Retrogames: Space Invasion - Review 2

Today I gave Space Invasion a new try. This game is the first launched game of Steem Retrogames.
Unlike the first time I played this time without Whalevault. Out of 5 tries with an HP laptop (intel i5 - 8th Gen) the laptop crashed 3 times.

It was also the first time I used the laser (option) and I didn't noticed much benefit. It helps a bit if an invasion of "aliens" drop but thus far I am faster by shooting them.

I noticed some "weird" things:

• after the laptop crashed and it was restarted the game continued. One alien was on the floor but I could shoot it. 🤔
• Unlike the first time the shooting direction wasn't going to the right or left as I used the arrow-keys
• It felt as if I was playing a different game and I could by far not reach the same level/amount of points.
• The sound of shooting starts later
• The upper side of the game is not shown
• The game is too short to be able to get "in" it for longer and stay focussed.

I asked three of my children to try out the game and share their opinion and also asked if it is good enough to attract outsiders and make them open a Steemit account. We discussed it and although we differ in age, gender and are not all fanatic gamers we seem to see/notice the same.

My thoughts on day 2

• Screen laptop: 15.8" - game is too small
• To make the entire game visible I have to set it at 90%(size game 5 x 6 centimeters!)
• The game is over before I started
• As I tried it for the first time it did not crash but I keep thinking it's different from the first time I played it.
• Another try at night: The invasion drops time after time at nearly the top of the missile. It's impossible to move to the right and next left fast enough.
• At 90% there's fewer eye movement, it's more like staring.

Underneath the review of my son. He played the game with his desktop computer, screen size: 26", 1920* 1200 pix - 16 GB. The reviews of the others will be posted next time.

To put it lightly; I can't say I'm impressed.

For starters it captures only the most simplistic elements of both Taito's 1978 "Space Invaders" and Namco's 1979 "Galaxian" (both of which originated in the arcade), namely the side to side movement of the enemy ship formations (which upon hitting the side of the screen move down and change direction) and of course the ship that the player gets to move and shoot back with. Both Space Invaders and Galaxian are already more interesting from the get go. In Space Invaders you've got to fight off the alien invasion bombing your bases, preferably without harming your own bases. Meanwhle in Galaxian you've got to contend with ships breaking away from the main enemy force whose main objective is to directly attack you. In both these cases the enemy actually fights back and poses a greater threat than just slowly drifting your way in a zigzag pattern.

Onto the next pointt; this game is aesthetically incoherent and uninteresting. There's no identifiable style beyond the chaotic "Google Images low-res clipart collage", whether it's creative inability or ? on the developers side, I do not know, but it sure looks like low-effort. The website isn't much better, great that you've got a scoreboard, but not so great is it hiding behind the main game window if the browser window is too narrow at the given scale.

Functionally it seems inconsistent, in the brief period I've tried it, there were times where it was Game-Over before the enemy formation reached the bottom of the screen. Furthermore, a single enemy remaining from a wide formation has no effect on side to side movement, if a single enemy remains from the center of the formation it'll never hit the edge of the screen before progressing downwards, this is a fundamental both arcade games already managed.

This game neither captures, nor innovates in the genre, if you want to have a truly fun, fast-paced space shooter experience there are plenty of other options, and Galaxian's 1981 sequel is a good start with it's improved enemy movement patterns and frankly beautiful animated pixelart.

_3.2.25