Hands on Space Invaders Extreme

By Spencer . September 24, 2007 . 7:24am

After playing and owning way too many versions of Space Invaders I have been wondering what Taito could do to make Space Invaders Extreme… um… Extreme? Their idea: overhaul the formula and make into a trippy shoot ‘em up.

Space Invaders Extreme contains the lovable retro aliens from the arcade game, in neon colors, and they move much faster. Also you don’t have the luxury of hiding behind walls. These two elements make Space Invaders Extreme a more intense game where you’re rapidly firing shots to eliminate waves of Space Invaders. The first wave comes in your standard Space Invader formation, but soon afterwards new patterns emerge. Some of the patterns contain giant sized invaders too. The new, large aliens take more shots to kill, take up more of the screen and fire blue laser blasts.

You don’t have any allies in Space Invaders Extreme, but you have a few helpful power-ups. The broad shot allows you to shoot a handful of horizontal lines, the laser lets you shoot a powerful vertical beam and the bomb explodes with its blast radius hitting nearby invaders. I found the bomb to be my favorite weapon because it’s the easiest way to hit enemies that are the same color. When you color match invaders you get a score bonus. You also get bonuses for demolishing an entire column with the laser.

The presentation in Space Invaders Extreme is excellent too. It feels retro with its blocky graphics and blinking background. I really enjoyed the eye-catching style and I’m looking forward to more furious Space Invaders action when Taito brings this out in 2008.