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Space Raiders (video game)
Encyclopedia
Space Raiders, known as Space Invaders: Invasion Day in Europe, is a 2002 update to the original 1978 Space Invaders
arcade game
from its creators. Re-imagined for the sixth generation home consoles, Space Raiders takes the surface-to-air shooting action of the original title and puts it into a third-person urban street setting on the GameCube
and PlayStation 2
(the latter only in Japan and Europe). This update features detailed opening cinematics of the alien invasion, story and survival modes, boss battles and three playable characters, each with their own backstory.
Occasional power-ups become available giving the player temporary access to special weapons. Strategic use of power-ups is required as the variety of aliens and diversity of their attacks will not allow for the straight forward shooting of the original arcade game. Unfortunately, Space Raiders contains only six missions and can be completed in under two hours. A port of the original Space Invaders arcade game is included and unlocked by a cheat. The game was not well-received by fans or newcomers to the series, and the engine received heavy criticism for its departure from the original.
. Criticisms included poor graphics, repetitive gameplay and infidelity to Space Invaders. ScrewAttack named it their number one Worst Remake or Reboot in video gaming because of it being virtually unrelated to the actual Space Invaders franchise it was drawing influence from in the first place.
Space Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
from its creators. Re-imagined for the sixth generation home consoles, Space Raiders takes the surface-to-air shooting action of the original title and puts it into a third-person urban street setting on the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
(the latter only in Japan and Europe). This update features detailed opening cinematics of the alien invasion, story and survival modes, boss battles and three playable characters, each with their own backstory.
Gameplay
The playable characters include Justin (street teen), Ashley (fashion photographer) and Naji (police officer), and while they look different, all three play about the same. From a fixed height behind the character, you will shoot at increasing waves of various aliens as they march down the street toward your position. You can move side-to-side as in the original arcade game, but you also have limited movement both into and away from the screen.Occasional power-ups become available giving the player temporary access to special weapons. Strategic use of power-ups is required as the variety of aliens and diversity of their attacks will not allow for the straight forward shooting of the original arcade game. Unfortunately, Space Raiders contains only six missions and can be completed in under two hours. A port of the original Space Invaders arcade game is included and unlocked by a cheat. The game was not well-received by fans or newcomers to the series, and the engine received heavy criticism for its departure from the original.
Reception
Space Raiders received generally negative reviews, earning a score of 40 out of 100 from MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Criticisms included poor graphics, repetitive gameplay and infidelity to Space Invaders. ScrewAttack named it their number one Worst Remake or Reboot in video gaming because of it being virtually unrelated to the actual Space Invaders franchise it was drawing influence from in the first place.