70s/80s Arcade Game Like Galaxian/Galaga Where You Dock Your Ship Twice: It's Xevious

You're describing Xevious (Namco, 1983).

Why It Matches Your Memory

• Docking Mechanic: The player ship (Solvalou) docks with a mothership twice per stage—once to recharge energy, once to receive the "Zapper" air-to-ground bomb upgrade.
• Vertical Scrolling Shooter: Like Galaga/Galaxian, but with a continuously scrolling terrain (forests, bases, rivers) instead of static screens.
• Dual Weapon System: Forward shot (Vulcan) for air enemies + Bomb (Zapper) for ground targets (Sol towers, Domogram rovers).
• Distinct Enemies: Andor Genesis (mothership), Garu/Garu (spinning logs), Toroid (flying saucers), Zoshi (death walls).
• Hidden Towers (Sol): Destroy 16 hidden Sol citadels per area for massive bonuses—a proto-secrets mechanic.

Historical Significance

• First arcade game with a TV commercial in the US.
• Pioneered pre-rendered background graphics (terrain stored as images, not tiles).
• Influenced TwinBee, RayForce, Ikaruga, and the entire "vertical shooter with ground targets" subgenre.

How to Play Today

• Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1 (Switch/PS4/Xbox/PC)
• Arcade Archives Xevious (Switch/PS4) — Hamster's arcade-perfect port.
• MAME / FinalBurn Neo — Emulation.
• NES port (1988) — Decent but flickery; on Nintendo Switch Online.

Other docking games: Moon Cresta (1980, dock 3 stages), Gaplus (1984, Galaga sequel, ship combining). But the dual-dock + air/ground combat = Xevious.