Arkanoid VS Space Invaders (PlayStation 4 - Switch)

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Sturmvogel Prime
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Arkanoid VS Space Invaders (PlayStation 4 - Switch)

Post by Sturmvogel Prime »

SPACE INVADERS (PART V)
INVADED AND BLOCKED



Enough of the Trashfall, Breakthrough Gaming and all that crap. Here's the final chapter of the Space Invaders marathon of reviews and I've kept the best for the end.
I'll be talking about Arkanoid VS Space Invaders.

This time, it will be a joint review with xxx1993, who will provide me with some support in a few aspects of the game.


Like the other two titles, this game is part of the Space Invaders Invincible Collection and Space Invaders Forever compilations and like it's description says it is a console port of the smartphone app, which implies there might be some differences in the game.



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¿Can we call this "Puzzle'em Up"?

Arkanoid VS Space Invaders breaks with the basic aspects of Arkanoid by mixing shmup elements to the game itself. While the inclusion of destructible Invaders along with the traditional blocks that can be destroyed in one hit (or more in case of the hard-blocks), the major game-changer has to be the lack of the ball. The reason of this is because the ball is actually the reflected bullet from an Invader. Like the classic Arkanoid ball, it can bounce on its way to the top of the screen or until it hits something. But unlike the traditional Arkanoid ball that rebounds, the bullet will dissipate after hitting an enemy or leaving the upper part of the screen. While in Arkanoid, being hit by a bullet means losing a life, in this game it is the ball mechanic and it can be used with all the on-screen bullets that touch the Vaus. But you don't just bounce the ball like normal. You have the ability of performing a "Smash" by quickly moving up toward the bullet and launch it straightly vertical with more power. Unlike most console games, this one uses the PlayStation 4 Touch Pad and the Switch's Touchscreen on the Nintendo Switch version, which breaks with the common use of the D-Pad and/or Analog Sticks.



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Entering Close Range Attack Mode-C

A major benefit of having muliple bullets on screen is that the Vaus-bounced fire also powers up the yellow gauges on the sides.
Both gauges fill at the same time, so we can think as a mirrored gauge I guess. But once it's filled, the game will turn things on your favor.



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That's what we can call "A very lovely attack".

The first and main ability is the Attack Mode, which grants you the power to fire an energy ball and bounce it across the screen until the gauge depletes or it leaves the screen by falling to the bottom of it. During this moment, the time limit will stop, granting you a good enough breath of air and even a chance to recover some of the time through item drops from both blocks and Invaders. Your second power is the "Skill" which I'll explain right now.



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Going "Overclock" definitely stops everything around, don't you?

Skill takes the place of the multiple weapons from the Arkanoid. Anyone who's familiar with the series will probably remember the capsules that granted the ability of shooting lasers, split the ball into three, turn the ball into a powerful pass-through-everything ball or extend the size of the Vaus. This mechanic is implemented in a slightly different style since the weapon items are replaced with unlockable characters with an unique skill. Also, the Skills were changed from Stage-lasting powers to timed Special Attacks kinda like a "Bomb Format" as they last for a few seconds, but you can stack up to three of them and if you pick a fourth item, it will replenish the Skill gauge acting like a Megaman weapon energy item.



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Racking up the high numbers.

No puzzle is complete nowadays without the multiplier combo. As long as you don't lose the ball you can increase the score obtained from blocks and Invaders. There's a few stages where you can exploit the Skills and the infinite enemy respawns for a massive score, and Stage 66 is the best example. Once you've unlocked Ti2 (Overclock), you can reach combo multipliers up to 200-300.



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The results could be amazing, don't you think?

Making combos aren't just for high scoring purposes, they also grant you more Medals to spend for upgrades, and you can get a good bunch with a high enough combo, combine this with the medals dropped by blocks and enemies and the level cleared ones and you could be even buying those helpful powers which will give you some advantage during boss battles.



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The first 15 steps of a long journey...

Looks like Taito really likes long campaigns. Since Dariusburst CS: Chronicle Saviours and its epic CS Mode, Arkanoid VS Space Invaders also features a massive campaign of 150 stages long, 14 of them are the block breaking-Invader killing stages, while the 15th level is the obligatory boss fight. Clearing stages grant you rewards like Medals which you can use later in the game.



