Space Invaders and Space Invaders Part II and Return of the Invaders
Released: 1978, 1980, 1985
Pitch: Defeat the Invaders and save the planet.
Space Invaders is one of the most famous and important video games ever made and I'm sure it was a thrilling revelation to play in 1978, but it feels pretty one-note today. The Invaders descend the same way each time and while it can be nerve-wracking and exciting to play, it gets old quickly from today's perspective. Part II is, unsurprisingly, very similar to the original. Basically, as far as I can tell, it makes more interesting use of color, with the Invaders changing colors as they get closer. I still hate how long it takes to shoot. The time between shots feels sooooooo long when the last Invaders are right there in front of you, zooming back and forth so quickly.
Part II: The Power of Color Coordination!
Return of the Invaders is quite the upgrade though. Most noticeable is the graphics. They have a kind of Gradius-esque look to them that I really dig. The first stage begins with a group of varied aliens descending and flying around in giant chaotic circles. That is very beatable. The second stage, however, returns to classic Space Invaders action...and it's once again brutal. I got down to one enemy once but it flies back and forth so fast that I was not able to hit it. You can fire you gun much more quickly in this game, which I really appreciate, but it is still much too hard when you get to the end of a wave. Still, I enjoyed Return of the Invaders most of these three and I'd recommend giving it a try.
This guy does some kind of bonus stage after the first one. I didn't know about that while playing and shooting specific bad guys is hard. The part after that I couldn't beat.
Wasn't there like a super upgraded version on DS years later?
Space Invaders Extreme is what you're thinking of.
Ah.
Return of the Invaders looks cool.
In stores now for the Switch is Space Invaders Forever, which includes Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Gigamax, and Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders. A company called Strictly Limited Games is supposedly planning an even more comprehensive collection called Space Invaders Infinite, which includes almost every Space Invaders game ever made, including the above three. But they've been taking pre-orders on it since last June, and it is expensive.
I reviewed Space Invaders Forever:
I played Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders on my phone for a while when it first came out. That was such a cool mash up.
One of the Taito collections has Space Invaders 95: Attack of the Lunar Loonies. It's like the Parodius of Space Invaders. I really like it.
That sounds amazing!
The concept of Space Invaders is very simple, but it was the first of its kind. I would like to get the cartridge of Space Invaders on SNES, it's supposed to be pretty good, and it has a split-screen two player mode that I've heard is really fun.
These arcade versions had two player options (maybe not the first one...don't remember) but I didn't get a chance to try it out.
