Game Reviews

Arkanoid vs Space Invaders review - Arcade mash ups don't come more classic than this

Star onStar onStar onStar halfStar off
Get
Arkanoid vs Space Invaders review - Arcade mash ups don't come more classic than this

Arkanoid vs Space Invaders is, as you might be able to figure out from the title, a mash up of two of Taito's old arcade franchises. And it's actually pretty interesting.

There's bouncing, there are blocks, there are waves of alien invaders trying to destroy the cosmos. While that might sound like a silly mish mash, there's actually a decent amount of cohesion here.

Plus the game's just quite a lot of fun. It's not perfect, it makes a few missteps here and there, but for the most part you're going to enjoy the time you spend with it.

Bounce with me

The game sees you controlling a paddle at the bottom of the screen. Space invaders are invading space from the top, and you need to turn their laser blasts against them.

Bat them back up, smash them to bits, and clear them all to move on to the next stage. It's a simple idea, and it works pretty darn well.

As you play, things get tougher. More ideas from Arkanoid are added, with structures getting in your way and unbreakable blocks stopping your shots.

You've got some tricks of your own though. Sliding your paddle down then up when you smack back a laser blasts sends it smashing directly forward.

Return enough fire and you'll open attack mode. This lets you smash a ball into the crowd and bounce it around for a while. It also stops the timer on the level and slows the movement of the invaders down.

Then there are four different power-ups you can spend the coins you collect on. These are great for helping out when you're stuck on a particularly difficult level.

Block them out

There are problems here. Especially on an iPhone, where sometimes sliding your finger up the screen to bat back a shot brings up the device's settings menu. There are difficulty spikes too, and a decent chunk of frustration.

But as ideas go, this one just about works. It's fun, it's interesting, and it puts enough of a twist on two arcade classics to make it worth a look.

Arkanoid vs Space Invaders review - Arcade mash ups don't come more classic than this

There are a few problems here, but none of them are big enough to detract from the fun you'll mostly be having
Score
Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.