Super Space Invaders

Copyright : Domark | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Not the first or the last remake of the old arcade classic from the 1970?s and each one has gotten better in one way or another so this is not a bad little remake.

The year is 1991 and the alien scum we defended ourselves against back in 1978 have returned with new technology for a second attack, and this time they are out to win - no matter what happens. You are one of the few survivors from the first war and you?ve been sent out to destroy them all before they destroy us, it?s a tough job but someone has got to do it.

In the day before Will Smith was an ass kicking war veteran out to destroy the aliens race on Independance Day Taito released this new arcade conversion of the timeless classic Space Invaders and promise to update some of the now aged graphics and level designs - did they keep their promise and was the home computer version worth the money?

Graphics

Space Invaders has always been a classic to the true retro gamers around the globe and should be known to everyone, in 1991 Taito re-released the arcade with better graphics and sound (as you would expect in 1991) both on the arcade machines and the home computer.

The Amstrad version of this game has some pretty nice looking backgrounds and there are a number of cool weapons that the enemy use against you. The major problem that we had with this version of the game is that the graphics (you and the aliens) are very small indeed so it makes playing the game a little bit of a struggle - this was improved in the 16-bit versions that came later.

Sound

Sound however is pretty cool indeed, you get one of the best soundtracks in a game at the start/options screen as well as some really bass kicking sounds in the game itself. Of course the original sounds such as the alien ship flying above the top of the screen have been included in this re-make. There isn?t any sound that appears out of place in this game and almost nothing has been removed from the original.

Gameplay

Gameplay is just as good as the 1970s classic but the size of the aliens and your ship are very small indeed and could put a strain on your eyes. I couldn?t help notice that this re-make is a little slow to start with but you seem to get used to the speed of the game as it progresses. It?s certainly not an easy game this time around because Taito have removed the bases that you could hide behind in the original game - making things a whole lot more difficult.