I am going to be honest with you, this is going to be a short post because frankly I played the game for less than 4 minutes. Alas I did reach my any% criteria in that time. This blog is about “Space Invaders!” Specifically the Atari 2600 version.
“Space Invaders” is a bit of an interesting one when it comes to the context of this blog. That is because “Space Invaders” is easily one of the most influential video games of all time and in the context of its release time period, is a fantastic game. That being said, the point of this blog is to look at games from all time periods with a strictly modern perspective. Looking not at all on influence or technology restrictions but rather how much I currently enjoy it. Which in the case of “Space Invaders,” was not that much. I will say there is still some fun to be had with “Space Invaders” if you are at a local arcade competing for a high score but, not so much at home on an Atari 2600.
Being that “Space Invaders” is primarily an arcade high score game, I do want to take a moment to clarify what my completion criteria was. In “Space Invaders” rows of alien Invaders descend upon your ship/turret/whatchamacallit. You have to destroy all the aliens before they reach the bottom of the screen. Doing so causes another wave of aliens to spawn but, this time slightly closer to the bottom. This respawning happens endlessly until you lose. Being the “Space Invaders” is an endless game, I decided that clearing one whole wave would qualify as beating the game.
So what were my thoughts on “Space Invaders?” Unexciting… The core gameplay of shooting down aliens while avoiding enemy fire is fun for a few minutes but quickly becomes monotonous. There really isn’t much more to say about “Space Invaders” being such a simplistic game.
Final Thoughts
“Space Invaders” is hugely influential and important to the development of the gaming industry. It does not however hold up in modern times. There are plenty of “Space Invaders” remakes, ripoffs, and enhanced versions that greatly improve on the formula. There is little reason to go back to the Atari 2600 version except for nostalgia. “Space Invaders” is ranked at the bottom of my Arcade List, directly below “Jetpack.”
System: Atari 2600. Time to Beat: 0 hours 3 minutes 45 seconds.
Where to play “Space Invaders”
“Space Invaders” has been rereleased on just about every console in some form or another, thanks to its historical significance. That being said if you want to play the Atari 2600 version, we will be posting a copy on our eBay store within the next day.
Gaming Conquest 