Just over 30 years ago a game appeared that was to change the face of the world and then last year Square Enix and Taito combined to bring out a tribute on both the DS and the PSP called Space Invaders Extreme which was universally acclaimed for being a perfect tribute to the old classic. Now less than twelve months later the pair have combined again to produce a sequel to last year’s tribute, which to be fair is still an excellent game but, to be honest, is not that different from last year’s offering. Of course the basic idea behind the game hasn’t changed, you still control a ship at the bottom of the screen and shoot wave after wave of aliens as the cascade down the screen. As with last year’s game this is done at quite a pace, which if all you have played is the original game from 1978 will come as quite a surprise. The first thing to note about the sequel is that you lucky DS owners have this as an exclusive because one of the changes makes total use of the two screen system of the DS. In the previous game you had various bonus levels which meant you left the main game but not anymore. Now if you manage to activate a bonus round that plays on the top screen whilst the main game continues to play on the bottom one. This leads to a much more frantic game which may be off putting to some, but I hope not because it is actually quite a cool and unique feature. Another new feature is in score attack mode. Here a strange “bingo” system has been introduced with a grid of nine squares appearing on the top screen. Each of these shows two colours. The square are filled in by shooting groups of the same coloured invaders and trying to make a horizontal, diagonal or vertical line of squares. Manage to do this and you will start a special bonus game which increases the point value of the aliens. As well as score attack mode there is a time attack and also online leaderboards and the chance to play online head-to-head battles. Graphic wise the developers have done an excellent mixture of modern effects and retro design in terms of the ships and the aliens themselves. Sound wise it is a series of electronic tunes that cleverly you can alter because they are linked to the aliens that you manage to shoot down. Overall this is an excellent title as was last years. It is incredibly addictive and is a must buy for DS owners providing you do not have last year’s version. If you do then you really have to decide if the couple of extra features are worth purchasing it again. | 
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