Alien Invaders-Plus! (Overall) Alien Invaders-Plus! was the first game that I got for the Magnavox Odyssey 2. Now, just from the name you should be able to guess what this is a clone of. That's right! A Space Invaders clone. I love Space Invaders, when I seen this game I just had to have it. My thought was "how could they mess up Space Invaders? It will probably be the exact same game just with a few little graphics changes." Well, it kinda is the same game (almost) with a few little graphics changes, but I have learned, you can mess up Space Invaders, you can mess it up pretty bad, but before we get to that I will give you a little history of Alien Invaders-Plus!.
Alien Invaders-Plus! was released for the Magnavox Odyssey 2 in 1980 (NA). Magnavox has almost no third party support, most, if not all of the games for the console were made by a few people. there are alot of clones one this console (just like the rest of the consoles of the time), and alot of really good clones at that. This is not one of the good clones.
"A fiendish new dimension comes to one of the most popular arcade games of all time!" (quote from the box). Yeah, this game is fiendish alright. Speaking of the box, what is with the four headed snake shooting lazers, I am almost positive that is not in the game, if it was it might have made this game a little better!
Alien Invaders-Plus! gets a 4.5 overall, lets dive in deeper and find out why!
Overview- Space Invaders clone, misleading box art, a big fat let down!
(Graphics) I think we all know what Space Invader looks like, and that will give you some what of an idea of what this game looks like. Really Alien Invaders-Plus! looks like a kids version or a dumbed down version of the arcade classic.
The first row consists of big green balls, you can not kill the balls, they are just a shield to keep you from killing the alien invaders. The balls seem to be in the way every time you fire! The second row has mushrooms or maybe little Atari 2600 joy sticks, I don't know what they are. The third row has people flying around. Why would people or aliens or what ever they are be flying around with out a ship shooting at some earthling? At the very top is a big red, one eyed, flying tentacle monster.
Ok, that is what the enemies look like, what do you look like? You are a big triangle. I know good and well that these consoles had limitations, but they could have made this look so much better. Atari's version of the Space Invaders looks like a work of art compared to this!
It seemed like they just used basic colors and shapes and didn't really put too much work into making the game look good. I give graphics a 5, it looks pretty average.
Overview-This game is nothing to look at! I would rather just stare at the box art than play the game.
(Sound) I have very little to say about the sound in this game. Any one that plays alot of second generation video game consoles will know what to expect from the average game, and that is pretty much what you get.
The sound effects are not half as good as the arcade (which you can expect it to be). In Space Invaders when you shoot an enemy you get this really satisfying kaboom, you don't really get that in Alien Invaders-Plus!.
I give this game a 5 in sound, yet again an average score for a game of this time.
Overview-Turn off the volume and have Space Invaders playing in the background!
(Gameplay) We all know that if the gameplay trumps sound and graphics, if the game is fun to play it really doesn't what what it looks or sounds like. How does this game play?
It plays like you would think a Space Invaders clone would. The controls are stiff and unresponsive, the ball shields block your shot from every angle, your enemies shoot too fast, your extra triangle tanks block too much of the screen and make it hard to shoot. Really this game has almost everything working against it.
When you are shot your tank blows up and you turn into a little guy (which is probably the coolest change in the game play from Space Invaders), you can not shoot when you don't have a tank. You get a new one from walking under the huge black squares that have been blocking your way the whole game and clicking the fire button. You get three extra tanks.
I would give gameplay a score of 4, just not a fun game to play.
Overview-What a mess, what a mess.
(Addictiveness) How likely are you to play this game more than once? Not very!
Like I just said in gameplay, this game is not very fun, if a game is not fun it has very little replay value. I only have a few O2 games so I pretty much have to play it (you wonder why I am so angry all the time).
This game is worth checking out and playing once but I am sure most people would only want to play it once so I give addictiveness a 4, less than average, but really the game is not so bad it would make you sick to play it every now and then.
Overview-Very little replay value.
(Story) "Alien Invaders-Plus! Starring the Merciless Monstroths! These tentacled terrors from the stars command ruthless robot invasion forces as tehy come relentlessly closer to Earth. Your're almost hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned. It will take strategy, dexterity and the most exquisite timeing to ever come close to winning this battle against overwhelming odds. This is without question one of the most challenging, exciting and demanding electronic games ever invented!"
Yeah, that is word for word what it reads on the back of the box and the only little bit of a story for this game. Most games from this time didn't have a story so its not really a big deal.
Overview-Not really any story, but no big deal, most games of the time didn't have one.
(Depth) I never really expect too much when it comes to depth in games from this time, and you really don't get much in this game.
From what I have played, I have only seen one screen with the same enemies. I have talked about what the game looks like in graphics so there is no need to go over it again.
This game is lacking a bit in depth, I give it a 4, less than average.
Overview-Same old thing over and over.
(Difficulty) This game is hard! I mean really hard. There is nothing wrong with a hard game when the difficulty is fare, well there is nothing fare about this game.
I have really already talked about what makes the game hard in gameplay but I will give you a quick refreshing on it, the shields makes it almost impossible to kill all your enemies, the controls are stiff as a board and unresponsive, the enemies fire too fast.
All that makes for a hard game in the worst way possible. I give it a angry 10!
Overview-Hard for all the wrong reasons.
(Ending) Alien Invaders-Plus! is no classic, nor will it ever be. It is what it is though. If you have an Odyssey 2 or get a chance to play it, I would say go for it. Its not going to kill you to play this game (hope not at least). This is a not so great clone of a classic arcade game on an almost forgotten (but great) console and that is what it is.
Graphics
5 Sound
5 Addictive
4 Depth
4 Difficulty
10
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