It didn’t take long to see a version of Space Invaders land on the Nintendo DS. Obviously based on the original arcade smash Space Invaders that as everyone knows, was so popular it caused a coin shortage in the land of the rising sun. So few games ever reach this level of success, and this is a true testament of how Space Invaders helped to change the way we play games today. But will this latest iteration be as revolutionary as its titles suggests? Let’s go to the breakdown.
Facts and Features:
- The original arcade classic, with new updated options.
- A new version that includes high tech weaponry.
- Touch screen control.
Space Invaders is just one of those games that manages to appear on almost every platform. Even the poorly conceived Virtual Boy had a Space Invaders collection to add to its minuscule library of titles. With so many versions, it has always surprised me why this franchise hasn’t really evolved all that much over the years, and unfortunately, the Nintendo DS version seems to suffer from this same malady.
One thing that Revolution has going for it is the creator and programmer of the original Space Invadersarcade hit was involved with the development of this Nintendo DS title. Yeah, that’s right, the legendary Tomohiro Nishikado helped with Space Invaders Revolution. Not too shabby to have a legend like Tomohiro on the credits. This fact alone drew me to review this game.
I have done a little home brewing of games, but I have no idea how a real development team operates. Even though his name is in the credits, I don’t know how much Mr. Nishikado was involved. Though, for starters, the Revolution does contain an almost pixel perfect conversion of the arcade hit. I say almost because most of the old tricks still work. All except for the infamous ‘Taito Cop’ trick. This is due to the fact that this trick only works on the early versions of Space Invaders arcade machines. The ones that specifically used buttons for movement, instead of a traditional joystick. That’s right people, the original Space Invaders didn’t even use a joystick. Much later, they did add joysticks to some machines, but you can still find Space Invaders arcade cabinets without them today.
How It Works
Just in case you are unfamiliar with Space Invaders, here is the basic idea. There is a cannon that you, the player, control located at the bottom of the screen. This cannon can only move right and left. Since it is a cannon, naturally it fires projectiles. The invaders are located about you, in rows and columns. They slowly begin their decent, but as they near your planet, they quickly pick up speed. This simple mode of attack would hardly qualify them as ‘intelligent life forms’ in my book. Your job is to shoot every last one of them. Spare not a one, for if they reach the ground, it is game over. You do have shields, but both you and your enemies can destroy them.
The extra options that are available on the classic version of Space Invaders for the Nintendo DS are pretty standard. You have your token auto fire. But the real standout of additions is a crossfire option. The way this works is a cursor appears at the top of a column of invaders, making it a little easier to hit those pesky aliens. All these options can be turned on or off at any time via the touch screen.
Along with the classic mode, they also included an updated version. This new mode is entitled, ‘New Age.’ You got to love the person that came up with that title. Makes me wonder if the Space Invaders themselves are getting in touch with their inner child. Perhaps they are wondering why they should invade Earth anyway?
The updated version of Space Invaders uses a mission-based design. You travel from different locales to fight the impending invaders. These locales can vary from India, to even Los Angles. Though the best aspect to this mode is the weaponry you can dispense on the alien threat which include:
These different defense systems can be used together or separate. Sometimes if you include certain systems you can get devasting results. Like combining support and laser to do even more damage. Although use of these weapon systems is limited, you can easily recharge your weapons by defeating levels.
Are you prepared for this ‘updated’ challenge?
Most compelling of all, the weapon systems are not immediately available to the player. How do you unlock them you say? You must reach a specific score for each weapon system in the classic mode. So in order to have any real fun with the updated version you will have to play the classic mode extensively. This is not such a bad thing, since this Nintendo DS title looks to be aimed squarely at the classic gamer.
The levels in the New Age mode progress nicely. Focusing on simple mission objection creates a far more balanced gaming experience. Another nice touch is the boss battles. But in the end almost all of these additions fall short of making anything truly noteworthy.
Final Word
With Space Invaders Revolution, I can’t help but think the developers wanted to make a title that would not just appeal to fans of the original, but manages to appeal to modern gamers alike. Sadly, they fall very short of reaching this goal. Space Invaders Revolution just comes in a little above average in almost every way. What improvements are present don’t do much to advance the game design from what has already been done in past releases. What you have in the end is a title that is designed solely for the Space Invaders fan, and anyone else need not apply.
— Stephen Smith
rocky
