Space Invaders: Fukkatsu no Hi

Space Invaders: Fukkatsu no Hi was published in 1990 by Taito for the PC Engine. It continues the company's most famous property on a console that was, at the time, one of the leading platforms on the Japanese market.

The record lists a side view and single-player play. The foundation stays recognisable: a cannon at the bottom of the screen, descending formations closing in, and a tempo that quickens as their numbers thin. That principle has worked unchanged since the late seventies.

What differs is everything a 1990 console could afford on top. Coloured backdrops, music, weapon upgrades and varied attacker types extend the original minimal design without altering its core; this is a modernisation rather than a rewrite.

Taito revived the Space Invaders name regularly, and Japanese editions frequently differed from Western ones. The Fukkatsu no Hi subtitle is evidence of exactly that, a Japanese release carrying a name that was never used in Europe.

It is worth saying why the original from the seventies kept coming back at all. Its principle is simple enough to explain in one sentence, yet it contains a tension that works regardless of technology: the enemy is descending and the space is running out. Every later version therefore faced the same question, namely what to add so the game lasts longer without destroying what holds it together.

This one boots in your browser on OldGame.cz, so you can see for yourself how Taito rebuilt its own classic.