No. 7: Super Space Invaders.
Revamped Alien Zapping from Taito

Super Space Invaders. Taito (1990).
Super Space Invaders. Taito (1990). Known in Japan as "Majestic Twelve - The Space Invaders Part IV", this was a rework of the seminal Space Invaders. Who would mess with a winning formula? Taito would and did, thankfully. So 12 years on, they were back - and this time they weren't content to just THUD-THUD-THUD their way across and down and then across and down your screen. Most of the aliens now needed several hits to kill, some swelling in size with each hit. The UFOs still patrolled the top of the screen but now yielded power-ups, without which, survival  for more than a few seconds, was impossible. I recall reaching level 33 on a single credit, when this game was new - something I have not been able to repeat by playing the game in MAME!

There were several power-ups, most of which disappeared after several seconds, whether used or not. The most-prized of them though, was the (P) capsule, which allowed you shoot extra bullets, needed because you begin each life with just the one shot on screen at any time limit that the original Space Invaders game imposed. Taking a hit from the aliens however, cancelled this bonus! The other long-term power-up was the (S) capsule, giving you a shield which absorbed a single hit from enemy fire.

Other capsules to be collected were:

(T), which froze all enemies for 10 seconds, as a massive butterfly flapped it's wings in the background (?)
(F), produced a spinning wheel of fire launched deep into the alien ranks,
(A), protected you with 4 barriers, absorbing enemy fire,
(B), which produced a solid vertical beam of laser fire, scything through the oncoming hordes,
(H), a powerful horizontal wave which flew up the screen until it hit something and then hung around for a few seconds. Timed right, use of this weapon could destroy an entire level before it had even begun!

Extra lives were also there to be earned through score progress, although as in many shoot-em-ups, you would do best to just keep a single powered-up ship alive for as long as possible.

There were no levels as such in this game, merely variations of alien and swarming pattern, along with a nice change of backdrop. The game supported simultaneous 2-play, for which some of the levels seemed to have been specifically designed, the aliens coming at you in 2 separate waves.

Level progression was broken up either by a boss or a Cattle Mutilation screen, which wasn't as gory as first sounds. Your task was to protect the beefy victims from  a formation of marauding UFOs. Bonus points were awarded for keeping a full field of cattle, and also for rescuing cows that were in the process of being pulled up by tractor beam. Leaving a rescue until the last possible second here, resulted in a hefty points bonus as the bemused bovine spun gently back down to earth. The bosses were all typical old-school shoot-em-up baddies, you know the ones: fire like hell and keep moving and you'll win through eventually.

Featured: Shot-limiting, Cattle Mutilation, A Nice Big Butterfly.

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