“But it’s just Space Invaders!” Yell everyone, glacing down the page a bit at our score, which, for everyone who’s avoiding looking at it before reading this opening, is rather good and sets the tone of the review to be somewhat more possitive then it could have been. “It’s old, dusty, and there isn’t anything new that can be done with it without ruining it!” Erm, kinda, yeah. That’s why Square-Enix (1) HAVN’T brought us an old Arcade machine, but something much, much better.
We’ve had Space Invaders on DS Before, ni the rather lame Space Invaders Revolution, but not like this. Here we get Space Invaders played through Awsome-O-Vision, with amazing (In our opinon, anyway) Retro-Style Graphics, a superb soundtrack (It alters with every shot you fire, every alien you kill, and every time you die- An amazing touch which is one of the games main selling points, and rightly so.) and a brilliant new Online High-Scores table. No longer are your best scores limited to Arcade-Goers in Hull, a small patch of London, a service station, or where ever you use to play Space Invaders, now ‘Retro-Heads’ can get updates from an ever-evolving, always changing leader board which is far easier to use then, say, that in Geometry Wars DS (Or the Wii version, for that matter(2)) and, trust us, it’s a lot more fun too.)
There’s also a rather good Multi-Player mode, and unlocking all Levels (Even though there isn’t too many) can take a while. The only real problem is the lack of modes, but that wasn’t a biggy back then, and so it shouldn’t realy be one now. The calm Female voice who reads out all the menus and stuff is also very well-done, and a great touch on Taito (The developer)’s behalf.
Frankly, to say you can pick it up for next to nothing (Or even nothing if you look around hard enough, we managed to find a copy in a Two-For-One sale, along with many other quality DS Titles) means we can’t recommend it enough- You havn’t lived untill you’ve played Space Invaders, and you havn’t played Space Invaders untill you’ve gone Extreme.
86%
----FOOTNOTES-----
1 Yes, Square-Enix. They are responsible for publishing it over here in the west. Blimey, a bit of a change from the usual RPGs, isn’t it?
2 In early Febuary, the top score in the UK on Geometry Wars Galaxies was owned by TR. FACT!
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.
