Battle of the Ports - Space Invaders (スペースインベーダー) Show 531 - 60fps

[@mymomsaysimcool9650]

I’m 52 and still remember the first time I saw and played this game. It was at the entrance of a department store called Heck’s. Dad had to hold me up to play it.

[@RetroCore]

Those are some classic memories. I remember seeing one in a shed at some country pub back in the early 80s. It wasn't plugged in so my brother and I plugged it in only to be amazed once it started up. My dad was quite annoyed though as we persted him for 10 pence 😂

[@geoserenity]

Fun fact: Space invaders has always sped up based on how many enemies are left. Its based on the arcade limitations where the arcade struggled the more ships were on screen, this was emulated in the ports to keep the difficulty curve

[@OtterlyInsane]

This

[@JFD62780]

I got the Super Game Boy version, mainly because it had the SNES version on the cart! XD (Weird thing was only Nintendo Power could let me know such a thing was possible!)

[@atm94404]

The original arcade speeds up based on how many are left, not position. It was a happy accident caused by slowdown as the processor wasn't powerful enough to update all the invaders smoothly. When the programmer saw the result, he kept the "bug" rather try to optimize it because he liked how it ramped up the difficulty as you got closer to the end. Atari got that detail correct in their ports. This was a deliberate decision because slowdown isn't really a thing on the Atari VCS (and 8-bit) because of how the hardware works (no framebuffer). It either works at 60fps or it doesn't work at all.

[@SpaceFractal-g2o]

its only updated one aliens per frame as im is aware of it..... yes its cool he keeped that "bug" by not optimize it and yep im still loved the 2600 version. its was not arcade perfect at all. but its was till fun to play. that matter.

[@arashnikoubashman6946]

You got everything right, bravo! That’s why the 2600 doesn’t have sprite flicker either

[@chowdown]

Good gosh, the audio on the Atari 5200 really stands out here, in that it is strangely terrifying.

[@kenwheeler3637]

Happy B-Day, Mark. 🎂 I remember how detailed and advanced this game was when it came out. Also remember the absolute joy I felt when I got the 2600 port for my B-Day. I could finally play it for as long as I wanted.

[@RetroCore]

Cheers 👍

[@johnebbs3819]

Space Invaders Extreme on the DS is a great game.

[@GamayObera]

The SFC one is mainly a port of Space Invaders DX, without the Parody Mode included in the Arcade original, which is sad. Perhaps because most games represented on it isn't available on the SNES, but still a loss. Also, happy birthday Mark.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks 👍

[@videogamebookreviews]

There was an official conversion for the Atari 400/800 series. It was programmed by Rob Fulop and published by Atari. It was somewhat stylised: for example, the aliens came out of a big spaceship. Some of the aliens had a cool wiggling effect as they moved.

[@DoomWarriorX]

Yeah I was confused by this too

[@8bitsnkboy472]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!! Thank you so much for all your amazing content for so many years!! Cheers!!

[@RetroCore]

Thank you very much 👍

[@paulrahme]

Happy birthday and thanks for the BOTPs! From another person born in the year of Bohemian Rhapsody and the Rocky Horror Picture Show :)

[@RetroCore]

Cheers man, and thanks for watching. Yeah, 1975 was a pretty cool year 👍

[@luisemilio1143]

First of all, Happy Birthday Mark! 🎉 Space Invaders technically made it to the 8bit and 16bit micro computers (Amiga, ST, C64), but as Super Space Invaders. That game was also made for the arcade by Taito and the ports were made by Domark. It’s more of an arrangement and a story mode version, you could make a BoP from that game too!

[@RetroCore]

Thanks man. I do plan to cover more space Invaders in the future. This would also include some Super Space Invaders as well as clones and stuff such as Space Invaders 90 on the Mega Drive.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Happy Birthday. For me, and many gamers my age, the 2600 version was the first. I never saw the arcade cabinet until years after the fact.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks👍

[@julianobitsgen]

The PC-9801 Special mode featuring a guy throwing Pepsi cans at Coke cans seems like a response for one of the earliest advergames ever made, Pepsi Invaders for Atari 2600. If I'm not mistsken, it was promotional and used during an event. BTW, happy birthday!

