Thirty years after its initial release, the latest incarnation of Space Invaders kind of snuck up on me. As has been the case with some of the best sleeper PSP titles, I caught my first glimpse of it on The 1up Show. It was flashy, it was bright, it was the kind of eye candy you’d get hooked on quickly, the good stuff.
The original Space Invaders from 1978 was pretty simple by todays standards. While the game incorporates almost all of the original elements of the game, there’s so much else going on it can hardly be considered the same game. The enemies still come from the top of the screen and it’s up to you to shoot them all before they reach the bottom of the screen.
Now enemies also come in different colors. Shooting four of the same colored enemy in a row causes a bonus to drop down. There are three weapon bonuses and one shield bonus. Red enemies drop bombs (area of effect), green enemies drop the broad shot (multiple shots simultaneously), blue enemies drop the laser (continuous, kills everything in it touches) and gray enemies drop the shield. Bonuses only last for a limited time.
Shoot eight enemies in a special pattern and a bonus round ship will fly across the top of the screen. Shoot this ship to go into the bonus round. At the start of the round you will be given a goal and a set amount of time to achieve this. Fail and nothing happens. But if you succeed you go into Fever Time and your weapon gets a major boost in firepower. Just like the weapon bonuses the Fever Time bonus is also only active for a limited amount of time. Fever Time is where the bulk of your points will come from and it’s the best way to tear through the waves of enemies. Continue reading “Space Invaders Extreme”