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Special Offer: First weapon picks are for free.

Before starting a level, you can purchase upgrades for your ship like Stage-only Extended Vaus, Increased Ball strength and Attack Power and a "Last Second" Attack Mode which triggers the Attack Mode at the last second acting as a desperate measure to clear the level before the time finally runs out. This one becomes vital during the Hard levels. Just remember: At first you'll be granted to pick the upgrades for free, but after that you'll have to pay for them.



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Some mini-objectives can give you more characters.

The second option to unlock a few more characters (and rewards like extra Medals) is by clearing specific objectives like performing a certain amount of smashes, breaking blocks and enter Attack Mode a good amount of times. Some of the objectives can be repeated in high numbers, giving you even more medals for them. Despite being called "Achievements" they don't award you Trophies in the console ports, so you're stucked with those granted by the compilation itself.



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Some Psychic Force could be required for this mission.

You can unlock characters in two ways: The first one is by getting "Badges" after clearing a level. Unlike coins, Badges aren't discounted and they behave more like the required Stars in Super Mario 64 meaning that you have to reach a specific amount of stars to unlock more and more characters. This progression method is very helpful since you can unlock up to three characters at once, giving you a basic range of experimenting with the gameplay throughout their unique skills.



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Levels are more than just breaking blocks in the classic way.

One of the main aspects of the level layouts is how they break from the traditional Arkanoid blocks and make some interesting experiments with the formula by placing larger blocks, small Invaders and even complex paths made with indestructible gold blocks. The objectives will constantly change from breaking blocks to kill invaders and adds even new objectives like "Cores", adding a little strategy to a game based on taking full force against the obstacles. Sometimes the game will utilize new stage hazards like conveyor belts that at first time will be desperating as they move the ball to undesired directions, and others will require to take down special blocks and Invaders to turn gold blocks/Invaders into destructible regular enemies. The Invaders will also change size making them hard to hit and the blocks will even move in a variety of directions. From bouncing back and forth to "open and close" curtains.



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These are the Invaders you always knew...

Each 15th level, you'll be facing a boss, which has its own energy bar, companion Invaders and sometimes block patterns to keep you from hitting it. You can bounce all of his attacks back and you'll be relying on buying upgrades like the Vaus extension for these fights. The boss fight will procede with the classic "Oversized" Invader for a while until you deplete some of his health.



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...and Invaders that are all new.

After depleting a good amount of energy, the large Invader will transform into a spaceship based on its shape, changing its attack patterns and utilizing new weapons like spread fire.



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The odds and the clock are against you.

After clearing a world, including its boss, you can decide if you want to keep your path to the next world, or revisit the previous world on a higher difficulty. Congratulations! You've unlocked the Hard difficulty on your first world, and boy, you've better get real ready for this one, 'cos this time the game will pull no punches until you fail and give up, throwing you new hazards like stricter time limits for the stage. You're gonna need to know which character is useful for make progress here and if that wasn't enough, if an Invader bullet hits the bottom of the screen it will take three seconds away from the timer. Something dangerous for the levels and even fatal on boss fights, so you can't screw up too much in this difficulty. Bosses have more health and fire rates, and don't think Items are gonna be very helpful here. This is where the "Anti-Items" or Downgrades will strike. From temporary invincibility for the Invaders and blocks to Vaus paralyzing shock capsules, Vaus slowdown and even size reduction. The Slowdown item also prevents you from doing Smashes, limiting you to the basic ball. If you have to miss an "Extra second" capsule because there's also anti-items next to it, better miss that item rather than losing more time.



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Increasing prices is a cruel idea of "making challenge".

Hard difficulty doesn't just mean reducing your time, or adding the "Anti-Items". For a final dose of challenge, this game pulls an unfair trick: Increase the price of the upgrades, costing you almost twice as normal. This might work on "Hard-Type" RPG rom hacks for the difficulty lovers, but not on shmups where money investment plays a key role on the player's chance to complete a stage.



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Touch Pad mastery is required.

