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From our classic games collection

Bugbuster

No Centipede, spider or mushrooms ... just hundreds of 21st Century bugs for you to blast into oblivion! It's manic ... consider yourself warned.

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Bugbuster artwork
Bugbuster

A little internet history

When games arrived in the browser.

1995
Java applets helped turn web pages into places you could play, with games running inside the browser.
The plug-in era ends
Browsers gradually stopped supporting Java plug-ins. Java 11 removed the browser deployment tools; the Java language itself continues.
Today
This original game runs through our browser emulator. You don’t need to install the old Java plug-in.

Our part in that early web

Our Java games began on Smilie.com in the 1990s, before Matica followed. A surviving Smilie archive from 1 June 1997 refers to Mirkin’s Darts; Matica appears in the archive from 11 November 1998.

These games are part of that first wave of web play. We’re keeping them accessible, along with their original pages and history.

Read more: Java’s early tutorial history · Oracle’s applet deployment notes

Space to start; arrows to move; Space or Z to fire; P to pause. Sound starts off. High scores are shared between Matica and SmilieGames; loading and game-driven saving await owner testing.

Play Bugbuster

Original game notes

Click within the applet. Press spacebar to begin the game, or wait a few seconds to view the high score table. Use the cursor keys to move around, and use the spacebar or 'Z' to shoot. You can turn the music on and off by pressing 'M', and you can do the same with the sound effects by pressing 'S'. 'P' pauses/unpauses the game.

A battle has broken out within your computer. Invading microchips, resistors and electric surges are all trying to crash your system! Shoot them all and keep your computer bug free!

If you score enough points, you can enter your name on the All-Time BugBuster high-score table.