Space Invaders Extreme

"Finally, a remake worthy of the name Space Invaders!"

To be perfectly honest, the mere thought of someone trying to "update" one of the classic games generally disgusts me, and it does so for two reasons. First, it's an obvious cash grab, but secondly, and more significantly, the original game tends to get dragged through the mud in the process. First, there's the "next-gen" graphics and sound that are almost never as appealing as the original. Next, there's a mountain of utterly worthless extra features used to falsely claim greater replay value, and therefore a higher price tag. From there it's a slippery slope towards completely retooling the game into something that neither resembles the original, nor is original enough to hold it's own. Most of the time, my only hope is finding and/or unlocking some kind of "classic mode," where the game I fell in love with can be enjoyed in a relatively untainted form.

The reason I bring all this up is to emphasize that for me to actually like a game that retools one of the classics is a very big deal. Enter Space Invaders. This game isn't just a classic game, it is The classic game. Oh sure, there were other games that might have come first, but SI was the one that caused a national coin shortage in Japan, among other legends. The arcade game was excellent, but the port for the 2600 was very nearly perfect, and some would argue was integral to the success of the console. So where do you go from perfect? There was a reasonably decent port for the Gameboy, but by and large, most attempts to re-capture the magic have been nothing short of embarrassing.

30 years have gone by, and now Taito brings us Space Invaders Extreme. A game that not only retools the formula, it drastically alters the entire game, at times into something that only faintly resembles the original. While this is normally would be a strike against it, it turns out that a little "New Coke" might have been just what the doctor ordered. For all of the flash, hype, and refusal to mimic it's big brother, this game finally pulls off what us Space Invaders fans have been waiting for all these years, a booty kickin' sequel!

Before we get into the big glaring differences, let's go over the big glaring similarities. Earth is under attack from a horde of... you guessed it... space invaders. Wave after wave of aliens are slowly advancing in formation, and it's your job to gun them down before they get a chance to land. You will have to avoid return fire while you're at it. Also, as the number of aliens in any given wave starts to go down, the rest of them will start moving faster. You can only fire one shot at a time, which means that every shot that doesn't take down an alien wastes a great deal of precious time. Oh, and UFOs occasionally fly by, but are good for nothing other than points. It's about right here that the similarities start to go astray.

The first major difference gameplay-wise that hardcore SI fans will notice is the lack of protective barriers between you and the aliens. This adds greatly to the overall sense of urgency. Aliens seem that much closer at all times, and there's nowhere for you to hide when things start to get too intense, which they constantly do. Instead of each level containing a single, identical wave of graphically different but otherwise identical invaders, players must now deal with several smaller waves per level, each one with different patterns of movement, and aliens that behave in different ways. Some aliens can reflect your attacks, some fly straight at you, others tempt you to fire at them, only to take you with them in the ensuing explosion. Then there are huge aliens, as well as tiny ones. While this alone adds to the challenge, it's the way that the waves are arranged, allowing for the aliens to interact with each other in clever ways, that makes them so much more threatening.

Clear enough waves and you're taken to a boss fight. Bosses are pretty strong, but the fight itself is less intense than the preceding waves. Once you've figured out their pattern, the bosses are pretty easy to take down. Instead of the game going on forever, there are 5 levels, though more (and harder) stages can be unlocked by performing particularly well.

Given that these aliens have a whole new arsenal of toys to make life difficult (and not to mention short) for you, you now have various ways of powering up your cannon. Collecting a certain number of points will cause an automatic upgrade that lasts until you get killed, and taking out four same-coloured aliens in a row causes them to drop an "item." Collect these for things like bombs, lasers or even shields, all of which last for a limited amount of time. Taking out another four same-coloured aliens immediately afterwards will cause a flashing UFO to appear. Shoot it down in order to play a quick mini game. These games usually involve hitting a certain number of targets in a short period of time, and getting hit takes a few seconds off the clock. Completing the objective takes you into "fever time" in which you temporarily become extremely powerful, and can use this time to mow down enemies and collect tons of bonus points. There's also "roulette" UFO's that let you fire upon a spinning wheel of bonuses like points, 1-ups, and whatnot.

