DS PREVIEW
Hands on with Space Invaders Extreme on DS
A new take on a 30-year-old classic |
It's the 30th anniversary of Space Invaders, the arcade franchise that can't have slipped unplayed past even the most ardent anti-gamer. And to celebrate, Square Enix is publishing a funked up version of the top-down shooter complete with new bonus stages, power-ups, and glossy new graphics. Debuting at the recent Nintendo Media Summit, we took the opportunity to run through the game's main arcade mode.
Space Invaders Extreme plays exactly like previous iterations of the series: controlling a laser-equipped spaceship, you blast the invaders scrolling down from the top of the screen. The D-pad lets you position your ship horizontally along the bottom of the touchscreen, while jamming on the A button fires your laser. Easy enough, but the 'extreme' part comes into play when facing huge numbers of fast foes, new power-ups, and bonus rounds.
Dispatching the 8-bit enemies isn't always as easy as firing off blasts from your miniature spaceship. Advanced invaders possess shields that guard them from incoming blasts, for one, and only by bombarding their forward facing shields can you break through and defeat them. Dealing with multiple shielded foes makes for a hectic battle, since you need to slide across the touchscreen, breaking their defences with enough time left to actually kill them.
Fortunately, new power-ups give you an edge. Killing four like-coloured invaders triggers a power-up to descend down the screen. For example, destroy four red invaders without exterminating a different coloured invader and a red bomb power-up falls from their remains. Other power-ups include a laser taken from blue invaders, spread shot from their green chums, and a shield from the white variety. It's a simple concept, but one that requires tactical foresight to pick which power-ups you want and how to go about defeating invaders in the correct order to access them.
Perform well by racking up invader kills and you can trigger bonus rounds. These mid-stage mini-games grant opportunities to boost your score and earn further power-ups. Gain access to such a round and the screen clears for a new set of enemies that have to be destroyed within a given amount of time to earn the reward.
Joining bonus rounds, roulette wheels randomly pop up bestowing you with a temporary weapon upgrade. There's no question that the addition of these mini-games adds frenzy to the game, but we're not sold on them. They break up the core action, which we feel is entertaining enough on its own.
Along with the main single-player game, Space Invaders Extreme supports head-to-head multiplayer via a local wireless connection. Both the DS version we played, as well as the PSP iteration, will offer this.
Actually, we ought to mention the only difference between the two versions will likely be graphics. The totally funky, colourful presentation definitely looks great on the dual screen machine; however, that crystal clear PSP display should make it even more explosive. We'll let you know how it fares when the game invades both portables this summer.
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