Line #18 YMMV/SpaceInvaders


1	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper:
2	** The bunkers can easily block crucial shots.
3	** From ''Extreme'' and ''Extreme 2'':
4	*** Both games will change the color or type of aliens on the current wave under certain conditions that are easy to fulfill by accident, which can be annoying if you're trying to get the Same Shape or Same Color lights, trigger specific Features, or start Rounds. Or worse, change aliens on the current wave to [=UFOs=]; colored [=UFOs=] immediately drop powerups when hit instead of having to hit four of the same color ''but'' you cannot get Features or Rounds off of [=UFOs=].
5	*** Both games have a "Multi Player" Roulette bonus that gives you a shadow cannon that fires alongside you. Great for damage-dealing and clearing out waves quickly, but it cannot be disabled without losing a life; not even holding down the button that pauses your current powerup will make it go away. This is problematic for situations that demand sniper-level precision, such as trying to get the OneUp light bonuses, trigger Features, or worst of all, trying not to provoke the wrath of an Assault alien near another alien you're trying to shoot.
6	* AntiClimaxBoss: The true final battle of ''Infinity Gene''. [[spoiler: And then the solitary final invader, which is arguably harder than ''even the boss before it''.]]
7	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The classic beat from the original game is sure to stay stuck in your head years later.
8	* DemonicSpiders:
9	** From the original game, the last remaining ship: it moves so quickly that it becomes extremely difficult to shoot down unless it's right at the bottom of the screen, at which point [[AllOrNothing the player only has one chance to do it]]. This mechanic became so infamous that it was used as a plot point in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s [[ReferencedBy/SpaceInvaders parody]] of the game:
10	--->'''Fry:''' Oh, I could never get the last one! My brother always got it for me!
11	** Several in ''Extreme'':
12	*** [[AttackReflector Reflector]] aliens can [[HoistByHisOwnPetard bounce your shots back to kill you]].
13	*** Assault aliens from the same game will descend when shot, and if you don't kill them fast enough, they'll land at the bottom of the screen for a kill. If you make the mistake of using Broad or Bomb shot on them, you can set off several of them and they'll land faster than you can kill all of the aliens you just pissed off.
14	*** The more difficult stages feature "sniper" aliens that fire high-speed bolts that can easily kill you before you can react.
15	* DiscOneFinalDungeon: In the mobile version of ''Infinity Gene'', stage 3-6 serves as this. The next stages are only available in the console versions.
16	* DisappointingLastLevel: Taito was either short on budget or time when coming up with ideas for ''Space Invaders Extreme 2''[='=]s final stages, because two of those four final stages' tracks are "invAde yOu aGain" and "Outbreak→Pandemic", which are just slightly rearranged versions of the Stage 1 and 2 tracks from ''Extreme''.
17	* FirstInstallmentWins: Games after the original tend to not be remembered very well.
18	* FriendlyFandoms: Due to being announced and released as part of the same campaign, the Steam version of ''Extreme'' has a number of fans who also play ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster''.
19	* GameBreaker: Several in ''Infinity Gene'':
20	** The Field ship. It slams anything within the targeting circle for extensive damage, and at max power, the circle is wide enough to cover the entire vertical height of the screen. It makes swarms of enemies practically trivial; any enemy that's a OneHitPointWonder and is unfortunate to spawn within the circle won't even have a chance to appear on the screen!
21	** Variable isn't quite as "kill everything around you" as Field, but any enemies caught in the laser swords is in for a world of pain. Even better if you get all four swords on a single target.
22	** Classic, which kills anything in a single hit. ''Even bosses.''
23	* GameplayDerailment: ''Extreme 2'' summons indefinite waves of [=UFOs=] when you trigger a Fever. This allows the player to earn bonus Fever-related points without having to destroy aliens that are part of enemy waves. It also creates a meta where the best way to score is to draw the normally 3-4 minute stages to over 10 minutes each.
24	* GeniusBonus:
25	** The names for some of the stages in ''Infinity Gene''.
26	** The very first stage, "Common Descent" is like that of an old-school arcade space invaders game. These invaders are the common ancestor of the other enemies you will soon face, hence the other enemies share a common descent.
27	** The final stage (after the FinalBoss), "Back Mutation" has you fight a single lone invader in an old-school arcade format. A back mutation is a mutation that reverts a gene back to its original self.
28	** "Struggle for Existence" has a BossRush of 8 or so minibosses before encountering the real boss itself.
