Space Invaders '91 (Mega Drive) > Reviews (1)

Space Invaders is possibly the first video game I ever played. Although I cannot recall precisely what title introduced me to the hobby I love to this day, it must have been one of my dad’s Atari 2600 collection which included Taito’s timeless classic. The game’s premise is rather straight forward, you control a tank and have to shoot down the extraterrestrial conquerors before their craft makes landfall. Good old fashioned gameplay which is simple yet fiendishly addictive. After my fond memories of the original I couldn’t resist giving Space Invaders 91 on the Megadrive a go. Let’s see what I made of it. Oh by the way, in case you’re wondering the 91 on the title refers to the 1991 U.S release date… there aren’t actually ninety sequels to the first game.

PRESENTATION

As you would expect, from a sixteen bit cartridge, this sequel’s graphics are a lot better than the original game with the spaceship sprites boasting more colour and detail. After clearing a couple of waves you are treated to a different background (which range from stars to alien worlds) which sure beats the black screen we got in the first Space Invaders. All that said the visuals are far from the best that the Sega console can offer and wouldn’t look out of place on an inferior eight bit system (like the NES or a home computer such as the Commodore 64.) Even though the title won’t win any prizes in the looks department I have to commend it for featuring some snazzy music, especially for someone who gets a kick out of retro gaming tunes.

GAMEPLAY

The human race may have repelled the invaders back in the late seventies, but they just won’t give up. Alf’s annoying relatives return in their efforts to capture Earth for whatever reason. What is so great about our overpopulated and polluted world anyway? Perhaps they want to destroy us so we stop releasing those horrible Twilight movies. Thankfully for us improvements in technology have managed to beef up our defences. Instead of a crummy tank that explodes in one hit, for most of the levels you get to fly a spaceship equipped with shields. The protective barrier can absorb a number of alien blasts before giving out and using up one of the player’s valuable credits.

Space Invaders 91’s core gameplay hasn’t changed much from the original. You move left and right firing at the invaders with the aim of stopping them from descending to the bottom of the play area. Each time you down an enemy UFO the movement speed of the remaining ones increase making them harder to hit. Things start off simple enough against rows of enemies which resemble the invaders from the first game. From the third level onwards however the creators spice things up by giving the player different types of enemy to defeat. You’ll encounter foes who take more than one shot to kill, others that shoot diagonally and some that fire off homing orbs which can be a pain to dodge. The variation in enemies keeps the action from getting stale and repetitive.

Whilst playing the game, aside from the hostile invaders, you should keep an eye out for mother ships which fly across the screen at random intervals.

In the first game you were encouraged to shoot mother ships for points, but the rewards for destroying them in this instalment are far more useful weapon power-ups. My favourite power-up created phantom images of your craft which would effectively triple your firepower. Also up for grabs were boosts to your laser such as a wide beam or bolt that eliminates an entire row of bad guys. Power-ups aside, sparing mother ships isn’t a good idea as I learned during the third level. If you let the blighter get across the screen it will deploy a tractor beam that slows you down, making incoming enemy fire all the harder to avoid.

SUMMARY

Overall I enjoyed Space Invaders 91, although it wasn’t without its flaws. The biggest fault I found was the omission of a two player mode. Having a buddy around would make things much more fun and the increased firepower would be a big help against the game’s high difficulty. The invaders start pretty much on top of you giving you little chance of dodging laser blasts from the ships on the bottom row. This wouldn’t be so bad if you could adjust the difficulty, but alas the game has no options. Once you press start on the title screen you are thrust into the first wave. You can’t save your progress or enter a password either so once you use up your credits you have to start back at the beginning.

I hate repeating stages (after being spoiled by modern day games) so I was thankful to find a level select cheat on the net (press A/C/Start on the title screen and then B,A,C,A when the game starts.) Aside from the challenge and weak graphics the game is actually good fun for anyone who likes Space Invaders. It’s probably the best remake/re-imagining of the classic I have played to date so if you liked the first game I would recommend giving this a go. The only problem I can see is that legally finding a copy may be a bit of a chore as it was never released in Europe. Prospective buyers wanting to play the game on a Megadrive would have to import a copy and go through the hassle of locating a working adaptor to get it to run.

To summarise, I would say that this isn’t the type of game you would spend hours on, but for retro gaming fans it’s an enjoyable romp for twenty minute bursts every now and then. Only patient players need apply as the difficulty is unforgiving until you get the hang of things. The common cold won’t kill off these aliens so we better stop pissing them off by making Twilight movies. I can only imagine how much harder they will get should they ever come back for a Space Invaders 2021.