The only problem that I have with this game is the controls. For newcomers, both PlayStation 4 and Switch versions are basically "Neon Genesis Power Glove". ¿The reason of this? Is what I've said before, this game uses the PS4 Touch Pad rather than the Analog Sticks which would be the best idea for games like this. And when I said Power Glove, I mean it. 'cos controlling the Vaus and the Attack Mode is a god-damned pain that needs some time to master. I know they're trying to recreate the control of the mobile phone version, but in the PS4 case is a hassle. I mean, what was wrong with the Analog Sticks? They can have the same velocity required to trigger the power ball attack rapid move by moving the Left Stick up fast enough. If they can pull fast moves in fighting games like Street Fighter, The King of Fighters and Mortal Kombat, then they'll easily do it here. Taito and Square-Enix REALLY NEEDS to update the game to enable Analog Stick functionality and there's a real reason why. Playing the stages on Hard is a nightmare with the Touch Pad. As if the Anti-Items, Short Time and time reduction for each bullet missed weren't enough, add the Touch Pad controls and you'll have a nightmare on your PS4, hence the reference to the infamous Power Glove's barely functional interface. ¿But who's to blame?, ¿Sony for creating the Touch Pad or Taito/SE for considering it a good idea to emulate the mobile phone's touchscreen rather than using the more functional Analog Sticks?

xxx1993, can you tell us how functional the controls are on the mobile phone?

xxx1993: It’s just much easier in the phone or tablet than the PS4, the same goes for the Switch version.


Another issue that I have with the Touch Pad is when the Skill Activation is toggled to Manual. Most of the times you'll be activating the Skill by accident and all because holding down on the Touch Pad is also used on the Attack Mode, an example of how the idea of two functions in one button doesn't work.



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The dreaded bad news.

While anyone would consider to pick the Smartphone rather than the Switch or the PlayStation 4 and give the game a try, I have some bad news: Taito pulled the plug on the game on November 30th, 2016 at 15:00PM by closing the servers and the high-score ranking, making the console ports the only option available.



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Events are quite common in games like this one.

There's even more casualties beyond the Smartphone application. Apparently, the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch ports are very different from its Android counterpart, as the character level up, the three star system and the item upgrading were removed for a more basic gameplay. The Normal and Premium Gacha "Drag-to-Shoot" bonus games to unlock characters were also removed and replaced with the Medal requiring gimmick, but not ALL the characters were included in this progression. So this means that special "Events" and Rank S exclusive characters like Nadia Bunny Version and the swimsuit versions of Ti2 and Nadia from the Summer Event were out of the console ports. Those are Raiden Trad-levels of game butchering, and when I say Raiden Trad, I mean the SNES version.



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The other casualties of the console conversion, a whole planet and even a movie collaboration.

Well, there's even more removed things than just characters, leveling up and events. The Log-in Bonus, bonuses and crystals were kicked out too. ¿Did you know you were originally allowed to continue by buying the chance with Crystals?, those were replaced with the Restart Level option in the Level Failed screen. The console version also omits an entire planet called "Wind Planet Silfy" (it could also be Sylfee or Silphy) as we saw on the images. This also affects the route where in between levels you could pick a Crystal for free. To make this content butchering even worse, the collaboration with Pixels was also removed in the console ports.

UPDATE: Here's a couple of gameplay videos featuring the omitted planet and Bunnygirl Nadia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWiZJfJzK_c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7QBbdbukL0

xxx1993: Really? I don’t know if they’re butchered.

Yeah, it's a surprise since the game's description in both Space Invaders Forever and Invincible Collection says they are a direct port of the smartphone game, so I think that claim should be tagged as false advertising. What's your best theory about these removals in the console ports?

xxx1993: I don’t know. Maybe because the game ended service in Japan five years ago.

That might be the reason, just like the Event mode of AC Mode in Dariusburst CS: Chronicle Saviours which is always unavailable, however events could be somehow "emulated" in consoles. A good example of that is the constant Forzathon events in the Forza Horizon series and the "Message" feature could be used on the console port for "Daily Payouts" kinda like in Forza Motorsport games. This feature removing thing is just mysteries upon mysteries.



