Joystiq hands-on: Space Invaders Extreme (DS/PSP)
My surprise of the week: Space Invaders Extreme. I played a few rounds at the Nintendo Media Summit since there was no line for the lonely kiosk. (Its PR handlers had even abandoned it, working double-duty at the Crystal Chronicles station across the room.) But as soon as I began tapping the buttons, I was hooked; this update borrows the basic idea of Space Invaders and remixes it into a wild, fast-paced shooter.
Like the classic, enemy ships make formations above you, raining shots down the screen. Otherwise, nearly everything else has been squeezed, twisted, and stretched into a modern game. The transition deserves comparison to our lauded Pac-Man Championship Edition, but I haven't yet decided if its as elegant an update. Regardless, an update is an update, and Space Invaders Extreme betters nearly every other current shooter.
%Gallery-20559%
The Space Invaders graphics heavily repurposed the retro style, like Mario plumping up into a rampaging, jaggy sprite in The New Super Mario Bros. Certain alien ships closely follow the original shapes, while others take giant, blocky forms, and others have smoother lines. Occasionally, the alien attackers twist into thin lines, as if turning 90° to avoid your shots. The hodgepodge worked to uproot my expectations.
Advancing ships follow several new patterns, but the biggest change rewards players for hitting them in certain orders. Knock-off all of the like-color baddies without missing, and a power-up adds new abilities. My favorite blasted a white beam, about as wide as a standard alien ship, eviscerating an entire column at once.
After clearing certain levels, I launched into one of several "extreme" modes. Once, alien ships replaced the top-screen scoreboard, stretching the game across both LCDs. Other times, they raced and attacked with more fury, from more angles, with more weapons.
I wasn't able to sample it, but the game includes two-cartridge, two-player competitive matches locally or over WiFi. And a WiFi leaderboard lets gamers etch their initials into the online record-book.
Space Invaders Extreme will release on June 17 in North America for DS and PSP. (It launched last year in Japan.) At the bargain price of $20, it should easily be on the short list of arcade-shooter fans.
