Sinistar (1982)

Sinistar was an arcade game I was able to play when I bought a Midway Collection for my Xbox. It was terrifying to play because of the difficulty of playing it.

Basically, you start the game with a ship and you can control it by flying around and shooting at asteroids which break up into tiny pieces once you've shot them enough. As you shoot them, they release little crystals which you need to collect so that you can use them to defeat the sinister which is born as the levels progress. Once the sinister is completed, he shrieks at you through the speakers telling you he is completed and he begins trying to catch you in his mouth, thus killing you.

The only way to destroy him is to fire the crystals at him, and break him apart to win the level. Since it was an arcade game, I don't really recall if it ever had a conclusion or overarching "point." (Other than to stay alive as long as possible to get the highest score possible.)

Sinistar was a great game and I loved the challenge.