Space Invaders Extreme just came out of nowhere for me. I guess I forgot it was the 30th anniversary for this game — a game so popular that it caused a national coin shortage in Japan! What is it about flying pooping alien crabs that just draws you back for more? Today, I proudly bring you a review of this classic remake or sequel or whatever. Seriously, what’s wrong with calling this Space Invaders 2? It has enough to stand out of the shadow of the original classic.
The basic gameplay remains the same. Alien Nuclear Pooping Crabs are vandalizing windshields all over the galaxy, and it’s up to you to vaporize this menace. You can only move left and right along the bottom of the screen while you shoot and dodge nuclear poop. A space ship might fly over occasionally for you to shoot to score extra points, or take you to a bonus round — which you can score extra points. Wave after wave of aliens descend upon you, and if they reach the bottom, you lose a life. Of course you also lose a life if the poop hits your ship.
First difference you’ll notice is that you no longer have the McDonald’s arches for protection. You can neutralize incoming fire with your own beam instead. If you manage to shoot down 4 of the same colored aliens in a row, a weapon power up will appear. You better be quick, because these weapons only last for a limited amount of time. With a power up system like this, you want to maintain your weapon while killing the right colors at the same time. It’s going to be harder because the power ups also kills more effectively, and you can easily kill the wrong color, thus destroying your color chain for more power ups. It’s a double edged sword. Our little friends also have a few new maneuvers up their sleeves — uh tentacles. They’ll dive bomb, rotate, use shields, and just plain being a pain in the butt. Just when you think you figured them out, they pull out some new tricks, maintaining the game’s difficulty. At the end of the stage, you encounter a boss fight. Once you win, you’re ranked based on your score.
The new additions really help make the gameplay much more addictive. I’m always trying to replay and find new ways to score more points. Bonus stages can be unlocked, and there’s always a new challenge. I’ve probably seen more than 10 different types of bonus stages, and I probably still haven’t seen them all.
Throughout the game, you’ll most likely be focusing your attention of the same 4 or 5 color aliens to notice the backgrounds. The backgrounds are dark with swirling LSD inspired images, while each press of the fire button causes a sound effect that blends with the rhythm of the techno soundtrack. The presentation’s not the greatest, but that’s trivial compare to the rest of the package.
Space Invaders Extreme is a welcomed update that keeps the spirit of the original even with all the added features. This is one of those games where you can pick up and play for a few minute, or play for a long session. You’ll just keep coming back for more. Outside of the main mode, you have other challenges to tackle, or just play for more points. This is 20 bucks well spent. I’m very curious as to how they’ll top this with the upcoming WiiWare game.
Graphics: 52%
Pros: Colorful aliens and no slow down in intense fights.
Cons: There’s not much to look at.
Gameplay: 75%
Pros: Lots of fun and surprising amount of depth despite the short review. Good replay value and extra modes.
Cons: Could be repetitive for non-shooter fans. Also a bit easy.
Sound: 55%
Pros: Funky techno soundtrack.
Cons: Not the most memorable music.
Controls: 79%
Pros: Simple controls.
Cons: Have to tap like crazy, but the firing rate response is still sluggish.
Story: 200%
Pros: The highest score for plot on this site’s history…
Cons: …for a category that isn’t worth crap in this game.
Recommendation: Fans of the old school classic will enjoy this. People looking for a good budget game should also have a look and see. If you like fancy graphics and plot, you won’t find such a thing here.
Overall: 78% Delicious
