So I don’t know if it’s common knowledge, but there was a demo for Space Invaders Extreme released in Japan (they got the game in ebruary). I know (and maybe you know) that I promised myself I’d play through Nanosaur II, but you know what? No. I won’t. It’s too terrible, and maybe I’ll get into that later. Space Invaders Extreme.

This game appears to be the shit. Fat invaders, flashy and colourful like Xanadu raindrops, hover around the screen until you shatter them with missiles and beams of pure energy, all keyed to the techno playing in the background. It’s a wet symphony of light and shapes, not unlike Geometry Wars, or Rez, but certainly a being all to its own–something complete, and wonderful. It’s unlike its progenitors in a very serious way.

Space Invaders was a tad before my time and I was never able to give it the respect it deserves. I did, however, dabble in Super Space Invaders 91, a Genesis version with sauced out graphics and a pretty good soundtrack. But it plays like a dead person. The invaders have no personality! They were redesigned to appear more scary, or metroid-like, or something, but it just highlights their sad, brainless advance. Their payload timed to some illogical rhythm, the invaders exist to know only stellar travel and pain. But the invaders in SPE know life, friends!

Sure, the waves are scripted. And sure, each wave is still essentially a puzzle as opposed to a crafty foe. But because these new invaders actually do stuff (all KINDS of different stuff!), you almost get the sense that they have something to live for. They’ve come all the way from whallabaloo to destroy you, and your planet, and they’ve got some tricks, and they’re gunna give it their best shot. My favourite part of this demo has been this one wave: in order to dodge your issiles, the invaders turn fucking sideways, becoming a figurative pixel wide! The implication, here, is that the invaders can comprehend the fact that they’re made up of tiny squares, and can use that to their advantage (which doesn’t make sense, but it’s what’s important, and it’s where Super Space Invaders 91 completely falls flat).

I don’t like UMDs, and I’ve been looking for an excuse to pick up my DS again, so I might grab the DS version when this thing finally hits us. But it does look especially nice on the PSP. I guess we’ll see.