Toronto Thumbs

BYTE-SIZE REVIEW
Space Invaders Extreme

Space Invaders Extreme is as good a remake as one can hope for. Like Pac-Man Championship Edition, this remake has a pumping techno backbeat with brightly coloured sprites as enemies and power-ups. The action is all superimposed over a stylized video background, and each stage has its own video effects.

Like the original, players control a lone gunship defending Earth from an oncoming alien horde. Rows and columns of Invaders shuffle from left to right. When they reach the end of the screen, they drop down one row. Should an Invader reach all the way to the bottom of the screen, the player loses a life.

The “Extreme” portion of the game kicks in via its sharply increasing difficulty, which speed is partly to blame for. Enemies attack in various patterns. Shooting down four enemies of the same colour consecutively will make the fourth enemy drop a power-up, from laser upgrades to shields which bounce enemy shots back at them. With newfound firepower, more strings of enemies can be taken down and they, in turn, drop more power-ups. Because power-ups are time-limited, it’s therefore important to keep on firing at similarly coloured enemies to keep the power-ups coming.

Each stage of the game has bonus stages, accessible by successfully downing special enemies. These bonus stages offer a break from the main action while introducing even more hectic game-play. For instance, players might have to shoot down 16 UFO-type enemies within the allotted time.

Meeting the challenges in bonus stages triggers “Fever Time” and kicks players back into main game. Fever Time gives the player stronger laser firepower for a limited time. In addition to the bonus stages, certain UFO enemies will trigger a roulette mini game where players can win power-ups or extra lives.

Each round also has a boss enemy, which can either be one big baddie or be a formation of similarly difficult enemies to overcome. Some of them can be downright nasty, and getting a game over during a boss fight will result in being dropped back at the start of the level. There’s no shortage of challenge in this tiny cart, and if you conquer the “story” mode, you can always take the fight online to face off against player around the world.

For fans of classic arcade shoot-em-ups, Space Invaders Extreme is a must-have.

Posted in Byte-Size Reviews, DS, PSP |