Space Invaders Revolution DS Preview

Ever since video gaming was first around there has been one game that everyone has known or played and that is Space Invaders. It was one of the games that kicked off the gaming era and thus deserves its place in the gaming hall of fame. Many companies have tried to relive the game in the modern era but just going back and bringing it to a new console is not going to work. This is because at its core the game is extremely basic and the fact it is never completed can turn people away who have only recently started to game. Rising Star, a new European publisher, is set to change that with the release of Space Invaders Revolution for the DS.



Space Invaders, for those who don't know, tasks the player with shooting a number of ships which progressively get closer and closer to the players ship. The player must shoot all the ships before this occurs and as the numbers dwindle they become faster. Rising Star is promising that Revolution will have this game mode but they aren't just going to rehash it and put it on the market for the DS, they are completely revolutionizing the game, if you'll excuse the pun.



The main new game mode is known as the New Era mode where the game has been redesigned to be mission based and could reinvigorate the game enough to make it a decent title. You work between famous cities trying to take down the alien invasion with a number of constraints to make the game harder. The examples given thus far include London where players have to shoot invaders in colour coded order to complete the mission while in another, you may find invisible invaders. It is this that should make Revolution an extremely interesting game, especially when paired with the DS technology. The mode will have twenty locations, which sixty missions to complete meaning that Space Invaders Revolution may possibly be the most played in terms of length SI game for at least a decade. Players can now also gain powerups to help them in these missions. No longer do you just have the ship and shields, support craft, rapid fire and more shields can be picked up to help the cause.



The one interesting factor will be how they plan to use the Dual Screen setup. They have already confirmed that the game will be controllable via the controls and also the stylus but have failed to mention how the screens will be used. We're guessing that the invaders will just be positioned on the top screen with the ship and shields on the bottom.



Space Invaders Revolution will be a decent game for the DS, for fans of the series and perhaps has changed enough to bring even more people in. The jury is still out on remakes of SI and Rising Star may have just found the formula to bring it back to its most popular days, almost thirty years later. Look for it in April this year.