Vector TD (Minis)

Just as princesses don't really need rescuing, there can’t be many towers around the world that still need defending.

And yet, while the former can just develop Stockholm syndrome and go on to marry their dinosaur-like captor for all I care, I continue to find it impossible to resist the challenge of a new tower defence game.

Besides, on PSP Minis we’re hardly overrun by examples of the genre. And as lovely as Fieldrunners is, there are other TD experiences worth engaging in.

One of these is Vector TD. It was very popular as an in-browser Flash game, and fans of the original will be delighted to hear it’s made the transition onto PSP (and PS3, as Minis are now playable on Sony’s home console) virtually intact.

You’re still defending the world from the Vectoid invasion, holding off their merciless attack for 50 hard-fought waves on one of eight maps and you still have 11 towers at your disposal (ranging from lasers and zappers to missiles and those designed to slow enemies down).

So far, so tower defence, but it’s Vector TD’s other elements that are of particular concern.

Destroy the 'boss' enemy that pops up periodically and you receive a token, which you can then spend on one of four special items.

These include damage or range multipliers, a ‘Panic’ option that buys you back five lives (you begin maps with 20) and a chance to increase the interest percentage applied to money not spent during a wave.

Ah, yes. It’s a seemingly small inclusion, but the ability to earn interest opens up a deceptively deep strategic dynamic, continuously tempting you to refrain from buying or upgrading towers in exchange for a larger cash injection come the next set of enemies. On the assumption you’ll kill off the current batch, naturally.

Along with colour coding tower-to-vectoid damage or the ability to alter the firing parameter of each tower (from Close to Hard to Weak), it’s one of a handful of excellent tactical touches that ensure Vector TD ends up significantly different from - and arguably more involving than - the usual tower defence experience.

True, presentation could be better. There’s not even a hint of a start screen - you’re thrown directly into the ‘select’ display and asked to choose a map. There are no sound effects, either, and while the relentless dance music suits the simple vector-like charm of the visuals, it can get repetitive - feedback of some sort would have added a little atmosphere and is sorely missed.

Elsewhere, you’ll note that although you gain points for playing, there doesn’t appear to be a way of checking previous hi-scores - a missed opportunity to give players an additional benchmark to aim for.

And, unusually, the game defaults to the manual unleashing of each new attack wave, which would seem to work against trying to keep a sense of urgency and associated tension going.

In reality, the last point perhaps best illustrates Vector TD’s true character. What may appear ill-conceived on first encounter doesn’t take long to reveal itself as a necessary adaptation to the game’s own brand of tower defence.

There's significantly more to consider in between attack waves than in most games of this type and it's those tactical possibilities that ensure the excellence at the heart of Candystand's title.

Like the best examples of the genre, Vector TD will own you.