Game Opinion – Titan Attacks
I think Titan Attacks is a great example of reimagining a classic game, that being Space Invaders, to a more modern gaming era (while still keeping a retro style of the game). And I think the most important part of that is how it handles progression.
In Space Invaders, the progression was quite simplistic (which is natural, given the time of its original release). Each time you defeat the invaders, the next screen is the same exact situation, just invaders start out faster. Rinse and repeat until you eventually lose (and record your high score).
Titan Attacks starts out very close to Space Invaders, but as the game progresses, it introduces upgrades to your tank, more and more of new enemy archetypes, and then bosses! As well new locations with their own quirks, like for example on the Moon there’s always asteroids flying in random directions to the ground, while Mars adds aerial bombardment, etc. This variety eventually transforms the game into what I call Space Invaders on steroids. Lots of actions and shooting, and it’s very fun.
While the game is endless, after completing it you can start all over again with raised difficulty (but still retaining all upgrades), my only real gripe is that it doesn’t have a ‘classic’ endless mode that replicates the original Space Invaders. I think that would just make the package feel complete, especially considering that the original Space Invaders gameplay is more… deliberate, having to constantly time properly your shots. And while Titan Attacks starts out that way, by the end of the game with all the upgrades and enemy archetypes there’s a lot more mayhem involved.
At any rate, if you’re interested in fun twitchy action titles, or in classic games or modern takes on classic games, Titan Attacks is certainly for you.
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Posted on January 17, 2017, in Games and tagged Game Opinions, Space Invaders, Titan Attacks. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Stanislav Costiuc 
Thanks for the review Stan 🙂 It’s nice that it’s still giving people a bit of fun after all these years.
Thank you for the fun and enjoyable game! 🙂 I have other your games as well, Ultratron, Revenge of the Titans and Droid Assault, gonna play them as well at some point 🙂
Another good example of refreshing the old formula is Pang Adventures, which introduces new graphics (duh), boss fights (slightly repetitive but that’s still something), different types of enemies (if we can call bouncing balls that way) and different guns like flamethrower or shurikens.
I think that remaking the classic titles is a really nice way to show the technological advancement and make those games more accessible to the modern audience 🙂
Thanks for the example, gonna check that out! 🙂
I also think it’s important for remakes, at least of a lot older classic games, like say Space Invaders or something like Asteroids or other games of those times, is not just to make a facelift, but infuse it with new ideas and meta-game. After all, technology now is much less limited than it was back then.
the funny thing about Titan Attacks is it’s now… 11 years old or so? But it’s now as old as Space Invaders was when I started making games in earnest 25 years ago. Titan Attacks is now retro retro.
Yeah… the cyclic nature of some games and how time passes is weird. Time for somebody to make a ‘Titan Invaders’ or ‘Space Attackers’ game then 🙂