TGS '07: Space Invaders Extreme Hands-On

While Taito was busy showcasing plenty of new titles at its TGS booth this year, a couple of classics being reborn on the Nintendo DS almost stole the limelight. Space Invaders Extreme takes the best of the iconic arcade top-down shooter and reworks it with a few modern tweaks. New weapon upgrades, such as multishot ammunition, flame balls, and lasers, are available. They also randomly float down when killing enemies. Lasers in particular act like the power-up in Arkanoid--another title to get the 2007 Taito treatment--and can rip through entire columns of enemies in a single fell swoop.

During the first mission that comprises various types of alien invasion patterns, we entered a bonus stage, which became more of a 1942-style shooter with wave-after-wave of enemies launching themselves at our ship. They attacked in packs, with a special unit in the middle of each small group exploding and taking with it nearby units when destroyed.

Bonus levels required you to shoot a predetermined number of units--10 to 15 in our case--without being killed. Taking damage or not shooting enough units causes you to fail the challenge. Once you hit the last required target, the stage automatically ends and you return to the standard Space Invaders gameplay mode.

The same special units occur randomly in the non-bonus levels as well, but rather than make the challenge more difficult, they help remove groups of aliens of the same color and grant additional points for performing a combo kill.

The last hurdle to clear before finishing level one is a boss battle. Here, you'll battle across two screens, taking on a group of quickly respawning aliens with the boss on the upper screen. The lower screen was home to closer targets and your ship. Destroying the shield of circling aliens will let you take the boss down, and we had no trouble completing it on our first go.

Just as much fun for crusty old gamers as players coming through the ranks, Space Invaders Extreme has a very arcadelike feel and is a lot more portable than lugging around your table-top cabinet. There's no word yet on a worldwide release date for the game, but Japan looks to be getting it in early 2008. Keep watching GameSpot for all the latest Space Invaders news.