Sixteen Bit

 Fucking Space Invaders!!! Solid, love this game, it's nine years older then me. The Game was created by Tomohiro Nishikado and released in Taito Japan in 1987. According to Wikipedia, the game was so popular that there was a shortage of 100yen coins. That's pretty bad ass. Shortly after it was released in North America. Space Invaders has always been an underrated video game icon. I still see that shit everywhere, merchandise in novelty shops like backpacks ,wallets and T-shirts. I knew a kid that had a Space Invaders bong and they never even played it before.

The beginning of Story mode starts out like the classic in a little rectangle with a line on top. Of course the classic aliens, in uniform fashion, slowly come down in that little pattern they do. Moments into shooting them, its flashes white, Charles Darwin's quote "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."Your little box turns into a cool little spaceship and the background has some depth and feel. The enemies include the classic aliens, with many new ones, that have the freedom to move in complex patterns anywhere on the screen. Instantly you seen numerous differences from the original while still stay true to it.

The theme of the game is evolution and is enforced with a gene evolution system. Play through the game and add to the meter to advance through the gene levels. With advancement through the game you unlock new ships that shoot different projectiles and different abilities like free roam (which is unlocked very early). Shooting down the UFO unleashes a power up, which looks like a atom. Once the gene levels up, the power ups improve. It's a vast improvement from the original game. A very good job from developer Taito Corporation and publisher Square-Enix

There are a few game modes, Normal mode mentioned above; Challenge which consist of 99 short levels; Bonus is a collective of extra levels unlocked in Normal mode. Lets not forget Music mode, it creates an level from a song in your personal music collection. This is pretty cool and I enjoy it a lot. Can't figure out if the BPM of the song matters for the difficultly of the level generated. BPM of Normal levels can be seen before playing them. I noticed death metal levels are harder then the dance ones, and beck was pretty mellow. At the end of a song, a boss battle ends the round. 

What I really like about this game, is its playability, it is really addictive. You can see your rank in the top left hand corner and gives you drive to survive longer. You can continue on the level you died on, to continue the "evolution" but your score resets. This is a great game after smoking a fat joint, there are some amazing graphics and trippy patterns. I couldn't imagine playing on Psilocybin or other hallucinogens. Anyway for ten bucks, its a good buy and is while worth it. Plus you get to listen to your own music. Have fun with it.

PS: I am trying a new thing, I've been broadcasting live gaming sessions on blogtv.com under Sixteenbit. Right now I just point my PS eye at the television while hooked to my computer. Soon I will set up a recording system. More info later.