29	* GoddamnedBoss: In the non-DS versions of ''Extreme'', the Stage 4 bosses are some of the most obnoxious in the game. In the DS version, you and a row of Reflector aliens are on the top screen and you have to bounce shots so that they fly past you (and you can be [[HoistByHisOwnPetard killed by your own reflected shots]]), but at least you can do it with the basic blaster rather than the Broad Shot that you can get from killing the mooks. In other versions, however, which features the boss in the upper half of the screen while mooks descend down endlessly, you cannot damage the boss with your basic shot at all; you ''have'' to destroy enough of the mooks to get the "right-angle laser" powerup and then shoot more of the mooks when they're vertically-aligned with the boss to damage it.
30	* GoodBadBugs:
31	** The point value of the flying saucer in the original version appears to be random, but is actually a function of how many times the player has fired. A savvy player can count 14 shots, and ''then'' shoot the saucer, guaranteeing themselves a whopping 300 points.
32	** In the original game, when the Invaders are at the bottom row, their bullets generate under the player's turret, rendering him immune to that row's attacks. This technique is called ''Nagoya Shot'', so named for allegedly being discovered in Nagoya. ''Space Invaders Extreme'' references this with the "Nagoya Attack" bonus for Invaders that move in the traditional side-by-side pattern; Invaders destroyed on the bottom row yield a x20 score multiplier[[note]]this was {{nerf}}ed to x2 for the Steam version[[/note]]. Also referenced in ''Space Invaders Infinity Gene'', where there's a point reward for exploiting a similar (deliberate) feature where enemy shots don't hurt you for the first second they're on the screen, once you unlock it.
33	** The UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem port of ''Super Space Invaders'' had a glitch in which shooting certain types of secondary weapons could cause the enemies to move slowly, even freezing on screen - they keep firing, however - thus giving you the opportunity to destroy flying saucer after flying saucer - that appeared and moved normally - to get extra points as well as main weapon and shield powerups.
34	* {{Moe}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDuXr23ApME This]] music video.
35	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: In the original arcade game, just killing an alien, any alien, had a wonderful splat/death cry.
36	* PolishedPort:
37	** The iconic Platform/{{Atari 2600}} port of the game. While the graphics are a step down from the already primitive arcade game, the gameplay is uniformly considered just as good, if not superior to the arcade game, owing in part the staggering variety of gameplay options available on the cartridge. It's also well-known for having a surprising number of on-screen objects at once for the hardware it's on.
38	** The Steam version of ''Extreme'' is a good mix of the DS and 360/PSP versions, combining the DS version's ZUNTATA soundtrack with the PSP version's interface. It also adds a wave counter, which lets you know how much further until the end of the stage, {{nerf}}s Nagoya Attacks so that the optimal scoring strategy is no longer "camp out until aliens reach the bottom row", and adds some other quality-of-life touches.
39	** The US and European Game Boy versions, though very similar to the Japanese release on first glance, have a number of improvements over that version when played on a Super Game Boy. For starters, they have a special border that replicates the original arcade cabinet's art, as well as multiple color modes to replicate the cellophane overlay that was used in some versions as well as the full-color Space Invaders II/Deluxe. But it also included an "Arcade" mode that was actually a native SNES port of the game, which had even more features and would eventually be re-released as a standalone SNES cart. Not only was this effectively two games for the price of one, this was the only game that took advantage of this functionality within the Super Game Boy hardware.
40	* SurpriseDifficulty: In ''Extreme 2'', do ''not'' be caught off-guard when you enter Stage 5-D or Extreme Stage 5-C and hear UFO-CO shouting "Let's play!" followed by happy hardcore music. They are still very much the hardest stages in the game.
41	* ThatOneAchievement: From the Steam version of ''Extreme'':
42	** "King of ''Space Invaders Extreme''" requires you to clear the game without missing a shot '''at all.'''
43	** "Mania" requires you to play the game a whopping 10,000 times. It's not as "tear your hair out" as having to play the game with perfect accuracy, but it is ''tedious''.
44	* ThatOneBoss: The final boss of ''Extreme 2'' at at least 5-D is the closest Space Invaders can come to BulletHell. It can use a ton of different shots and has three seperate targets, each with its own massive amount of health. Extreme 5-C is considered to be one of the, if not the, hardest bosses in the franchise, and non-Bullet Hell shooters as a whole.

Context YMMV / SpaceInvaders