Draft:Space Invaders (1999)
Activision's 1999 version of Space Invaders, inspired by but not just a port of Taito's original
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Space Invaders (released as Space Invaders X in Japan) is a 1999 shoot 'em up video game developed by Z-Axis and published by Activision for home computers and video game consoles. It is the seventh entry in the Space Invaders series, the first to feature three-dimensional graphics,[1] and the first entry not published by series creator Taito. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft Windows in 1999, and ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2002. The action occurs on a two-dimensional playfield, similar to earlier entries in the series, but all moving objects including the player, enemies, weapons, and power-ups are rendered in 3D (except for the portable versions, which use pre-rendered 2D sprites). Although the Game Boy Color version is singleplayer-only, all others support either one or two simultaneous players, with the Game Boy Advance edition using the Game Link Cable for multiplayer.[2] All versions received generally favorable reviews, but have never been remastered or re-released for modern platforms.
 | Review waiting, please be patient.
This may take 2 months or more, since drafts are reviewed in no specific order. There are 3,479 pending submissions waiting for review.
Where to get help
How to improve a draft
You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Editor resources
Reviewer tools
|
| Space Invaders (1999) | |
|---|---|
 Nintendo 64 box art | |
| Developers | Z-Axis, Ltd. (N64/PSX/PC) and Crawfish Interactive (GBC/GBA) |
| Publisher | Activision |
| Producer | Chris Archer |
| Series | Space Invaders |
| Platforms | Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color |
| Release | |
| Genre | Fixed shooter |
| Modes | Single-player, multiplayer |
Gameplay
The basic gameplay of Space Invaders is very similar to earlier games in the series, with the player(s) attempting to fend off a horde of invading aliens that descend in a fixed pattern from the top of the screen. In addition to updated graphics, this version of the game contains new weapons, power-ups, and enemy behaviors. Players can unlock special weapons by defeating four enemies in a row of the same color, as well as a shield upgrade for defeating more powerful enemies. The two-player mode is cooperative (both players dealing with the same inbound enemy horde), but scores are calculated separately for each player so that the "winner" of a round can be determined. After every few ordinary levels, the player encounters a special boss enemy and/or a bonus level where the objective is to destroy alien motherships.[3] Some enemies get progressively stronger as the game progresses, with more powerful weapons, the ability to withstand multiple hits, or special tactics such as "swarming" the player instead of the simple movement patterns of the original game. After beating the game, a port of the original 1978 arcade version is unlocked. Another easter egg is a version of Atari's Asteroids that serves as the boss enemy for the ninth in-game level.
Development and release
In August 1998, Activision announced that they had signed a licensing deal with Taito to bring Space Invaders to the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy systems, with Taito retaining publishing rights in Japan and Activision handling all other regions.[4][5] This was only the second time Taito allowed an outside company to work on the Space Invaders franchise; they had previously contracted 1985's Return of the Invaders to Universal Playland, although Taito kept the publishing of that game in-house.
Activision delegated the console and PC versions to Z-Axis and outsourced the Game Boy Color port to Crawfish Interactive. Crawfish was particularly proud of the way they maintained the gameplay innovations and high-impact visual style of the "high-end" versions despite the limitations of the smaller platform.[6] After the Game Boy Advance launched in 2001, Crawfish updated their handheld version for the new hardware, pre-rendering the original 3D models into high-resolution sprites in order to deliver visuals much closer to the console versions.[2]
Taito released the Nintendo 64 and Playstation versions in Japan in March 2000. The Japanese editions were published under the name Space Invaders X to highlight their differences from the original Taito game. Taito also published a Japanese release of Crawfish's Game Boy Advance version in August 2002.
Industry sources reported that a Sega Dreamcast version was planned,[7] but there are no records of Activision and Taito agreeing to a license for the Dreamcast platform, and no product was ever released.
Reception
Matt Casamassina of IGN found the sound and graphics updates to be underwhelming, but enjoyed the "addictive mechanics", "intuitive new bonus projectile system that injects much more strategy and technique into mindlessly blowing away aliens", and "fun two-player mode".[3] In contrast, Jackie Curtis of Honest Gamers acknowledged that the new "improvements are smart, logical and add depth to the original" but felt that they ultimately weren't enough to overcome the "tedium" of the classic gameplay formula, and that the game was particularly uninspiring when compared to other, more groundbreaking reboots of classic game series on the new 3D-capable consoles.[13] Craig Harris of IGN praised the "great pick-up-and-play nature" of the game as a good fit for the portable Game Boy Advance system, as well as the multiplayer modes.[2]