Space Invaders (Arcade) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 21
14We have come to change your world... FOREVER!!! Also "Bleep Bloop Blop"
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, retrogaming fan, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EVERY game in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game reviews are just for fun, this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey. Let's try out those classic retro games we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Space Invaders
Released 1978
Developer(s) Taito
Platform(s) Arcade
Genre(s) Shooter
Jay's Thoughts
Space Invaders is one of the most iconic games out there! It's a very simple game in concept and yet, a little surprising to play again after all these years. I was expected a stale, slow-paced, easy game when I started it up but instead I found a challenging, fun, and fast paced action shooter. Let me explain...
In Space Invaders you take on the role of a simple tank that scrolls left and right along the screen, with your task being to shoot down the massive horde of aliens that is slowly descending towards you. Random aliens will periodically shoot at you, and there are a few destructible obstacles that you can hide behind (and even shoot through if you want to try a high level strategy). Now this all sounds simple enough but the trick is that the more enemies you shoot down the faster the swarm starts to move. In fact, the last enemy on the screen is actually really hard to shoot down!
Space Invaders invented the concept of a shooter, and even concepts I consider relatively modern like taking cover and making strategic choices about which enemies to take out are at play in Space Invaders. Interestingly, the fact that the enemies get faster as there are fewer of them on the screen was an accident that occurred during the development of Space Invaders, basically because the computer couldn't process large numbers of enemies quickly so they moved slowly when a lot of them were still alive.
Anyway, Space Invaders is a classic, and really did create the modern shooting genre. Though it is a simple game, many of the core elements that we love about shooters are alive and well in Space Invaders.
➙ Must You Play It?
Space Invaders was the first shooter, and in many ways that core shooting gameplay still feels very good. This is a game that you should try at least once in your life.