[@RetroCore]

Could very well be. Thanks for the Happy birthday 👍

[@vivilovescarlo]

@@julianobitsgen Acho que possa ser também, concordo.

[@ZuranimatedMedia179]

I really love the Modern Version on the PC-9801 Version! The parody version on that port is also beautiful as well! Best port of Space Invaders in my opinion!

[@FabioGnecco]

this is what "Classic" looks like !

[@RetroCore]

Yep.

[@flink1231]

I'm impressed with the sg1000 version! (Never thought I'd say that about a port!) I'm also surprised by the 5200 aliens animation fluidity!

[@RetroCore]

The SG1000 port is amazingly good. I can imagine many saying it was arcade perfect back in the day. Of course, it isn't but still close.

[@TechRyze]

IIRC the Arcade machine is z80 or 8080 based, so possibly uses the same code for much of the game.

[@DeskoDev]

Awesome as usual! I really like the Game Boy version, mostly because of the Super Game Boy support though. Never knew about the SG-1000 version either, that port looks genuinely great. Also, happy birthday!

[@Valkian24]

Happy B-day, Mark! Hope you've had an amazing day! (I dig the faster sound of the aliens coming down in the 5200 version as you could probably sample that for a song :D)

[@RetroCore]

That would be a cool sample. Thanks for the happy birthday 👍

[@shotgunl]

Happy birthday, Mark! I prefer the Atari 2600/VCS port of the game over any port or the arcade versions, but that's probably because I played so much of it growing up and didn't play the arcade version until the late 90s nor any more similar to the arcade until I got the Game Boy port. I like the arcade Space invaders but just prefer the 2600 game.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for the well wishes 👍

[@billcook4768]

Remember kids, to maximize your score count your shots. Nail the “ufo” on either your 23rd shot or every 15th shot thereafter

[@RetroCore]

Pro tip 👍

[@creechrfeechr8094]

Happy birthday Mark! Thank you for another fantastic video! Nothing came close to the arcade original imho, but I was surprised to see the awesome SG1000 version.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Yeah, I was surprised at how good the SG1000 version was.

[@Bippystopper]

The sit down black and white version was the 1st version i played which was located in my local swimming baths. many many many moons ago 😁

[@lorddalek]

The Super Nintendo version is actually a port of Space Invaders DX albeit with the New Zealand Story parody mode removed.

[@Fools_Requiem]

I was wondering when you'd get around to Space Invaders. IMO, the 94 Gameboy version that has the bonus Super Gameboy features is the definitive version.

[@RetroCore]

I'll probably do more Space Invaders in the future.

[@xraymind]

Thanks for clearing up on "fact" that the aliens goes faster as more of them disappear from the screen. Been hearing whole time that it's bug that turn into a feature for the arcade version. When that only happens with the Atari ports.

[@nevanfr]

But aliens actually do go faster the fewer they are on all the port we can see here, apart for the Atari ones.

[@mattjenkin2884]

Good choice of music. Space Invaders 91 has a fantastic soundtrack.

[@KorenLesthe]

Happy birthday !

[@RetroCore]

Thanks!

[@topofbones]

This time wins Super Famicom, lots of interesting stuff for this port. Very meritorious SG-1000 port. Waiting for the hilarious Space Invaders '95 😂

[@RandomGamingDouchebag]

Wow interesting timing, i had recently picked up an NTSC release of the Gameboy release because of the interesting Super Gameboy compatibility. Supposedly this was done with expectations that they weren't going to do a worldwide release for the game but they did anyways a few years later.

[@thrillington2008]

I seen the cabinet in the wild in the 90s in my hometown in Virginia in a laundromat.

