Invadazoid Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: October 5, 2005 Do you remember the old commercial in which one person carrying an open jar of peanut butter and another eating a chocolate bar bump into each other and mix snacks? An ad along the same vein for Invadazoid would show one kid playing Space Invaders on his handheld and another engrossed in Breakout; after they collide and the smoke clears, the first would cry, "Hey! You got Breakout in my Space Invaders!" The other would reply, "Well, you got Space Invaders in my Breakout!" Then they'd realize they'd hit upon something refreshing and fun. Since it would be difficult to create a functioning game from two shattered handhelds, Bantam City developed Invadazoid, a hybrid of Space Invaders and Breakout. In it, you use a paddle located at the bottom of the screen to hit a ball toward rows of advancing aliens. If the invaders reach the base of the display or you run out of paddles by missing the ball too many times, your game is over. In addition to strafing from one side of the display to the other, then dropping closer to the surface, the creatures also unleash a variety of missiles. With so much death raining down from above, you'll need more than a quick wrist to survive. To that end, vanquished aliens occasionally drop one of several powerups. If you catch the pickups, some of them grant your paddle temporary powers, such as the ability to repel missiles or fire a plasma cannon. (As in Space Invaders, a mothership crosses the top of the screen now and again; it drops a plasma cannon pickup when you vaporize it.) Other bonuses change the attributes of the ball, allowing it to plow through aliens or destroy several invaders with a single hit. Still other powerups change the gameplay in beneficial ways, either by slowing down the march of the creatures or eliminating the row closest to you. The pickups are timed, but if you're able to grab more while one is still active, your powers are combined and the clock restarted. During the tougher stages, this is the only way to survive. Invadazoid comes with four modes. When you load the game for the first time, three of them are available: Invasion, Survival and Classic. To beat Invasion mode, you must survive its eight stages. Each stage is set in a different location around the world and contains several individual levels. You can start a new game at the beginning of any stage you've reached. Some of the levels in Invasion mode allow the aliens swoop around the screen in all manner of craziness rather than drop slowly toward the bottom of the display. Bantam City also uses this approach for the bosses that appear at the end of each stage. While this provides a break from having to eliminate the closest row of invaders, you'll still be on the edge of your seat as you try to keep the ball in the air while dodging missiles. After you've beaten all eight stages, you unlock Boss mode, which allows you to fight the heavies without wading through the other levels. Survival mode throws an unending procession of aliens in your direction and allows you to boost your score by performing spectacular feats. Two of these include clearing the screen of all aliens (not easy to do) and saving the ball at the last moment (involves pure luck). Classic mode does away with the ball and gives you a plasma cannon with which to eliminate the advancing hordes. This mode is similar to the original Space Invaders. That's Invadazoid in a nutshell. Does it sound like fun? Let's see how the game stands up under scrutiny: Graphics: The importance of visual style appears to be lost on many game developers, who seem to be more concerned with adding as many technical bells and whistles as the latest round of 3D graphics cards allow. Not so with this unique offering from Bantam City, in which style rules. I can picture the artist drawing inspiration from a stack of cheesy alien invasion movies or dog-eared sci-fi comics from the Fifties. Even though the creature designs are goofy, they won me over. My favorite: the green blobs with pointy ears, stubby wings and ultra cool shades. The visual style of Invadazoid isn't a substitute for quality graphics; on the contrary, expect first-rate enemies and good-looking backdrops. Also nice are the bosses, around which an assortment of grunts swirl in a dance of war, demonstrating how a developer can take a few visual elements and continue to surprise and delight you throughout a game. Ease of use: If you can slide your mouse around, then you can master the controls of Invadazoid. The game doesn't require much effort beyond selecting a mode, choosing a stage and keeping the ball in the air. You'll have to employ your left mouse button when you get the plasma cannon, but that's a small burden to bear. Gameplay: Most Breakout clones force you to eliminate bricks, which can get boring. There's nothing dull about trying to get rid of rows of advancing aliens before they reach the bottom of the screen, though; Invadazoid had me sweating buckets. When I wasn't mopping my brow, I was praying for powerups or doing my best to hit the mother ship. Invadazoid isn't without mercy; the ability to combine powerups and earn extensions is a life saver. Also, the levels in which the aliens attack in fixed patterns rather than gradually drop down keep the action from getting repetitive. The varied gameplay, along with the inclusion of four modes, shows a lot of thought went into the design of Invadazoid. Perhaps the most commendable aspect of the game is its system of give and take. For example, the ship control is smooth and you can apply spin to the ball to reach any point on the screen, but there's a randomness to the way the ball bounces off aliens that makes calculating where to place the paddle tricky. This unpredictability also has a hand in Invadazoid's only setback, as I'll explain next. Difficulty: This is where Invadaziod takes a hit. During the first five stages of Invasion Mode, the game features a steadily increasing degree of difficulty that's never too hard. With a little practice, moderately experienced players should do just fine. When you hit stage six, however, the difficulty skyrockets. The problem rests not in the speed of the ball, which maintains an even keel, or the level designs, which eventually feature short rows of aliens deposited near the bottom of the screen; rather, the trouble comes from the overwhelming onslaught of missiles. Time and again, I found myself with no option other than ramming my ship into a missile in a vain attempt to hit the ball. It was uncanny how frequently the paths of a missile and the ball would converge, or how a wall of missiles would prevent me from darting across the screen to save the ball as it careened off an enemy in a random direction. I had no choice in these situations but to lose a life, regardless of my skills, and that's not fair. I should mention two things, though: 1) I eventually beat the game due to sheer luck; and 2) the developer has admitted the latter stages of Invadazoid are harder than he intended and plans to reduce their difficulty in the future. Sound effects: The sound effects are just as cornball as the enemy designs. When hit, the bosses produce a muted "Gaw!" guaranteed to make you cringe, especially if any non-gamers who enjoy making fun of your leisure pursuits are walking by. The cheesiness is on purpose, however, so if you're able to get into the spirit of Invadazoid, you'll enjoy yourself. The other audio effects keep you up to speed, telling you when your assailants are approaching the bottom of the screen, when a mother ship is crossing the top of the display and when rockets are being unleashed in your direction. Music: Invadazoid offers just one repetitive techno track for the gameplay. The menu has its own tune, but you won't hear it for long. Truth be told, the best aspect of the music is the option to turn it off. Final analysis: Don't let my rant about the extreme difficulty of the latter levels discourage you from trying Invadazoid. Like mixing chocolate and peanut butter, the fusion of Space Invaders and Breakout is sweet, and when I wasn't wanting to smash my monitor with a giant hammer, I was having fun. Having beaten Invasion mode, I spend most of my time in the game trying to top my high score in Survival mode, which is utterly addictive.