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Mastered 20 levels already?, There's another mode out there, kid.

Let's continue with the good points of the game. After clearing 20 stages in the game, you will unlock the Leaderboards Mode. This is more of a Survival Mode where you have to kill as many Invaders as possible before time runs out. This mode will run with the Hard difficulty mechanics of "Anti-items" and the time deduction if a bullet hits the bottom. There's two variations: "Skill ON" and "Skill OFF", which means you can use your character's skills or not, for instance, the Ti2's time stopping hability.



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KEEP IT: This game saves your scores.
Just in case some fool doubts how good you really are.


The heart, core and soul of Leaderboards Mode. Save your scores and display it on a Top 50 against other players around the Earth, just in case you're wondering who the best is. The only flaw is that they don't mention which character they used for that.



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Fighting back with a little help from Nadia.

Since we're talking about a well-made smartphone game, the graphics are very sharp, vibrant and colorful with fancy visual effects with HD resolution, so we don't have to worry about overpixelation or if the game looks like a bad Adobe Flash game. Space is the dominant theme like in Arkanoid: Doh it Again, and starfields are the common background scenario, with the "planet" you're in like Sector Nine or Prehama, and I put planet in quotes because it looks like a large chunk floating in space like an asteroid rather than a planet. The PlayStation 4 version has these mechanical panels on the sides to fill the screen in the style of today's bullet hell shmups like Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced and Raiden IV as they are placed for decorative purpose rather than being a fully interactive status reporting interface like in Raiden V.



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Letting still images do the job for the cutscene.

The game's main storyline is explained at the beginning of each world, but like in the Smartphone version, the cutscenes are just the planet background with a small dialogue box showing the Arkanoid operator Nadia with the respective expression based on what's written there.



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This is your 2009 Dariusburst Belsar Great Thing.

It was nostalgic that Taito decided to include a good bunch of characters from their library, from the classics like Bubble Bobble, Darius, Chack N' Pop and Elevator Action to obscure games like The Ninja Warriors and Puchi Carat and the latest ones like Groove Coaster and Dariusburst. Despite the variety of characters, there's plenty to be desired for a shmup fan. I mean, where's Lutia Feen from G-Darius? Why they didn't included RayStorm bosses like Alaric and Genseric? Where's F-04, the X-LAY pilot? Or how about including Con-Human, the pilots of Gekirindan or any of the Gridseeker bosses?

xxx1993: The Darius characters are enough. Although, we are missing some. We could have gotten Twinkle from Bust-A-Move 3, or Rika Midorikawa from Raimais. How about Roy Adams from Operation Wolf, Taito's answer to Rambo? Or how about Kurt, Edie, and Jad from Elevator Action Returns? That's another good game, by the way.

I have to agree with those ones too. There's more of Taito and its characters than meets the eye and they deserved to appear in the game.



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I'm stuck on interphase, my heart does not forget.
Checking out at this point is no sweat.
Chill factor number nine, you made my heart go blind.
You act so cold but you still look so fine.


Although we have an ARRAY of characters to play with, there's one particular character that became a fan favorite, and that's Nadia Vivie, the operator of the Arkanoid, but well, I'll let xxx1993 to talk about Nadia.



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xxx1993: Just that she’s one of the nicest, sweetest girls you’ll ever meet in a video game.
You’d WANT to be her friend.


That's a nice description, Nadia is the kind of girl that you'll like to have in the game as your partner because there's a sweet nature under her strict appearance. You'll notice that everytime you clear each sector as her once strict way to talk softens revealing the sweet girl she is as she begins to care about the player, take this quote for example: "But you're different from the other pilots I've commanded. There's something special about you."



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From strict to heartwarming.
Nadia is really something, don't you think?


