Anyone remember the Xbox Live Arcade? It was a way to get your mitts on cheap and free games for Xbox 360, many of which were ports of classic arcade games or other titles that you can easily pick up and play. A lot of these games were part of my earliest gaming memories (which, now that I think about it, explains my taste for games that get you playing right away). I could never forget the great time I had playing Frogger, Joust, Pacman, Dig-Dug, and more with my dad and sister.
However, one that sticks out in my mind is the version of Space Invaders that we had. Not a port of the arcade classic (one of the oldest and most influential titles of the medium) but something more… out there. A game that broke the fourth wall, shattered any initial conception of an ordinary Space Invaders game, had bizarre graphics that blended pixel art with stuff that looked like it came straight out of a Virtual Boy lens, and was all encased in jarring, bleeping chiptune music. I recently rediscovered the identity of this adaptation, Space Invaders Infinity Gene, and it’s everything I remembered. A bombastic take on a classic formula, yes—but one that can’t help but seem just a little off.
The game starts out with classic Space Invaders gameplay (sans bunkers). This facade quickly falls away, however, to reveal your ship enveloped in a white void with black lines revolving from the center like a maddened compass. A bleeping plays with the cadence of a Geiger counter as a quote from Charles Darwin fades into view, remarking that it is the species “most adaptable to change” that survives. New text comes onscreen to say “THE KING OF GAMES IS BACK!” before throwing you into the first true level, where fast-paced music takes over and the background becomes gradient. The gameplay switches up to where you can shoot rapid-fire blasts, cause chain explosions, and fight aliens as they fly onto the screen in all different sizes.
I’m sure none of this was intended to be creepy, but rather, to give off a sort of neo-’80s vibe, similar to something like Pacman DX or the laser tag places I went as a kid. Less like the ’80s nostalgia we have now, but more in the vein of a remix, taking older ideas and mixing them in with neon colors and an aggressive soundtrack. It’s hard to articulate, but it’s got the same pseudo-sci-fi vibes as those blacklight laser tag arenas blasting the Halo theme (still have no idea if they were allowed to use that) while I was on the run from an enemy team. The sound effects, genre, and childhood ties are probably what put them together in my mind.
Regardless, what makes this off-putting when compared to the stuff it reminds me of can be divided into a couple of things—the first of which being the fourth-wall break. Breaking the fourth wall, while often used for comedy, can be a surefire way to scare, especially in games, due to the increased immersion. Stuff like the second half of Doki Doki Literature Club and the Genocide ending of Undertale show the game being aware of the player, suddenly dragging us into the proceedings of the plot and breaking convention. This is especially unsettling when it comes from a game with the expectations of the original Space Invaders, a simple arcade game that shouldn’t be unraveling and espousing quotes from Darwin in some liminal void. It produces a (likely unintentional) conception of there being some greater power behind the curtain—a living presence in the game.
Another thing that makes this unassuming title creepy is that damn music. Not the stage music, mind you—that’s pretty typical for non-retro Xbox Live Arcade games. It’s the music after a stage or during those aforementioned void sequences, this (forgive my lack of musical vocabulary) sharp, sort of minimalist rhythm that sounds like static rising and falling. You know Lavender Town’s theme? That piece of Pokémon music that’s spawned a thousand creepypastas? Imagine that but much, much shorter with far less of a mood.
That’s the thing with this track—it doesn’t portray much of any emotion. It exists in this space between white noise and song. I’m sure I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here, but that’s the part that still freaks me out today. That piece of music just adds to the feeling of uncovering something that shouldn’t be seen, as does the fourth-wall-breaking facade drop.
Other than these parts, the game is just kinda weird. It’s a mix of pixel art, Asteroids-esque vector lines, and rudimentary 3D in the vein of Starfox on SNES. The style works very well when put together, no doubt, and it’s a really nice way to evolve the formula alongside the chaotic gameplay that introduces all manner of new shot types and enemy variants. It’s a madhouse, sure, but it’s a solid one. Nonetheless, this bizarre subversion combined with unsettling music and a game that talks right to you has always stuck in my mind for being just a little creepy.
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
- Developer
- Taito
- Publisher
- Taito, Square Enix