The Space Invaders Extreme thread

[G-Boobie]

I picked this up for twenty bucks today on lunch break, and it's awesome!

I remember playing Space Invaders on the old Commodore 64 back in the day, so I have fond memories of the franchise, but the core gameplay is pretty stale by now: Space Invaders is something you respect and admire on the condition that you don't actually have to play it. A friend whom I trust insisted I try it anyway, and I'm glad I did; this is an actual evolution of the Space Invader concept and I think it's a huge leap in the right direction. Think Pac Man Championship Edition and you aren't far off. The gameplay is basically the same as the original Space Invaders, but with all kinds of excellent power ups, bonus levels, and hidden stuff.

There are boss encounters where you have to shoot giant Space Invaders apart pixel by pixel. There is a laser power up that can obliterate entire blocks of enemies in seconds. There are UFO's that take you to hidden mini levels if you hit them. Basically, it's great.

It's twenty bucks new, I think it's on both PSP and DS (I picked up the DS version because I'm nerd enough to seriously consider importing the DS paddle attachment) and my local Gamestop had five or six of each version(much to my surprise)... I don't know why Square Enix would ship enough Space Invaders to go around but completely skimp on The World Ends With You, but that's another thread. The point is, it's available and cheap.

Taito really hit it out of the park with this one. Consider this one highly recommended.

[josekortez]

I want to bite, but I don't know if the U.S. versions of Arkanoid and Space Invaders Extreme will work with the Japanese paddle controller, so I might bite on the Japanese versions of the game. Does anybody know if the controller support has been disabled in the U.S. games?

[scooby105]

From what I've read, the paddle works with the US versions.

[Bojay1997]

From what I've read, the paddle works with the US versions.

Correct. I have personally tested it.

[NE146]

I remember playing Space Invaders on the old Commodore 64 back in the day, so I have fond memories of the franchise, but the core gameplay is pretty stale by now: Space Invaders is something you respect and admire on the condition that you don't actually have to play it.

Well if you only played the Commodore 64 version, of course that was missing a lot of the core gameplay aspects of the game that all arcade players knew about. I can still play the original Space Invaders to this day! I love it It's more of a strategic shooter and once you know the tricks, it gets fun to do them. I'll tell you what has stale gameplay, and that's Galaxian... and yes there's a world of difference between the "move left/right & shoot simplicity of Galaxian, vs. the deliberate strategy you gotta bring to a good session of Space Invaders/Space Invaders pt 2, especially in the later stages.

But that being said, I totally agree on Space Invaders Extreme. It's an awesome update. I imported the japanese version but now I gotta get the U.S. version just to complete my collection My favorite thing to play on it is the RANKED mode. The difficutly in that ramps up nicely

[Cryomancer]

I am a fan of Space Invaders 95: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojw7r60GeWM

This one also sounds promising, I'll have to give it a try.

[Sudo]

I've been playing the DS version a bit and it's pretty fun. I'm on level 4 so far, and it's getting progressively harder. The boss battles and myriad of bonus rounds are probably my favorite parts of the game.

[heybtbm]

Nobody has this game in stock. WTH?

[Chuplayer]

Does the paddle fit in fat DS systems?

[PapaStu]

Nope. Designed exclusively for the DS Lite.

[Vectorman0]

Nope. Designed exclusively for the DS Lite.

Are you sure? I haven't played mine in a couple months, but I swear I remember it sticking out a little bit while in my DS Lite (meaning it could fit in an original DS).

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm picking this one up tomorrow for PSP. Looks awesome.

[WizDawg]

I picked this up yesterday and it looks like I already found a bug in the game. On Level 2 before the Boss stage I died and killed the last invader at the same time. I continued on to the Boss but he/she/it never showed up. The music played and my ship was there and I was able to shoot but no Boss. WTF????

[meancode]

I want to bite, but I don't know if the U.S. versions of Arkanoid and Space Invaders Extreme will work with the Japanese paddle controller, so I might bite on the Japanese versions of the game. Does anybody know if the controller support has been disabled in the U.S. games?

They do. I confirmed this with my Sqeenix rep when they were announced and have played them both with the paddle controller now that I have the US versions.

[modest9797]

Space invaders is one of my favorite classic games and I can't wait to pick up EXTREME!!

[ubersaurus]

Take note: NCSX is back in stock of DS paddle controllers. Hit em up before they're sold out!

[Bloodreign]

Bought the PSP version and am simply amazed a modern title actually has me hooked on it, I usually play nothing but older games (the original Space Invaders and it's sequels too), but this one feels like retro with a fresh coat of paint that just shines in the sun.

Brilliantly designed game, can't go wrong with either the PSP or DS versions of the game.

[heybtbm]

I picked up the last copy (DS version) at Target yesterday. Pretty cool game. Once I got the hang of it, I blasted through the first level completely kicking ass...or so I thought. After all those points, I only got a "B" ranking. Easily worth $20.

[namzep]

It's definitely on my to pick up list but I have such a huge backlog that I'm trying not to pick up and new stuff to play right now. Translation: I'll probably end up picking it up next month.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I FINALLY popped Space Invaders Extreme into my PSP at NAVA today.

FUCKING.

AMAZING.

If Space Invaders ever had a problem as a series it was speed and repetition / lack of variety.

This fixes both of those issues while at the same time throwing in some of the best audio/visual flare this side of Lumines.

Space Invaders Extreme is the bastard son of Space Invaders and Lumines.

What the hell are you waiting for? GO. BUY. NOW!