The music department is very rhythmic in the overall stages as the upbeat semi-trance style takes over the stage and there's even one song that has a rhythm very reminiscent of Rez, to be exact sounds like the percussion of the Egypt stage of the game (Check minute 4:26 in this video and compare it with 6:12 from this video). There's three random themes for the bosses, while two of them have tribal-like drumming in the electronic rhythm, the third one is more of a fast, anime-energetic pace that reminds me of Otomedius Excellent, but with one flaw. That annoying "Invas-OoOo-Oo-OoOh" voice that plays over and over troughout the level, is like the Taito version of the "Show me what you've GO-o-Oo-O-oO-o-Oo-O-oO-o-OT!!" from Aero Fighters 3.
We can not forget the music for the overworld which cues the classic Arkanoid level start theme and the cutscenes of the game which utilize calm-yet-energetic beats and even using the ball-bouncing sounds like in the ending cutscenes, its the second time Taito relies on using game sounds as rhythm since Space Invaders Extreme, I guess Rez started this trend in my opinion.

Aside from Nadia's "Eh"s and "Ah"s in the cutscenes, there's spoken dialogues in the game when the character activates a skill or completes a level. Unfortunately, they're all in japanese and without subtitles. It is worth of admiration that Natsuko Shimazawa voiced most of the female characters in the game along with Ayaka Ebina since we're talking about voicing a lot of female characters with few actresses, the lone exceptions are Yume and Linka from Groove Coaster who are voiced by Nanami Takahashi and Moe Toyota who reprised their roles. If there's one thing that I shall criticize is the "Ayanamization" of Ti2, 'cos from what I've heard, she sounds like if Natsuko Shimazawa was trying to make her voice sound like Megumi Hayashibara's most famous character: the "First Child" Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Just hearing the "Hasshin shimasu" when you start a level with the regular Ti2 makes you think she forgot to say "EVA Zerogoki" before that. Well, one thing is Ti2's striking resemblance to Hanna-Justina Marseille from World Witches which is no surprise since both were created by Fumikane Shimada, but ripping off Rei's voice for "whatever-the-reason" is another thing (not to mention Riga Pratica's voice sounds a bit like Gendo Ikari to complete the Evangelion references).



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Rei disagrees completely.

xxx1993: I thought she was cute regardless.

Also, Ti2's "I wanna be the new Ayanami" way to talk is carried on the Darius Cozmic Revelation collaboration of Alice Gear Aegis where she was voiced by Ayane Sakura, who gave her a more adult tone, but still the same "Emotionless Wind-up Doll"-styled seriousness.



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Ti-Who?, Rei also has an "Overclock Mode".

xxx1993: There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how she was meant to be.



ARKANOID CURIOSITIES VS SPACE INVADERS FUN FACTS


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Celebrating with the Taito Gang.
(Too bad Tiat, Regina, Patty and Sonia didn't appeared as unlockable characters.)


- Final entry in both Arkanoid and Space Invaders series.
- First time the Invader is depicted as a metallic spaceship during boss fights.
- Only the PlayStation 4 port is able to play the game on a TV while the Switch requires to use the Handheld mode.
- The Switch version was released as a DLC, but the game appears separately on the console's game selection screen.
- The 2015 Pixels collaboration is the third time Taito worked with a movie license since the Superman and Rambo III arcade games.
- Nico Kanzaki's head, hair-style and hairpin resemble the Crab/Medium Invader altogether.
- One of the songs of Groove Coaster 3: Link Fever is named after this game.
- It is the second and last time Reika Kirishima from Time Gal appears in a shmup since Shikigami no Shiro III.
- Also, it is the second and last time we saw Reika with her classic costume.
- For some reason, the game omits Reika's surname unlike the rest of the characters.
- This game marks the third and last appearance of Sonic Blastman and the lone time he is voiced.
- It is the second and last time that Patra-co was full-voiced, being Cleopatra Fortune Plus the first time.
- Yume and Linka are the only characters not drawn by Nanoha Hata since Taito re-used their character artworks from Groove Coaster.
- Another shared coincidence is that both have "Split Ball" as their skills. This coincidence is also shared with Nadia Bunny
(Split ball in 2) and the swimsuit version of Ti2 (Split in 4).
- It is also the single instance where Riga Pratica and Ti2 are not illustrated by Fumikane Shimada.
- It is the first time that Proco, Riga and Ti2 are voiced for a game regardless of being Non-Darius related.
- The second world's name, Siranha sounds very similar to Siraha, the final area of the CS Mode from Dariusburst CS: Chronicle Saviours.
- This is the second and last time where Ninja from The Ninja Warriors is depicted in a more human appearance rather than its more mechanical counterpart from The Ninja Warriors Again and The Ninja Warriors Once Again/Ninja Saviours: Return of the Warriors.
- Speaking of The Ninja Warriors, Kamaitachi from The Ninja Warriors Again is not included.
- The True Ending illustration depicts more characters like Tiat, Syvalion and the rest of the cast of Psychic Force 2/Psychic Force 2012 implying the game designers wanted to include them as unlockable characters, but the idea was discarded when the game was finished.
- The illustration also depicts two Ti2's with her regular short hair and the long-haired Overclock Mode. This might imply that the playable "regular" Ti2 was inteded to be short-haired unlike the chibi long-haired character seen in the game.
- On August 24th 2016, the ending pic was used to announce the end of the app service and say goodbye to players. The message said "All of a sudden, it is time to say goodbye to you. Thank you everyone for fighting together..."