[@awwrelic]

Such a fun game. It was probably the second arcade video game I ever played, outside of Pong (which I played at a Greyhound bus terminal with my sister in 1975, as she was returning to Lackland AFB). Space Invaders I played in the lobby of a Holiday Inn with my (very drunk) elder brother in 1979. It was the original version with the moon scene in the background. We sucked so bad at that game back then :) Right now, I own the 2600 version, the Super Famicom version which I picked up last year for $3 at a game show, and various versions on the PS2 Taito collections.

[@RetroCore]

Thanks for sharing the happy memories 👍

[@blutryforce762]

2:48 So, you're saying Space Invaders was almost going to be named after a Pink Lady song? That's my first time hearing that, I figured the devs would've named it after the song "UFO" instead. Space Invaders was more of it's time than I initially thought. Also, Happy Birthday!

[@losalfajoresok]

I just turned 49 years old today and I think this was the first arcade I ever saw, as someone else said I remember my dad holding me up to reach the screen to "play it" because I think I just was moving the controls while in attract mode.

[@Gloryzuki]

There is an Atari 8-Bit (Home Computer) port where the aliens actually differ from their arcade(?)/game counterparts. Just a head's up.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

I am so nerdy and sad that i know the music at the start of the vid is from space invaders 91 and its from the "moon" stage. Loved the music on that version!

[@RetroCore]

Technically it's from Space Invaders 90 as I was using the Japanese soundtrack 😋 But yeah, you are correct. Great tunes on that game.

[@mightyfilm]

I'm wondering if the NEC Pepsi game is somehow a reference to the Pepsi Invaders game for the Atari 2600. The marketing promotional game made to advertise Coke, for those that haven't heard of it. Only with the companies switched to be pro-Pepsi, like someone found out about Pepsi Invaders and wanted a protest version.

[@RetroCore]

Could be a parody of that.

[@mastersproutgamer9327]

Happy birthday, Mark, my dude! Thank you for the video I've requested. Now, can you tell me exactly where the music came from?

[@RetroCore]

Thanks! The music is from the Mega Drive game, Space Invaders 90.

[@mastersproutgamer9327]

@@RetroCore That's cool there, man. I wonder why it's not been shown on the video.

[@morrowlterraslove]

Idk why but it’s pretty funny about Coca Cola cuz they recently released an AD that used AI Also happy birthday Mark it was nice watching your stuff the past 2 years and looking into new games and got introduced with the X68000

[@videogamebookreviews]

I initially found the Atari VCS version to be a bit disappointing, but over time I came to prefer it to the arcade. It had some good variations.

[@DariusPowers]

Happy Birthday Mark. Enjoy your day whatever you get up to fella! 😀

[@RetroCore]

Thanks man. Had a bit too much to drink and a load of pizza.

[@Arcee720]

Can you do a part two of space invaders ports?

[@RetroCore]

Maybe in the future.

[@HappySnoutHour]

I forgot about the reference this game had with Pink Lady. My theory is management changed it so they didn't get a cease & desist from either Victor, Yu Aku (who wrote the song) or JARSAC.

[@billcook4768]

Ack. You didn’t show the SNES version running off the super Gameboy cart. I think the Gameboy version of space invaders is the favorite cart in my collection for its ability to play it.

[@RetroCore]

Maybe in a future video. There's still a lot to see when it comes to Space Invaders.

[@KISSbestfan]

Since everybody wishes happy birthday, have my best wishes as well! Talk about retro! This is one of those games I considered retro originally, and pretty much a little has changed. After all games from early 90s are not retro at all. Right? Anyway I always loved the Super Gameboy version. For such a simple game devs went on and created something that really shown the power of Gameboy and Super Nintendo combined. Too bad not many games did it, and even if they had, we only got stuff like exclusive borders and colour palette changed mid game

[@SpaceFractal-g2o]

on the Commodore 64, there was an INVADE-A-LOAD game, that should have invardred that damn Namco Loading patent, which was a prior art, but newer did. That game game first to feature a loading game. Actuelly its a cool Space Invarders game, of course not to been reviewed here as its not official.

