Shooter games aren't my favorite genre, but when you've been a gamer as long as I have, you learn to have an appreciation for games like Space Invaders and Asteroids. After spending many hours on these games, it excites me to see what kind of modern twists can be made to this classic.
Gameplay
Space Invaders Extreme is a polished remake of the original arcade classic. Only instead of the standard hiding behind destructible walls and the space ships move slowly towards the bottom of the screen, this time there are no more barriers and the enemies come at you in more waves than you can imagine. The object of this game is to shoot wave after wave of alien ships without being killed. You control a ship of your own that moves along a horizontal axis at the bottom of the screen. It can fire missiles at the alien ships but the alien ships can also fire back. Some can also kill you by reaching the bottom of the screen.
Space Invaders Extreme also has some features not seen in the original game. One of these is the idea of chaining, weapon powerups and boss fights. Chaining is when you blow up multiple enemy ships of the same color. After you hit four enemy ships of a common color in a row it drops a block of the same color. These blocks can be picked up to upgrade your weapons for a short period of time. This is critical to surviving in this game later on. Weapon upgrades allow you to clear wave after wave of enemies swiftly before they have a chance to attack. After clearing 10 waves of enemies you face off against a boss. Bosses are tougher than your average wave of enemies. There are bonus rounds that appear when you hit a multicolored UFO. This is where you must complete an objective where its successful completion will result in Fever Time. Fever Time is where you have a very powerful weapon for a longer period of time and can earn a higher multiplier of points as a result. Each of these features offers a deeper gameplay dynamic than the original game, but unfortunately it's still a stale game despite these additions.
Space Invaders Extreme offers many different gameplay modes. The single player campaign pits you against the alien ships. There's a record mode which allows you to play the same single player game but with less forgiving rules. The benefit is that your score is posted on a set of leaderboards against players from all over the world. There also a Wifi co-op mode which allows you to play cooperatively against someone via the internet. If you do not want to play via the internet there's a local network play along with a download play so you do not need a second cartridge, just a second DS to play cooperatively.
While the multiplayer does add a new dimension to the gameplay, Space Invaders Extreme comes off as a bland but polished spin on a classic game. As you progress further along in the game, it gets progressively harder. It's not hard like
Ikaruga, but it'll provide most gamers a decent challenge. Beyond that the game really develops in a predictable way. It isn't like
Geometry Wars where enemies seem to appear out of random and the action is so fast-paced that you're head is spinning by the end. With Space Invaders Extreme the ship moves slowly, the shot rate is slow, and the weapons are few and short-lived. With other challenging games you're given the ability to do some powerful things, and the game just throws everything including the kitchen sink at you. With Space Invaders Extreme, it doesn't throw the kitchen sink at you, but you're left to fend off the incoming assault with what amounts to a pop-gun. While that's challenging, it's also frustrating in your lack of power and flexibility. It doesn't foster creativity and it ultimately dooms the gameplay.
Controls
The controls are really basic. The dpad moves your ship along the horizontal axis while and one of the face buttons shoot your weapons. It's really that simple, just like the original Space Invaders. Sadly, the responsiveness of the ship is similar to that of the original Space Invaders too. The ship moves slowly and while it does change directions well (except for some bonus games where you're often on "ice"), it just doesn't move quick enough to feel like you're really in charge. Space Invaders Extreme does support the paddle controller add-on that was bundles with Arkanoid. It's a nice feature though it would have been nice to see the touch screen used a little more creatively.
Graphics
The graphics build on a foundation of basic large block sprites as seen in the original Space Invaders game. But Space Invaders Extreme takes that to a new level by mixing in HUD displays to track your chains and score multipliers. In addition there are multicolored displays and impressive animations. The backgrounds are very colorful almost to the point of being hypnotizing in their blending colors. This presentation really makes for a very polished experience and presents the game in a very Rez-like way.
Sound
The audio I think is Space Invaders Extreme's hallmark feature. The game attempts to recreate a Rez-like atmosphere in the audio department as well. In doing so it has a nice techno soundtrack where your shots act as notes played from a keyboard synthesizer. Each stage has its own electronic audio track, but the keyboard synthesizer as played by your ship's shooting pattern still plays the same three notes in succession. It works and sounds surprisingly good, but it would have been nice to see more variation, especially if it's not tied to the stage. In all the audio does a great job of presenting Space Invaders in a new and fresh light.
Replay Value
Sadly, there's little replay value in Space Invaders Extreme. In single player mode you see certain patterns and it's often an exercise in adapting to those patterns while avoiding various objects headed your direction. In multiplayer mode it's the same patterns as well, but having another player does help to mix things up. But when playing with the same buddy it can get monotonous because you develop your own techniques for clearing each wave of enemies. I found the most replay value in attacking the Wifi leaderboards. I often feel as if the videogame scoreboard is an underrated way of adding value to a game. The chaining really makes this a worthwhile endeavor.
In the end Space Invaders Extreme is a game with great amount of polish but with little substance behind it. The idea of a slow moving ship with limited and short-lived powers really makes for a bland gaming experience. Sure it's a hard game, but it's not as rewarding as a hard game that allows you to show off your moves. Its biggest redeeming value is the atmosphere it provides through the audio and visual departments. It's not quite on a Rez level, but fans of that game would probably enjoy Space Invaders Extreme. Others will probably want to give this game a pass. Geometry Wars Galaxies and Bangai-O Spirits are far and away better shooter games.
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