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IGN Review of Space Invaders Extreme
What a way to celebrate an anniversary. Taito's Space Invaders turns 30 this year, an absolutely huge milestone for such a young market. Clearly the company really wanted to give its property a huge send-off for its thirtieth birthday, so enter Space Invaders Extreme: the 17 bazillionth remake of the classic shooter. It may seem like "yet another remake" but honestly, it's without a doubt the greatest update to the franchise ever created. It's energetic and addictive, and does an absolutely fantastic job retaining the old-school charm of the original 1978 classic.
Those pixilated aliens from space have swooped in for another invasion, but this time they've brought the fight into an oversaturated world of sight and sound. The core mechanic remains the same: slide left and right along the bottom of the screen and blast the aliens in seemingly endless wave after wave of formation marching. But Space Invaders Extreme takes it all to the next level by injecting a certain energy to it all: a steady rhythm pulses a background beat while trippy motion backgrounds set a dynamic stage.
Space Invaders Extreme adds an awesome strategic element to the mix: destroying same-colored enemies in a four hit combo will drop a weapon power-up based upon that specific color. Green aliens drop a spread gun, red aliens release a cluster bomb. And blue aliens offer up a satisfying extended-fire laser that can wipe out aliens in a long side-to-side swoop motion. This power-up idea is something inspired by the cool Activision remake produced on the PlayStation, N64, and original Game Boy, and it's been implemented incredibly well in Space Invaders Extreme. Taito's designers take the element one step further: players now control when the UFO wanders across the top of the screen by shooting a combo of combos: score four red and four blue aliens without breaking the chain and a bonus point UFO will zoom above the field of aliens. Shoot that and you'll jump to challenging bonus rounds that, if successful, send you into a "Frenzy Mode" that can really bump up your score.
Both the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable have the same core game design and play almost identically. The PSP version gets the edge in visuals as the designers throw a bit more panache in Space Invader Extreme's special effects: aliens swoop in smoothly and gameplay jumps from level to level with cool transitional effects. But surprisingly, the Nintendo DS version kicks the pants out of the PSP edition in nearly every other department: not only does the heavy beat soundtrack pop a bit better on the DS, the multiplayer options are way more fleshed out. The PSP edition has two player competitive modes, but you'll need to find a friend with a second copy of the game. The DS version supports game sharing through the system's Download Play mode, and it also goes far beyond that with support for internet play: go online and you can upload your top score to the Worldwide Rankings board as well as play random strangers and friends. PSP's wireless link is kept to local play.
And we can't leave out one of the coolest features of the Nintendo DS game: Paddle support. In Japan, Taito produced a weighted knob peripheral for the handheld that plugs into the bottom of the system. Use it in Space Invaders Extreme and you can play the game with slow or quick twisting flicks, adding another level of intensity to the already intense gameplay. Granted players who have the knob have the upperhand against those that do not, so the designers smartly limited the support to the normal single player progression; you won't be able to use it for the Worldwide Rankings Mode or in multiplayer competition, and any high score you earn will be noted with a "P" next to it. The Paddle Controller is currently not available in the states but the North American version retains the Paddle support. Definitely import one if you have the means.
If there is a downside to Space Invaders Extreme, it'll be in its basic game mechanic: Space Invaders Extreme is just a bunch of left, right, and shoot. But we're reluctant to say that there's anything wrong with this great classic remake: it's amazing to experience how much power it has to suck you in. It's as powerful a contemporary remake as Namco's awesome Pac-Man: Championship Edition is on the Xbox 360.
©2008-06-13, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Those pixilated aliens from space have swooped in for another invasion, but this time they've brought the fight into an oversaturated world of sight and sound. The core mechanic remains the same: slide left and right along the bottom of the screen and blast the aliens in seemingly endless wave after wave of formation marching. But Space Invaders Extreme takes it all to the next level by injecting a certain energy to it all: a steady rhythm pulses a background beat while trippy motion backgrounds set a dynamic stage.
Space Invaders Extreme adds an awesome strategic element to the mix: destroying same-colored enemies in a four hit combo will drop a weapon power-up based upon that specific color. Green aliens drop a spread gun, red aliens release a cluster bomb. And blue aliens offer up a satisfying extended-fire laser that can wipe out aliens in a long side-to-side swoop motion. This power-up idea is something inspired by the cool Activision remake produced on the PlayStation, N64, and original Game Boy, and it's been implemented incredibly well in Space Invaders Extreme. Taito's designers take the element one step further: players now control when the UFO wanders across the top of the screen by shooting a combo of combos: score four red and four blue aliens without breaking the chain and a bonus point UFO will zoom above the field of aliens. Shoot that and you'll jump to challenging bonus rounds that, if successful, send you into a "Frenzy Mode" that can really bump up your score.
Both the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable have the same core game design and play almost identically. The PSP version gets the edge in visuals as the designers throw a bit more panache in Space Invader Extreme's special effects: aliens swoop in smoothly and gameplay jumps from level to level with cool transitional effects. But surprisingly, the Nintendo DS version kicks the pants out of the PSP edition in nearly every other department: not only does the heavy beat soundtrack pop a bit better on the DS, the multiplayer options are way more fleshed out. The PSP edition has two player competitive modes, but you'll need to find a friend with a second copy of the game. The DS version supports game sharing through the system's Download Play mode, and it also goes far beyond that with support for internet play: go online and you can upload your top score to the Worldwide Rankings board as well as play random strangers and friends. PSP's wireless link is kept to local play.
And we can't leave out one of the coolest features of the Nintendo DS game: Paddle support. In Japan, Taito produced a weighted knob peripheral for the handheld that plugs into the bottom of the system. Use it in Space Invaders Extreme and you can play the game with slow or quick twisting flicks, adding another level of intensity to the already intense gameplay. Granted players who have the knob have the upperhand against those that do not, so the designers smartly limited the support to the normal single player progression; you won't be able to use it for the Worldwide Rankings Mode or in multiplayer competition, and any high score you earn will be noted with a "P" next to it. The Paddle Controller is currently not available in the states but the North American version retains the Paddle support. Definitely import one if you have the means.
If there is a downside to Space Invaders Extreme, it'll be in its basic game mechanic: Space Invaders Extreme is just a bunch of left, right, and shoot. But we're reluctant to say that there's anything wrong with this great classic remake: it's amazing to experience how much power it has to suck you in. It's as powerful a contemporary remake as Namco's awesome Pac-Man: Championship Edition is on the Xbox 360.
©2008-06-13, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved