Space Invaders

Released for Game Boy in North America in October 1994, Space Invaders was developed by Taito and published there by Nintendo. This is the later international Game Boy edition, separate from Taito’s earlier Japan-only 1990 handheld release. It brings the essential 1978 fixed-shooter contest to Nintendo’s portable system while making the cartridge unusually ambitious for players with a Super Game Boy.

The objective is direct: pilot a laser cannon along the bottom of the screen and erase the advancing alien formation before it reaches the barriers. The invaders march side to side, step downward at the edges, and fire back; removing enough of the formation makes the remaining attackers move faster. Protective barriers offer cover but are steadily carved away by enemy shots and the player’s own fire, so a safe position rarely stays safe for long.

The Game Boy controls keep that design spare. Left and right on the Control Pad move the cannon, while either A or B fires its laser; Start begins or pauses a game. The score display tracks points and remaining cannons, encouraging repeated attempts to improve a run. Clearing formations leads into further waves, and a mystery craft crossing overhead offers an additional scoring target amid the pressure below.

Standard handheld play includes the familiar single-player fight and a two-player head-to-head option through the Game Link Cable, requiring two Game Boys and two Game Paks. The linked mode lets each player take on the invasion from their own system, turning a score chase into a direct contest. Select is used before play to set the number of available cannons in the appropriate one-or two-player setup.

The cartridge is Super Game Boy Enhanced rather than merely given a decorative border. Running it through Nintendo’s Super NES adapter provides colorized presentations of the Game Boy game, including black-and-white, cellophane-style, and full-color screen choices. It also exposes an Arcade Mode that transfers and runs a Super NES version of Space Invaders from the Game Boy cartridge, a striking extra for a portable release.

That Super Game Boy Arcade Mode is related to the 1994 Super Famicom release Space Invaders: The Original Game and retains the core one-screen battle on a television. It should not be confused with the regular linked Game Boy multiplayer or with every feature of the standalone Super NES version: the Game Boy cartridge’s enhancement chiefly supplies the arcade-style experience and display variants when the adapter is present.