Space Invaders Forever Review

Space Invaders Forever bundles together three quirky entries from the iconic franchise’s history. Space Invaders Extreme, Space Invaders Gigamax 4 SE and the property-blending Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders! The question though is, is it worth the price of admission?

Space Invaders Extreme was originally released on the Nintendo DS and PSP back in 2008. As you’d perhaps expect the game follows the same basic formula as the original but mixes it up with power-ups and alien formations. The main new gimmick is that shooting four invaders of the same colour will award a power-up; red gives a bomb shot, blue gives a laser, green provides a broad shot and white offers up a shield.

These enable you to clear screens of invaders relatively easily but to get good scores you’ll need to enter ‘Fever Time’ by alternating coloured groups then eliminating the flashing UFO to enter a bonus stage. Once earned you get powered up even further making short work of any remaining enemies.

The game features branching paths through a total of 11 stages. Clearing the main game also unlocks Extreme Mode with a further five. Sadly the version included here has no multiplayer to speak of but it’s still an exceptionally entertaining title that tweaks enough of the Space Invaders formula to hold up well even today.

Next up is Space Invaders Gigamax 4 SE which is essentially a neon-aesthetic party game version of the original Space Invaders. Originally a Japanese attraction for the 40th anniversary that was projected onto the side of a building for up to ten players simultaneously, this version simplifies things by being playable by up to 4 and not requiring a building to project onto!

The game has three phases where all players work cooperatively to eliminate the invaders as they work their way down the screen in their iconic fashion. The second phase has invaders that take multiple shots to eliminate before the third phase introduces a boss enemy to take down. The game unfortunately only supports local multiplayer but is a fun thing to experience, it’s just not that enjoyable as a solo player.

Finally we have Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders which is a port of a 2017 mobile game that utilises the DualShock 4’s trackpad to mimic using your finger on the phone screen. It sees you maneuvering the Vaus spacecraft from the Arkanoid series around the bottom of the screen deflecting invader shots as well as the expected ball to take out a combination of Arkanoid style bricks as well as the pesky invaders.

The game is split up into worlds comprising many levels with a boss at the end. Once defeated you’ll be rewarded with new characters that have special abilities all pulled from Taito’s rich past of properties, from Bubble Bobble and Darius to Elevator Action and Rainbow Islands. This port is an odd beast as it looks great and works surprisingly well with the trackpad, there is just something really unusual about playing a game that is very clearly mobile-centric on a console.

This collection as a whole is a pretty interesting one. Extreme is still the highlight of the package but Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders is also worth a look, especially if you missed it on mobile. Gigamax is a quirky affair that is more notable for its historical context and obscure nature but could certainly be a fun time with friends!

As a preservation effort, it’s nice that Gigamax and Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders are included here, and for folk that didn’t know they existed or have just never had the opportunity to play them they are a great addition. However, the lack of online multiplayer and extras like flyers, advertisements etc. for the games is a shame as it would have made the collection feel a little less barebones.