Room 34 Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Space Invaders spawned a thousand other video games, and many of those arcade games made it to the 2600. So, what do you think is the best Space Invaders-type game on the 2600, in terms of enhancement of the concept, as well as execution on the system? For reference, I would consider these some examples of Space Invaders-type games: Space Invaders (of course) Galaxian Phoenix Gorf Megamania Demon Attack Basically, any game where you move left-to-right across the bottom of the screen and shoot at stuff coming down from the sky. I am going to give two picks: For the best overall concept, I like Phoenix best. For inventive and addictive gameplay, Demon Attack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cupcakus Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 I love phoenix... basically because I am so good at it :-) Demon attack is too easy... but the sound is fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted January 22, 2003 Author Share Posted January 22, 2003 Demon attack is too easy... but the sound is fun. Yeah, well... I can play "Laser Blast" for an extended period of time. There's just no accounting for (my) taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Demon Attack was always my favorite, mainly because Space Invaders itself was too easy (and I haven't played any of the newer versions recently made). But I understand that the difficulty tops out after 80 waves or so...never reached it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snider-man Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 I'm a Megamaniac m'self. Love that game. That's one reason why it was my first hack way back when. MST2600 anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Slocum Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Megamania or Space Instigators Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keir Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Demon Attack for me. Communist Mutants from Space is a close runner up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 My top picks are Phoenix for its cool theme, spaceship saucer level, and splitting birds; and Megamania. I think I'd pick Megamania as my all-time favorite. Phoenix got boring a bit faster than Megamania ever did. The thing about MM is that I always felt like the next level would offer some new pattern to it. It took me many plays to beat the 2nd level of enemies for the first time. What's great is the Activision Cliché of giving you bonus lives at 10,000 points and offering bonus points for left-over energy, so even if you die a lot, you are always trying to hit that 10,000 point plateau. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 mmmmm.. so many tasty options Basically, any game where you move left-to-right across the bottom of the screen and shoot at stuff coming down from the sky. Incidentally, it was always my beef when I was a kid that 2600 Space Invaders took out so much of the arcade 'tricks' and watered it down to just be a pure 'move left/right and shoot aliens' game. Now GALAXIANS was a pure 'move/left right shoot aliens' game, but Space Invaders arcade had a bit more depth to it. But I digress... MY favorite 2600 game in that genre.. hmmmm.. It's hard but I'd have to go with DEMON ATTACK. Since that was the game that absolutely blew the water out of the 2600 and was probably the first 2600 game that I thought had "arcade graphics". Phoenix came out later and was a pale shadow of the arcade game. Although because of the bird-like graphics people often compare Demon Attack (an original) with Phoenix (an arcade port). *shrug* I also have a soft spot for Spider Fighter and Megamania. 2600 Space Invaders gets a lot funner I've found using the fast missiles option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Communist Mutants from Outer Space #1 Starpath games ROCK! Demon Attack #2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted January 22, 2003 Author Share Posted January 22, 2003 Space Invaders arcade had a bit more depth to it. What was that depth? I was only 6 when the 2600 version of Space Invaders came out (and I wouldn't get my 2600 for another 2 years after that!), and I've only played the arcade version of Space Invaders once or twice, many years after I already had the home version firmly engrained in my head. I haven't really given it much of a chance on MAME either, so I'm really not sure what else it had going for it. (Incidentally, my all-time favorite S.I.-type game is Galaga, but of course there's no 2600 version of that!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Phoenix is great, but it seems to me that the difficulty doesn't really ramp up except on the mothership screen. My favorite would have to be Megamania, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Space Invaders arcade had a bit more depth to it. What was that depth?/// I haven't really given it much of a chance on MAME either, so I'm really not sure what else it had going for it. Here's a great site on Space Invaders strategy: http://members.aol.com/billandted/spaceinv/main.htm from which I'll borrow terms freely below (but I knew all this stuff as a kid too, so oh well) Well a lot of it is just something you have to see I guess. But contrary to being a "shoot them all as quickly as you can" game, a lot of Space Invader Zen revolved around deliberate and paced shooting method. For example, counting shots in order to get consistent 300 point UFO's was the standard way to play. And in order to do that best, you had to group the invaders effectively (basically so you could maximize your hunt of 300 pt UFO's per stage) Then there's the "wall of death" techique used for survival from level 4 and beyond. Basically you group the invaders so you have a safe spot, then let them come down as low as possible where you are invincible to their shots This also allows you lots of time to count shots and hunt more 300 point UFO's The counting technique and the wall of death methods are probably the main techniques in the game, but there are other little things like the Rainbow trick, and the "shoot the invaders in under 55 shots (or roll over the shot counter) to get an extra man" trick in space invaders deluxe/pt2. Stuff like that is an example of the little bit of depth that SI had over other shooters like Galaxian. In Galaxian, you basically move left/right and shoot the aliens as fast as you can Oh and try and get the 800 pt boss Galaxian by shooting his two escorts first.. that's about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 yea communist mutants kicked ass. I loved threshold and spider fighter too. and encounter at l-5 and warplock (these two are a lot better than they credit for, imho, especially the one that uses the paddles.). and megamania. and phoenix. and demon attack and allia quest and worm whomper and beam rider and moonsweeper (mmm moon sweeper) and tac scan and deadly duck and demons to diamonds and death trap and trick shot and no escape and solar storm and space cavern. (stinkers left out, galaxian, gorf, condor attack, glacier patrol, carnival,) (havent played guardian or out of control enough to comment) my fave would probably be warplock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Two words: Spider Fighter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Atari Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 I'm a Megamaniac m'self. Love that game. That's one reason why it was my first hack way back when. MST2600 anyone? *COUGH* *COUGH* ONE OF THE GREATEST HACKS EVER *COUGH* *COUGH* My vote goes to Phoenix, always so much fun, starts easy then gets really hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 error, i didnt mean trick shot, i mean imagics awesome carnival shooting game which for some reason i cant remember the name of (shooting gallery?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Mitchell Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 These games are called "Death from Above" games. Favorites right now: Space Instigators, Megamania. On another system: YASI* for the Vectrex (Yet Another Space Invaders). Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 I was impressed with Pheonix when it came out.Allia Quest is a new one that's good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Megamania is my all-time fav. Demon Attack is cool too. Activision seemed to have the best shooters.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ventrra Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 I'm a Megamaniac m'self. Love that game. That's one reason why it was my first hack way back when. MST2600 anyone? Agreed, but how about Ventrra Invaders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black dog Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Threshold and Megamania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 I think I'd have to say that Space Inavders itself was my favorite one. In fact I like the 2600 version of Space Invaders more than the arcade version, more than ANY version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 You must be on crack. j/k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 No, I'd say I am on crack, I'm also one of the seven people who liked Swordquest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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