Game Review: Space Invasion 2022

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Game Boy Color (ROM)

The story on how I ended up reviewing Space Invasion 2022 is a rather interesting one as I originally thought that this was going to be a retro-inspired release for the Nintendo Switch, but I was surprised to learn that it was actually a Game Boy Color ROM. I'm no stranger to ROMs though, and I was still interested in the game, so I decided to check it out anyway. As the name implies, this is a Space Invaders-inspired game that came out in 2022, and you can pick up on itch.io for $1.99. We're going to take a look at this neat little shooter and see if that's a fair asking price for a modern GBC release.

If you've ever played Space Invaders, then you're familiar with what you'll find in Space Invasion 2022. Gameplay here consists of levels made up of waves of enemies that slowly descend onto the player. The player is an unnamed space ship, and you can only move left to right on the lowest layer of the playing field. The enemy waves move in a sort of old-school typewriter pattern, meaning that they move all the way to one side of the screen before they drop down one layer and begin moving towards the opposite side of the screen. Your only line of defense is your ship's gun, and the three barricades that are stationed two spaces above you. These barricades can be shot down by either you or the enemy, and once the an enemy reaches the level the barricades are on, they will start to systematically destroy them as they continue their never-ending march to the side of the screen. The waves slowly increase speed as they are reduced in number, with the last enemy darting side to side at a speed that can mean instant death if you're not careful. Clearing a stage is simple, you have to kill every enemy on screen, and maybe take out the occasional saucer-shaped alien that travels across the screen for bonus points. You have three lives and three continues, and it's game over if you lose all your lives, or if the enemies reach the level your ship is on. That's pretty much all there is to the game, but let's talk a bit more about how it works.

Each wave starts at a certain height, with some beginning their descent really close to the player. There are several stages like this, and they become a mad dash of taking out each line of enemies before they lead to a really fast game over. This is easier said than done since your gun fires rather slowly, and you can only fire again once your bullet hits something, or goes off screen. Also, since the wave will only move down once one of its side has hit the stage wall, wider waves will descend faster than narrower ones. This usually leads to a mad rush where you're forced to decide if you're going to take out the enemies on the side in the hopes that this will slow their descent, or the ones that are closest to you and might lead to a much quicker death. The problem with taking out the enemies closest to you are the barricades that you'd think are meant to protect you. While they do perform this task fairly well for the most part, they also manage to get in the way when you're trying to take out a dangerous close wave of enemies. More often than not I'd find myself destroying the barricades myself, and then groan when they'd respawn on the next level. The only other gameplay element I haven't mentioned regards the enemy bullets. These come in different shapes, and some of them can actually be shot down by the player. It's hard to tell which ones these are, but as long as you're always shooting you should be able to move away fast enough if your bullet doesn't take them out.

Now I took a look at the game's itchio page to learn more about it and saw that the way to the highest score (the only thing that really matters here) is to limit your shots and take out each saucer as it appears. I tried this for a couple times before I realized that I'm just not the proper player for such a technique, and I quickly shifted back to just trying to survive. I also saw on the itchio page that this game apparently has boss encounters. I'd imagine that these really change up the gameplay, but I was never able to get to them. Try as I might I could never beat the tenth wave, and some waves would often drain all of my continues. The difficulty is all over the place, and I guess one could argue that I could've save stated my way to the bosses, but I wanted to play this game on its own merits. After about two hours of playing the same levels over and over again, I figured I had seen enough. My time with the game wasn't wasted though as I was able to set several high scores, though if you want to set a really good one, you probably have to forego continuing to make sure the game records it. This is another reason why I was never able to get to the boss stages. That said I don't think they'd work very well considering how slowly you shoot. Perhaps I'll amend this review if I get around to trying out a challenge run.

Since this game only exists as a ROM for the Game Boy Color, it can only be played through an emulator of some. I actually had a hard time finding one that would run this ROM, with only mGBA being the only one that was able to do it. I do sometimes use mGBA, but it is not the main GBA emulator I use, and not the one I typically use for playing original Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. This compatibility issue is mentioned sort of on the itchio page, but I couldn't help but wonder what was keeping it from being able to be played on other emulators. That said, the emulation on mGBA worked perfectly and I had no issues at all with the game. Except for its difficulty I guess, and other little quirks I guess. Speaking of quirks, since getting a high score is key, I was excited to put in "Alavic" into the high score table only to learn that it only allows for five characters. RIP to "Alavi" getting the top score I guess.

I couldn't help but feel that Space Invasion 2022 was a pretty this experience overall, but then again I have to admit that it made me actually enjoy Space Invaders-type gameplay for a change. The graphics are colorful, the music is pretty good, and I had a lot of fun playing it. While I was very much annoyed with a stage here or there, I did find myself replaying it over and over again even though I wasn't really progressing. It also only costs $1.99, and at the time of this writing (around Christmas 2023) it's on sale for only $0.49. I don't really want to give it a blanket recommendation, especially since paying for a ROM feels a little off to me, but this is a pretty neat game that I'm glad I was able to play. Maybe if this eventually sees a release on consoles, or even some sort of limited edition GBC cartridge, I'll give it another look. Until then, grab it if you're a shooter fan, or of Space Invaders in general. Oh, and I hope that the high score table is eventually extended to include six characters instead of five!

For More Information on Space Invasion 2022:
https://thalamusdigital.itch.io/space-invasion

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: C+
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: B
Value: B+

Overall: B

Pros:
+ A fun arcade style shooter that admittedly is more involved than the original Space Invaders.
+ Lots of enemy variety, and plenty of levels.
+ The music is pretty good, as are the overall enemy and game designs.
+ Very affordable for what you get.

Cons:
- There's a lot of compatibility issues with emulators. Pretty much only works on mGBA.
- Some waves start so low to the player that they seem extremely unfair.
- Runs can be ended really fast if you miss a shot or two.
- The actual game here is very shallow.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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