POSTED 6/5/14


TITAN ATTACKS!

Puppygames/Curve Studios

Originality in a videogame is an elusive concept. Most everything that hits the market is derivative of something that has gone before it. Titan Attacks!, however, is different...

Well, it would be if it was 1977.

Yep, it’s as derivative as they come. “Yawn, another pixelated Spacies rip-off,” was the first thought that ricocheted through our noggin as the first sheet of bomp-bomp-bomp invaders appeared, doing their left/right shuffle as our lone tank aimed to explodinate them with a rather peashooteresque shooty tube. But then, several hours later...

Titan Attacks! owes its entire existence to Space Invaders. No Space Invaders, no Titan Attacks!. But that’s not to say that it’s a direct rip. We’ll call it a tribute. It mixes in bits and bobs from fellow classics Galaxian, Galaga, Gorf, Missile Command, Defender and Asteroids, for an experience that at first meeting might seem a bit bleah, but one that has more hooks than Lady Gaga’s wardrobe, which do their thing quickly and efficiently – mercifully without emerging covered in cow innards from a giant egg being schlepped by scantily-clad minions.

So, to learn that wave-after-wave of alien invaders assault the player should come as no surprise, unless you’re completely fucking ignorant and haven’t taken in any of the preceding paragraphs' prattle. But very soon things start being messed with. Aliens will dive, pilots will require rescue, power-ups will drop, nukes will detonate, bosses will irritate and giant rock outlines will get in your way.

It’s scarcely the new wheel, but Titan Attacks! is fleeting fun for anybody who’s ever enjoyed classic arcade space romps such as those we mentioned up above there somewhere. True originality is a difficult thing to achieve, so sometimes a few twists and lots of love can make up for a lack thereof.

Of course, many a lawyer may vigorously disagree...

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