[@jodyhong1]

The atari 2600 version was the first game to have a hidden cheat in it. Hold down reset while powering your 2600 on and your ship can fire 2 shots at a time instead of one.

[@CptJistuce]

There is at least one western 8-bit computer with a Space Invaders port. The Atari computers had one. It was slightly modified to become 5200 Space Invaders.

[@Gloryzuki]

10:02: *Fun fact:* There was actually (also) a reskin of the Atari 2600/VCS version of Space Invaders called Pepsi Invaders for the Coca-Cola company-- reportedly, only 5000 copies were only made.

[@JustPeasant]

I didn't know it was you birthday (22 or 23 November?). Anyway, happy birthday Mr Smith!🎂 Speaking of Space Invaders, have you, or anyone else here seen Robot Chicken skit? Those poor aliens. "For glory!"😆😆😆

[@RetroCore]

Ah, it was the 21st. Thanks for the well wishes. I've not seen that particular skit from Robot Chicken but I'm sure going yo search for it on KZbin.

[@zanegandini5350]

This isn't a game I really like playing, but I can appreciate just how big of a deal it was at the time. My dad often cites this as an example of why he never wanted an Atari back in the day, as he was disappointed seeing how it was on his friend's VCS/2600 vs at the arcade. I'm surprised THIS is the game that made him think that, as there's plenty of other Atari conversions that fared worse.

[@pcachu]

Even before he got his silver bodysuit, Pepsiman has been fighting to defend us, doing whatever little he can to spread the good word of Pepsi.

[@smallmj2886]

My favourite is actually a clone. TI Invaders for the TI99/4A was really well done.

[@dazsly]

Super famicom, sega versions. My local fair had this in the 80s! Who cant forget the sound effects.

[@Dookie69uk]

Happy Birthday Mark, hope you have a great day from a fellow guy who has lived in Liverpool and the Wirral. Wish we could swap places.

[@RetroCore]

Cheers man! Ah, used to go to the Wirral quite a bit back in the mid 90s.

[@SimianScience]

time for a all time great

[@TandokuOokami]

All right. It's Saturday night. I have no date, a two liter bottle of Shasta, and my all Rush mix tape. Let's rock.

[@Bearcade]

Arcade full size versions had a 2 way mirror with a background, plastic planet, and a white glowing tube.

[@RetroCore]

Yes, this is right.

[@Paul29Esx]

Happy birthday! A video of all the home micro clones would be very interesting I think.

[@RetroCore]

Yeah, I'm surprised about that. UFO came out in 1977 while Monster came out in 1978. I guess he thought UFO was too obvious?

[@RetroCore]

Thanks. I am thinking of covering some clones in a future video. 👍

[@Nolasco.]

Thank you Mark and Happy birthday 🎁🎂🎉🎊

[@Laserdreamz]

Nice stuff, Space Invaders the original game is also on PC Engine CD from 1995.

[@afriend9428]

*Super Game Boy and ATARI 2600 are my favorite* ⭐️

[@SpaceFractal-g2o]

There was 55 invaders. the faster speed was not based on position. but the cpu only drawn one invarder per frame. so more you got shoot down, lesser aliens its needs to draw and faster they became. Make sense in this game by not "optimize" it. Cool. There is still a arcade one near me.

[@OperationPhantom]

Well, those Atari invaders sure are "all your bases are belong to us" once they get to first base.

[@josephfrye7342]

there is texas invaders which got a Texas Instruments port of space invaders.

[@RetroCore]

Nice. Yeah, there are so many unofficially made ports of this game.

[@josephfrye7342]

@@RetroCore indeed

[@TMS5100]

Ending summary - Atrai 2600! Yay!

[@Awinnerwasyou]

Happy birthday. Hope it's been a good one!

