick up
Requested features
8 requests- Make more emulations of other games
- Emulate Merlin or Master Merlin
- Emulate Simon
- Add haptic feedback
- Bring Galaxy Invader 10000 to iOS
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- Option to remove social media decals
- Fix sound issues
- Fix screen fitting issues on specific iPhones
BigPEmu
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Galaxy Invader 1000
No in-app purchases
BigPEmu
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Galaxy Invader 1000 free?
Is BigPEmu free?
Which has better reviews, Galaxy Invader 1000 or BigPEmu?
Do Galaxy Invader 1000 or BigPEmu have ads?
Which is updated more often, Galaxy Invader 1000 or BigPEmu?
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