celerystalker
06-19-2016, 12:01 AM
94949495949694979498949995009501
When Square-Enix acquired the rights to most of Taito's properties, I was pretty dubious as to what they would be able to do with them. After all, Taito was most prolific as an arcade company, developing and publishing loads of shooters, puzzle game, platformers, and more, whereas Square-Enix has been an RPG house with just occasional side projects. When they began putting out sequels to some of gaming's most beloved and/or cult franchises on the Nintendo DS, I have to admit, I expected flash-quality cash-in garbage. Then, Arkanoid DS happened with loving care and a paddle controller, and it became apparent to me that I was going to want to pay attention, and that's how I came to buy Space Invaders Extreme.
Now, Space Invaders is already Taito's most re-invented, re-releaaed, re-anythinged property, and had already experienced a mediocre attempt on the DS prior to Extreme. However, they finally went and did more than just add a few new themes, colors, and extraneous power-ups and really made a new experience that both preserves the integrity of the concept and modernizes it in ways that make the new iteration compelling on its own merits beyond cashing in on its legacy. New power-ups that change your approach, a new scoring system, new formations, boss battles, bonus levels, and even a rhythm aspect to the game really make for a completely new experience that still feels like good old Space Invaders!
There are now power-ups that give you completely new weapons such as a laser that can cut through multiple invaders with a single shot, an exploder that has a radius effect and can lead to exploding chains, and a wide shot that is exactly what it sounds like. All of these weapons are powerful, but each has situational uses and even detriments. For instance, a new enemy type can reflect the lasers with a mirror, and the exploding shot is slow and only truly effective on clusters of invaders. Having the correct weapon situationally is vital, and the game loves to layer on the challenge by dropping inappropriate weaponry your way, requiring you to dodge it lest you lose your edge. It's a quality system that's well implemented and really changes how you approach each wave.
There is a new scoring system that rewards chaining like colors or large quantities of invaders simultaneously. On top of that, meeting the right scoring conditions and hitting special enemies like mother ships can trigger bonus stages, so they don't always happen at the same part of the game. On top of this the music, which fits the new aesthetic well, also is often a hint. Shooting i time with the background songs, especially in bonus stages, not only fills in the music robustly almost like Rez, but is often the key to the timing with which to fire to perfect the bonus areas. Couple these tweaks with addef boss fights and a defined ending, and what you have is the firat truly worthy successor to Space Invaders for quite some time.
Graphically, the iconic designs of the invaders were kept intact, but new color schemes and a tone akin to newer stuff like Geometry Wars really change things up. The control has a few options, and it is even compatible with the Arkanoid controller if you want to try something different. There are other versions for PSP and download services, but the DS version, which has the controller compatability and utilizes both screens for creative patterns, is the definitive play in my book, and it also scored a sequel on the system.
Played it?
When Square-Enix acquired the rights to most of Taito's properties, I was pretty dubious as to what they would be able to do with them. After all, Taito was most prolific as an arcade company, developing and publishing loads of shooters, puzzle game, platformers, and more, whereas Square-Enix has been an RPG house with just occasional side projects. When they began putting out sequels to some of gaming's most beloved and/or cult franchises on the Nintendo DS, I have to admit, I expected flash-quality cash-in garbage. Then, Arkanoid DS happened with loving care and a paddle controller, and it became apparent to me that I was going to want to pay attention, and that's how I came to buy Space Invaders Extreme.
Now, Space Invaders is already Taito's most re-invented, re-releaaed, re-anythinged property, and had already experienced a mediocre attempt on the DS prior to Extreme. However, they finally went and did more than just add a few new themes, colors, and extraneous power-ups and really made a new experience that both preserves the integrity of the concept and modernizes it in ways that make the new iteration compelling on its own merits beyond cashing in on its legacy. New power-ups that change your approach, a new scoring system, new formations, boss battles, bonus levels, and even a rhythm aspect to the game really make for a completely new experience that still feels like good old Space Invaders!
There are now power-ups that give you completely new weapons such as a laser that can cut through multiple invaders with a single shot, an exploder that has a radius effect and can lead to exploding chains, and a wide shot that is exactly what it sounds like. All of these weapons are powerful, but each has situational uses and even detriments. For instance, a new enemy type can reflect the lasers with a mirror, and the exploding shot is slow and only truly effective on clusters of invaders. Having the correct weapon situationally is vital, and the game loves to layer on the challenge by dropping inappropriate weaponry your way, requiring you to dodge it lest you lose your edge. It's a quality system that's well implemented and really changes how you approach each wave.
There is a new scoring system that rewards chaining like colors or large quantities of invaders simultaneously. On top of that, meeting the right scoring conditions and hitting special enemies like mother ships can trigger bonus stages, so they don't always happen at the same part of the game. On top of this the music, which fits the new aesthetic well, also is often a hint. Shooting i time with the background songs, especially in bonus stages, not only fills in the music robustly almost like Rez, but is often the key to the timing with which to fire to perfect the bonus areas. Couple these tweaks with addef boss fights and a defined ending, and what you have is the firat truly worthy successor to Space Invaders for quite some time.
Graphically, the iconic designs of the invaders were kept intact, but new color schemes and a tone akin to newer stuff like Geometry Wars really change things up. The control has a few options, and it is even compatible with the Arkanoid controller if you want to try something different. There are other versions for PSP and download services, but the DS version, which has the controller compatability and utilizes both screens for creative patterns, is the definitive play in my book, and it also scored a sequel on the system.
Played it?