Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito — Square Enix

Space Invaders Extreme comes to us about six years too late on the whole ‘extreme’ branding of products and lifestyles, but that’s okay because mostly it delivers on its promise, unlike aforementioned fads. Hit us up for the full review.

Space Invaders Extreme is a wonderful mix of the arcade classic with some new school twists. Taito threw bonus rounds, power-ups, and boss battles into the fray while maintaining the distinct feel of the old-school shooter (which actually acts as a double-edged sword in this case, but more on that later.) As in the classic you are but one space pilot fending off hordes of alien invaders. As you know there’s not much in the way of story for this title (yeah we’re giving you the evil eye, Frogger 2 ).

The graphics have been kept intentionally dated except for the backgrounds, and work well with the game mechanics you are given. Those backgrounds though, watch out, people with epilepsy will probably want to avoid this game like that barrel with the hole in it outside that shady bar. All around it’s a good mix of old school 8-bit sprites and stylish title screens and backgrounds.

Gameplay remains the same: you pilot a ship that can move left to right in one dimension on the bottom of the screen, shoot the baddies slowly descending upon you and watch out for the crafty ones that try to break away. The new twist comes in the form of power-ups. You can receive up to four different power-ups, including a bomb shot which affects a large area of enemies, a broad shot which seemingly shoots through several lines of foes, a laser which absolutely annihilates (almost) everything on the screen, and a shield which protects you from enemy fire. Once you learn to destroy groups of similarly colored opponents successively the power-ups literally rain down upon you making the action much more fast paced and varied than its senior. Boss battles break up the monotony that can become the single player experience, but require little more than shooting the blocks that comprise the Space Invader King and clearing a path to his weak spot.

The music is probably the strongest aspect of this game. Whenever you hit an enemy or shoot a bullet out of the sky a certain note is played. This mixes with the soundtrack to create a unique musical experience each time you play, which brings me to a side note: have you ever noticed that old school games sound better when you are really good at them? Perfect example, Super Mario Brothers for the NES. Constantly grabbing those superfluous power-ups, hopping off goomba heads, and collecting a shit ton of coins makes the game more fun because the sounds effects are more pleasant. But if you’re tripping into pits and constantly getting capped by bullet bills, then GG Allin may as well be shitting into the mic. Good sound design is crucial to the gaming experience, and this title got me bobbing my head more than once.

Alas there is one core problem that holds Space Invaders Extreme back. Unless you’re a huge fan of Space Invaders you’re not gonna play this game for more than week. Even with the power-ups and bonus rounds this game is still distinctly Space Invaders and the gameplay becomes monotonous rather quickly. It’s not that Space Invaders is a bad game, it’s just an arcade game, and the general population that walks into an arcade is only going to play a certain game for 10 minutes maximum. My longest Space Invaders Extreme session? 20 minutes. Still Space Invaders , just a little bit more fun.

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