[@AfterBurnerTeirusu128]

The Mighty Taco gold commercial that went viral completely ruined the Space Invaders "bgm" for me. I cannot unhear the ad in my head while playing it. Just felt like commenting this so I could ruin someone else's Space Invaders experience.

[@darkerfalcon3747]

You forget the PC Engine Super CD-ROM port (which is the same as the Super Famicom version but with the obligatory arranged soundtrack).

[@RetroCore]

Nope, didn't forget it, just left it out for a future video. There were so many others I wanted to add but if I did, the video would last for ever.

[@darkerfalcon3747]

Fair enough.

[@robqg]

There's a modern version for the ZX Spectrum +2a/+3 which is just a patched arcade ROM running natively. Imagine if that had been done in the 80s. These days, though, given we can play the original in lMame, I find the less accurate versions more interesting - especially the Atari 2600 with all the gameplay variations. Atari 5200 looked interesting, too.

[@RetroCore]

Really? Wow, that's very cool. Does it also sound right?

[@robqg]

@@RetroCore No, the AY rendition of some sounds are fairly different - hard to duplicate the wholly analog sounds I guess.

[@jasejj]

​@@robqg They've done the same on the CPC as well - in fact I think the Amstrad version was the earlier release. These machines were made for this sort of thing really - the Spectrum in particular has very similar graphics hardware, and while the arcade machine does have hardware scrolling technology this is fairly easily emulated on a faster Z80 CPU which does have some bit-rolling routines built-in which the 8080 lacked.

[@TimelordUK]

Why 60 FPS? Is that why my TV won't play this video properly? All the graphics are glitchy. The video plays fine on my phone, but not through my Xbox one onto my 720p TV. All other KZbin videos play fine. I'm confused

[@lurkerrekrul]

What about Space Invaders for the Atari XL/XE line? Was that not an official port? Also, I'm confused by your claim that the Atari versions having the invaders speed up based on how many are left is a change from the arcade version. If you check the video at 1:50, you can clearly see the invaders speed up when you shoot the two in the center of the group, even though they are still at the same row of the screen. Likewise at 1:55, the remaining two invaders speed up immediately when you shoot the lowest one. It's brief because they hit the left side and drop down a row almost immediately, but it's there.

[@JGreen-le8xx]

Wish you would have added "AVENGER" for the VIC20. It's LITERALLY "tell me you're Space Invaders without telling me you're Space Invaders."

[@RetroCore]

In an upcoming clones video, maybe.

[@JGreen-le8xx]

@RetroCore Thats the thing, I don't think it was a clone. I'm pretty sure if history is correct Jack T. had the game made and was trying to get the "official" license while that was happening but something went wrong and so it got pushed out under a different name.

[@Mrshoujo]

Space Invaders was released on cartridge by Atari for the Atari 8-bit computers. Though Roklan made better versions.

[@RetroCore]

Yep, that's right. It's the same as the 5200 version I believe.

[@johnebbs]

Happy 49th Birthday Mark. I always thought you were in your 60s ???????

[@RetroCore]

Lol, no, I'm not that old, yet. Thanks for the happy birthday.

[@dbnpoldermans4120]

OMG, no you didn't! It's Friday nght late. Tomorrow a game party So perhaps I will watch this really late tomorrow or on Sunday. Something to look forward to! I already want toi give a shout out to the SG-1000 version! Maybe I will be playing the gameboy version tomorrow, linked up 2 player with 2 super game boy 2's! I yhought there would be a gazillion more ports. I have the Radica tv games plug n play unit which seems to have a dedicated port on it. not 100 procent sure

[@RetroCore]

Oh yes, there are so many other ports but I'll probably cover them in a follow up video in the future. This one I limit myself to the SFC port and before.

[@worrow]

Well, this game is what made me found video game boring back in the day. Firing missile one at a time is just not my thing.

[@RetroCore]

It's all about the strategy but you are right, it's not for everyone.