This is the story of a man, a mission, and a space monkey.

1984
A man named Brian Horowitz had a vision. Captivated by such arcade classics as Asteroids and Space Invaders, he set out to create his own arcade games. He rented a warehouse, and hired a development team. Brian Horowitz made it clear that he could not afford any equipment, so he instructed the development team to bring their own. Space Monkey Software was born.

The newly formed development (ware)house began work on their first project. A space shooter known as Galactic Struggle. Due to the limited equipment available, development was not easy, and many of the team members began to lose focus. Alcohol soon came into the equation. At one point during development, Brian Horowitz turned to Tomohiro Nishikado (creator of Space Invaders) of Taito Corporation. The correspondence was brief. Tomohiro Nishikado saw Brian Horowitz's team as nothing more than a group of junkies, and decided that they were not worth his time.

1985
A few drinks later, Galactic Struggle was ready to be manufactured. However, the budget woes prevented the game from being widely released. Altogether, only one-hundred units were made. Due to the limited release, Space Monkey Software didn't make a very significant profit. In fact, debt was becoming more and more likely. An emergency meeting was called. Brian Horowitz made a rush decision. The team would mod the existing Galactic Struggle code, and release a sequel within the next year.

1986
Upon its release, Galactic Struggle II: The Next Wave failed to capture the interest of fans. Many people thought of it as a complete rehash of the original. Space Monkey Software was in a very critical situation. Nothing that Brian Horowitz could say or do, could change things now. Space Monkey Software was forced to shut down its doors. Brian Horowitz, and his team were deeply saddened.

Now
Today, not many people remember the story of Space Monkey Software, or their ill-fated games, for that matter. The producers at Gridline Games seem to remember though. They will be featuring a playable version of Galactic Struggle in their upcoming space shooter, Space Ruckus. For now, I am pleased to present a PC port of Galactic Struggle.

This site is managed by Jason Biggs.
Galactic Struggle is © 1985 Space Monkey Software.