The controls are fairly simple, you move with the D-pad and shoot with either A or B. You can also use hold down either shoulder button to save your current powerup item for when you might need it. It's a nice touch, but there's rarely a chance to put it to use. Control is also fairly tight, and movement is a a decent pace. Slightly faster than the original, but just enough to keep up with the action. Incidentally, while the wave after wave of aliens without pause between them can make the game "seem" a lot faster than the original, it actually preserves the overall pace quite well. In both games, you can easily be fooled into thinking that mashing the fire button will give you an edge, when in fact, it's the opposite approach (that of patience, concentration and accuracy) is generally the better course of action. Perhaps it was in keeping this pacing intact that the game was able to radically change so many other aspects and still feel like a Space Invaders game.

There aren't many different modes of play, and I've yet to find any "classic mode" kicking around in there. The heart of the game is Arcade Mode, which is fairly standard. You have so many lives with which to clear all the stages, and it's game over when they run out. You can save your game and continue from the beginning of the farthest stage you've reached. Ranking mode is identical, but without saving and/or continuing, giving you the chance to see just how many points you can rack up on a "single quarter." Your high score in ranking can be displayed online via Wi-Fi. Stage mode let's you pick from any one stage you've already beaten and try for a high score.

There's also a fairly innovative multiplayer setting, in which you and either a friend/foe or computer opponent play competitively. You each start with identical waves coming at you, but you can send aliens you've killed over to your opponent's game by taking down one of the UFOs. The winner is the person who survives the onslaught the longest. If you're stuck without an opponent, you can get some practice rounds against the computer, though he's not much of an adversary.

What really makes this game stand out, however, and undoubtedly the first thing you will notice upon playing are the hallucination-inducing graphics. While much of the sprites and game elements look deliberately flat and low-tech, the backgrounds contain swirling layers of moving images that need to be seen to be believed. You can go ahead and check out the screenshots, but it's really only a mere glimpse of the kind of visual chaos that goes on while you're trying to focus on the action. The whole thing is so massively busy - and not to mention absolutely gorgeous - that you have the option of turning them off.

Now, I'm not usually the type to make a fuss about graphics, especially on extraneous things like backgrounds, but I really can't stress enough just how stunning this game looks. At this point, several DS games have made pretty good use of pre-rendered cutscenese, 3D graphics, and other visual treats far more advanced than what's going on here, but they just don't come close in terms of the overall effect that this game creates. The closest thing I can think of would be Rez.

Continuing it's assault on your senses - as well as it's similarity to Rez - the music is a non-stop rave. Driving dance music pumps on in the background, and each of the sound effects act as additional instruments in the mix. This means that, at times, they synch up with the beat instead of what's happening onscreen. On paper, you'd think that this would be distracting, but it isn't. The music itself if quite excellent, and that's coming from someone who doesn't care much for rave music. In either case, it fits with the "wild party" mood of the game, and keeps everything moving.

One of the only major criticisms with the the game's presentation is that the top screen is mostly just wasted space, save for boss fights, mini-games and multiplayer. To be more precise, the term "bunch of useless gauges" keeps coming up. In fact, those gauges are filled with all kinds of very useful information, it's just that you don't really get much of a chance to put them to use of account of the non-stop action taking place on the bottom screen. This, I think, is for the best, as the game would be far too disorienting if we had to play on both screens all the time. Incidentally, for the moments when you do play on both, there is an option to adjust the size of the blind spot created by the gap between screens. This is a great idea in theory, but a little more user friendliness would have helped the implementation.

If you are a fan of the original Space Invaders and are reading this, there's a good chance you're shaking your head in disgust at the thought of such a classic game being treated like this. I assure you, I was skeptical too, but all doubts were brushed aside when I played it. There have been many games with the name Space Invaders on the box, but only a select handful have been worthy of being held up beside the original. Space Invaders Extreme is one such game. If you get the chance to play it, I urge you to do so.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/08, Updated 06/29/08

Game Release: Space Invaders Extreme (US, 06/17/08)