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I was lucky enough to have a quick play on Space Invaders Extreme. It was a demo version so I only got to play one level but after hearing good things about the game I am now convinced. This game is bloody brilliant.

At heart it is the tried and tested Space Invaders formula. Which first and foremost let me tell you, is a very good thing. When remaking a classic game, so often developers try to change the essence of the game and as a result, murder the franchise. This game makes only a few subtle changes — the “aliens” are colour coded allowing you to gain combos from killing similarly coloured nasties; arkanoid-esque powerups drop from the screen allowing you to temporarily deal with a horde of enemies and; the presentation is sublime.

There are a whole host of disco lights and madness raging in the background but it’s the sound that is the most interesting thing. As you destroy enemies the main riff will unveil itself on top of the backing track - when you stop shooting there’s just backing music without melody. Some enemies make drum noises when hit but the regular enemies just make blips. It’s not the most exciting feature in the world but it does make the game fun to play and adds a rhythm-action element to the mix.

Most of all though - this is fun. I’ll bring you a review soon.