Space Invaders Forever

Shoot 'em ups have come and gone, but few have had the staying power of Space Invaders. For more than four decades, Taito's influential arcade hit has continued to spawn sequels, spin-offs, remakes, reboots, reimaginings and everything else you can think of. This is a franchise so popular that in 2020 we got not only one Space Invaders collection, but two. And there wasn't even a big anniversary to celebrate. The one we're going to talk about today is the recently-released Space Invaders Forever, a new Switch and PlayStation 4 compilation that features several of the newer entries in the Invadersverse. It's a slightly overpriced collection that includes one of the best Space Invaders games, one of the worst and one that is a baffling mash-up you can't play with a controller. We have a lot to unravel in this review.

The one thing Space Invaders Forever does extreme well is show us just how versatile the franchise has been in recent years. What we get here is a port of the 2008 masterpiece Space Invaders Extreme, the baffling multiplayer-focused Space Invaders Gigamax 4 SE and Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders, which had previously only appeared on mobile devices. Although birthed from the same series, these three games are radically different in not only look and style, but also gameplay and focus.

Let's start with Space Invaders Extreme, which is the most popular (and most ported) game in the collection. It starts out like any other classic shooter; you're a small triangular space ship that sits at the bottom of the screen moving left and right. Above you (or rather, in front of you) are row after row of space aliens, all working their way to the bottom of the screen. It lulls you into a false sense of familiarity before yanking the rug out. This is a game that just keeps getting crazier the longer you play, and I love every second of the chaos.

You're essentially doing the same thing arcade gamers did back in 1978, only this time around the rules have changed in dramatic ways. There are a bunch of power-ups, all kinds of bonus stages, video footage playing in the background and massive boss fights at the end of every level. Just about the only thing that hasn't changed is the actual space invader, the little pixel enemy that menace Earth from the sky. But don't be fooled by their appearance, because this time around these aliens come in all different colors and sizes. Before the end of the game you'll run into gigantic aliens, tiny aliens, green aliens, red aliens, shielded aliens and more. It's the kind of thing that reminds you how cool 2D shoot 'em ups can be.

If Extreme is an example of the best Space Invaders can be, then Gigamax 4 SE is the exact opposite. This is a slow and plodding exercise in repetition that attempts to take the series back to its roots. It certainly looks and plays like the early arcade installments, but it lacks the fun. This is a multiplayer-focused game that uses the full length of the widescreen display to create a long playfield with the most invaders you've ever seen at once. Unfortunately, that's about the only noteworthy thing about Gigamax 4.

The truth is, the long line of space invaders is just one of the three phases this installment insists on repeating. When the game gets bored of you trying to clear the screen, it switches things up by telling the player to inflate tiny invaders to blow them up. That's more fun than the long line of aliens, I suppose. The final phase is a boss stage, which is really the only time the game shows any signs of having a pulse. Perhaps this is a riotously fun time with a couch full of friends shooting away, but as a solo player, I couldn't wait for the monotony to end.

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Thankfully, the third and final game in the collection is a big improvement over Gigamax 4. Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders is a port of a mobile game that hit Google and Apple devices back in 2017. It's basically a mash-up that has us controlling the Arkanoid paddle as a way to ricochet enemy fire back at those pesky space invaders. You also have to contend with colored tiles that get in the way, but don't worry, because a lot of them hold power-ups that will upgrade your ship and add extra time to the clock.

This game trades the traditional 2D shooting for puzzle solving. The stages are bite-sized and always have a defined goal -- kill a certain number of space invaders, destroy a bunch of tiles, etc. This seems easy at first, but that clock is always ticking and those tiles definitely get in the way, especially in the later levels. This is a really fun game that single-handedly freshens up both Space Invaders and Arkanoid. It's hard enough to breathe new life into one aging franchise, let alone two.

Unfortunately, there is one really big drawback to Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders on the Switch. Unlike the other two games in the collection, this one can't be played on your television. In fact, you can't use a controller at all. This is strictly a touchscreen game, which means that you can only go through this clever mash-up in handheld mode. Don't get me wrong, it works well using the Switch's display, but it would have been nice to have the option to play it on the television.

While a little barebones, this is a solid collection with two great games and one you probably won't play more than once. The most disappointing thing about the collection is that it doesn't include Space Invaders Extreme 2 and lacks anything resembling historical context. And with a $30 asking price, I would argue that this collection is on the overpriced side. But if you can get past some of the missed opportunities and steep price tag, you'll find that Space Invaders Forever gives Switch and PlayStation 4 owners two must-play games ... and also Gigamax 4 SE.