Sinitron Space Raider game watch

The Space Raider game watch is a rarity; when it is seen, it’s usually the CompuChron watch, which I used to own and regretted ever selling it.

There are two (at least) different game watches labelled as Space Raider – this one, and the one better known as Space Defender, which was branded as Space Raider by Meister Anker.

So, confusion aside, this is a completely different game, more like the Nelsonic Space Attacker, but unique as well.

Features of the watch are:

• 12/24 hour time
• Date
• Hourly chime
• Daily alarm
• Two games

The games are as fun as any you can find in game watches of the same era (1980-1982).

In Game A, your launcher is on the bottom right which can fire in one of three positions. Pressing the Rotate button on the front of the watch moves the launcher position 1-2-3-2-1 (unlike the Nelsonic Space Attacker where the Move button changes the launcher 1-2-3-1 which is kind of annoying once the game speeds up).

Pressing fire sends a tiny (and I mean tiny) missile toward the oncoming invaders in that direction.

Depending where the missile hits the invader will determine the points you score for the hit (1, 2 or 10 points). At the top is a countdown timer (20 → 0) and your aim is to stay alive (and score as many points as you can) until the counter reaches 0 and your game is over. You have three lives, and you lose a life each time the invaders reach the launcher without being hit.

If you make it to 500 points and still have at least one life left, the countdown resets to 20 so you have bonus time until your lives are lost or the counter reaches 0 again.

Game B is much the same as Game A but the invaders’ speed increases as the game progresses (much harder)!

When you start a game, you see the current high score before it starts which is another nice touch, as is the design feature of the watch straps that slide on/off instead of being held in with pins. This makes gaming better since you can remove the straps, although it is near impossible to find replacements since few manufacturers made them.

Here’s a video (not mine) of the Compuchron in game mode.