Arcade Archives: Space Invaders Part II

[tepidsnake]

This week's Arcade Archives release is... Space Invaders Part II (Taito, 1979)

Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)

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Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)

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Just one version this time. Preference Settings allow players to display the number shots (officially caled BEAMS) fired and the current value of the UFO (the relationship between the number of shots fired and the UFO score value is explained in the manual, as well as the rainbow effect, the Nagoya Attack and various other secrets included in this sequel) and select your starting stage. The Sound Settings also have some extra options- Custom Audio Settings lets you reproduce white noise and adjust the individual volume levels for every single sound effect in the game.
 

One day, in 1979, Earth was suddenly attacked by alien life forms known as the Space Invaders. Vast numbers of them enveloped the- wait a minute, haven't we heard this before? No, not the time the Invaders got even, I mean last week! Yes, this is Space Invaders Part II which is from a time when the concept of a video game sequel was pretty new. How do you follow up from Space Invaders, the worldwide phenomenon? More of it, of course. This means we're in a situation like Rally-X / New Rally-X and Sky Kid / Sky Kid DX where it might've been preferable to bundle both together, but here at least the lack of a black & white version means there's no Pepper's ghost effect available here. This has a few visual changes- it's all in living colour from the off, the invaders storm in from the top of the screen at the start of each wave, the bunkers all have the current wave number on them and there's cute little cutscenes of an Invader making an escape on a UFO between stages (sometimes they even have engine trouble). There's even a fancy new title screen!

However, it's not just visual, this adds some new game elements with scoring opportunities being something of a focus- flashing UFOs with temporary invincibility that are worth a lot more points, a special points bonus for achieving the rainbow effect, UFOs being able to add new Invaders as reinforcements and gaps in the formation that allow some Crab Invaders to split after being shot for even more points. I must confess, even though I'm a big Invaders fan, I never really spent much time with Part II and assumed it was just a visual improvement, but that's partly because many of the new features only appear a few stages in- Invader reinforcements only start in the third stage, and splitters only show up in the fourth stage. Fortunately, this version lets you pick your starting stage (and for Caravan Mode, you can start from the first or fourth stage) so even if you struggle with this game, you can skip ahead to try the new mechanics for yourself. The manual is also realy useful for explaining the secrets they added (beat the first, second or third stage without missing a shot and you'll get an extra life!) and the extra settings make this a better option than Space Invaders Invincible Collection (for both this and the first game, honestly) and, well, I think Space Invaders is an addictive little game (going for the trophies in these rereleases did take up more time than I expected!) so I'm glad they're available on modern systems. Try Space Invaders! Enjoy arcade games!!