VIVIEPEDIA: EVERYTHING ABOUT NADIA


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And tell me will you ever change your mind?
And maybe one day your heart will be mine.


- Despite her young appearance, she's 20 years old.
- Her measurements are B83 - W59 - H88, her height is unknown.
- She likes very sweet foods and she spent some time as an idol.
- Her father works as a space mechanical engineer and doing research on Invaders.
- Her mother is the leader of the Invader research team, unfortunately she went missing during the last invasion.
- To unlock the Awakening version you have to go into the settings and tap the pixel Nadia's head 10 times.
- The swimsuit she used on the Android exclusive character was chosen by fans on an internet poll.



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Apparently, Nadia went through significant changes before the game's release.

- The first designs of Nadia depicted her as a long black haired girl wearing a mecha shoujo like leotard before she was depicted with a more "Operator accurate" uniform and a short blonde hair.



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Yeah. She appears in an online crane game app.

- Although she was created for this game, Nadia was later used as the "Image Character" for Taito Online Crane, making constant appearances in several aspects of the app from explaining the rules, online advertising and even greet visitors like the 2018 Valentine's Day video.
- The katakana actually says "
ナティア" and "なちぃあ" in hiragana (Natia / Nathia) while the correct one would be "ナディア" / "なでぃあ".
- Nico clearly says "Natia" in her voice samples, implying someone at Taito screwed up on the name translation.



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"Nadia Continue Long Cushion" was the name of this thing.

- While the "Sexy Bikini" wasn't used in Arkanoid VS Space Invaders, it was indeed used on a promotional/prize item of Taito Online Crane.
- Along with her, Nico Kanzaki and Bub from Bubble Bobble also appeared in the promotional illustrations, until Taito redesigned the Online Crane website in August 07th 2021 removing Nadia, Bub and Nico and replacing them with the model Fuuka Koshiba. Only the Twitter account still uses Nadia and Bub on the user avatar since the "Lucky Time" and "Happy Time" announcements were replaced in 2022 with text-only ones.
- In a twist of fate, Nadia, along with Nico and Bub were re-instated on Taito Online Crane's website in February 14th, 2022.




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It was a fun ride, indeed.

Arkanoid VS Space Invaders is a fine mix of shmup and puzzle, despite the absurdes of some of its patterns and the Hard mode, is a fun enough experiment of how two different game genres can bring a great product when the combination is done right.
I think the best chance to play the game is on the mobile phone or the Switch, 'cos the PS4 port could be a little burden to play.

xxx1993, thanks for all the help. Without your knowledge about the game, this review would not be possible.

Now, if only Taito could bring something like RayStorm VS Space Invaders, please?, this crossover idea could work on other shmup titles of their catalogue.



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If Nadia likes this, you'll like this game too.



To end this review, here's something that both xxx1993 and I hope you'll like.

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Another night, another dream, but always you.
It's like a vision of love that seems to be true.
Another night, another dream, but always you.
In the night, I dream of love so true.
Fan of Transformers, Shmups and Anime-styled Girls. You're teamed up with the right pilot!
Bringing you shmup and video game reviews with humorous criticism.

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