Avid Gamer writes: "Extreme seems like an odd, almost desperate, choice of subheading for a game which is older than a fair proportion of its target audience. Like an accountant with a ponytail or a headmaster with a Harley, it smacks of a misguided attempt to deny the march of time and prove that the oldies can still cut it with the kids. At least the marketing team resisted the urge to resort to 'cool' spelling; I'm not sure I could've brought myself to play Space Invaders Xtreme at all.
I generally find it pretty difficult to get excited about retro compilations and rehashed 'classic' video games. Sure, there are plenty of older games that have stood the test of time and still merit playing today, but paying for old games in new packaging smells awfully like profiteering rather than emergent software design. The PSP has been well served with this type of release, in the form of attempted rejuvenation (Frogger, Sonic, Alien Syndrome), bulk-buy compilations (Capcom classics, the EA bundle, Mega Drive collection) and plain old re-releases (all the past final fantasies, Sid Meyer's Pirates!), and whilst some have been moderately successful they hardly suggest cutting edge gaming. It was with some trepidation, then, that I prepared to fight off horizontal lines of pixelated aliens."
