Space Invaders Extreme

**bVork** · 23 Feb 2008, 12:14 AM

I'm not sure about "amazing" but it's definitely good. It's funny that it shares its flaws with the Wii version, but they're more forgivable on a handheld.

**Granderoho** · 23 Feb 2008, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by bVork

I'm not sure about "amazing" but it's definitely good. It's funny that it shares its flaws with the Wii version, but they're more forgivable on a handheld.

Geometry Wars seems better to me on a portable, it's the best on DS since PPL.

**MarkRyan** · 23 Feb 2008, 12:46 AM

I should preface this by admitting that I was never a big fan of Space Invaders. Always found it slow and kinda dull, though admittedly never played it a whole lot.

I'd never heard of Extreme until today when I walked in on Craig Harris playing it with the DS paddle attachment. After just five minutes of playing, I felt compelled to immediately logged onto Play-Asia and ordered it.

The game really is Space Invaders meets Galaga meets Rez meets WarioWare. I love it. The presentation is absolutely phenomenal, and I can't believe it came from Taito. Love the way the shots are timed with the music, love how it quickly toggles between stages that are different enough to make it feel fresh and very addictive.

The paddle attachment is also very, very good--it's weighted and spins freely with a nice, just barely noticeable click and it carries momentum when you flick it. I had to order it with the game ($20).

If it ends up coming out in the US, I'll pick up the PSP version.

**YellerDog** · 23 Feb 2008, 12:48 AM

Sounds great!

**MarkRyan** · 23 Feb 2008, 01:00 AM

Playing the PSP demo and it's not nearly as cool as the DS one with the paddle. The paddle lets you move around so much faster, which you need for chasing down the UFOs 'n' shit. Maybe I won't pick up this version.

**Frogacuda** · 23 Feb 2008, 01:01 AM

Sounds like it'll make a good summer time killer when the US version drops. I'm in.

Playing a handheld with a paddle will totally bring back warm fuzzy childhood memories of Microvision.

**bVork** · 23 Feb 2008, 01:33 AM

By the way, just a nitpick - even though Taito calls it a paddle, the controller is technically a spinner. There's no limit to the movement.

**jyoung** · 23 Feb 2008, 01:46 AM

Originally Posted by g0zen

I still have Space Raiders.

It actually had a pretty cool scoring system, the problem was that the system itself was too easy to exploit, and the game as a whole was just way too long for an arcade shooter.

That, and the two-player mode was completely broken because the playing field was wider than the screen, which meant that one player would often run into an invisible wall when the other player was over on the other side of the screen.