Introduction: Space Invaders has been a gaming franchise that has been around nearly as long as gaming itself. With many remakes and ports of the original Space Invaders not much has changed in the series since its original release in 1978. Developer Taito knew of this problem with the series maintaining the same constant arcade like style and developed Space Invaders: Extreme. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders developer Taito has given gamers a new reason to pick up Space Invaders and try it out to the extreme. But how different is Space Invaders Extreme from the original and is it really worth picking up this title if you could easily play the original online?
GamePlay: Being similar to the original Space Invaders title gameplay is reasonably similar. Containing both Single and Multiplayer this game will give your hours of gameplay to play through. When you first start off you are given a choice to choose what difficulty you want and surprisingly although easy mode is of the easiest modes it still proves rather challenging. The game itself contains only a few levels within singleplayer mode but they do take their time to finish them and you will find yourself in a situation where you won’t be able to finish the level. Due to the actual difficulty of the game, no matter if it be easy or hard, you will find yourself replaying levels just so you can finish the level without getting a game over and the game is so addictive that you could find yourself playing the same level over and over again for a couple of hours just trying to finish it.
The game also has unique enemies you come across as unlike the previous one where they all drop down they now come in different colors and sizes and can do different things. Blue invaders for example can create an energy beam which they shoot out for about 5 seconds which of course is no problem but if you’re facing off against 20 off them at once, which you sometimes find yourself doing, you will have a problem on your hands trying to survive while killing them. You also can get different weapons from killing a certain number of invaders that each make the game either easier or harder depending on the actual situation you are in.
At the end of each level you will find yourself facing off against the boss and this is really the only time when both screens come in place as the boss uses both the top and bottom screen. Each boss is unique in itself and each require a different way for you to kill them, the game making no use of touchscreen what so ever, you will find it frustrating when a boss kills you as you could have spent a couple of hours trying to reach the boss and depending on how many lives you have it could be all over within a couple of seconds.
Control: The game makes no use of a stylus nor the bottom touchscreen but rather makes use of the left and right buttons on the d-pad to control which way you can move your ship and the other buttons are used to fire off weapons at the invaders. Like previous Space Invader games the controls in this title are also somewhat easy.
Graphics: Visually this game makes major improvements upon the Space Invader franchise though it isn’t the most outstanding title for its graphics they suit the game really well. Having multicoloured invaders and weapons it makes it easier to tell apart what each invader can do. However the background is also visually great to see as it suits the games music really well in the sort of techno genre.
Sound & Music: The game’s soundtrack consists mainly of some sort of techno music which suits the game really well. Although the music is somewhat repetitive it doesn’t get annoying due to the way it is implemented in to the game. When it comes to the actual sound of the game there is a female’s voice that tells you when you’re starting a new level or several other things that isn’t really needed but is a good edition the only other sound you will find is the sound of your lasers and bullets being fired off against the invaders.
Dual Screen Use: The only dual screen use you will encounter is probably when you face off against a boss as they are the only invaders that make use of both the bottom and top screen which does make it more of an interesting challenge to face off against them.
Final Comments: Space Invaders Extreme doesn’t do any major changes to the actual Space Invaders gameplay itself but through the actual graphics, music and small changes it does make it does make you want to pick up this title you could spend hours at a time playing. The difficulty you will find is sometimes a little bit too hard but with single player and multiplayer you are bound to have fun with this title.
Space Invaders Extreme is a dynamic take on the classic title that will enthrall players of all skill levels. While accessing all of its content may take some persistence, the game will nonetheless provide a thrilling experience full of enemy blasting and spectacular effects.
I love a bit of Space Invaders. I have since 1978. Space Invaders Infinity Gene was a great update to a great game. This update looks good too. At least I hope it is.
Taito is set to 'invade' the PC and Steam starting next month with the first of two releases, space invaders Extreme.
I loved Space Invaders extreme on ds..hopefully we will get part 2 and Galaga Legions DX on PC and current gen consoles
Groove Coaster is best in it's homelands arcades. Amazing. Brilliant game though, play the mobile version quite often.
Given the frantic and brief nature of most shmups, the genre is perfect for the portable platform, much like it was perfect for the arcade. For one reason or another, these titles can be rare to find on traditional handhelds and even harder to find actually good ones. On the other hand some of my favorite shmups are exclusive to portables (at least in the United States) so we’ve compiled a list of the portable shmups actually worth playing.
