Toho Invaders is a parody game of 1978’s legendary title known as Space Invaders. We pick as one of two characters whose only differences are aesthetically and off we go to shoot anime girls riding in UFOs. There are quite a few of them, all slowly but surely making their way down the screen. They will also occasionally fire a projectile your way to keep you on your toes. Overall they are nothing to worry about until they start nearing in on your four spell shields that separate you from them. If they so much as touch one, it is an instant game over.
You can only fire a single projectile at a time, making it all the more devastating when you miss a shot and have to wait for it to fly off screen to fire another. If you don’t miss any, you can blast apart a large number of enemies rather quickly, which is helpful as time is not on your side. Before long, a boss will arrive and this is where things change from the regular Space Invaders formula. These bosses fire bullet hell levels of projectiles your way and you equipped with your single fire, slow-moving bullet have to make due.
Every shot against them counts and has to be accurately aimed, for you really don’t want to be fighting them for any longer than you have to. They usually don’t just sit still and allow you to hit them, you will have to calculate where to shoot your projectile as they move around. It doesn’t take many hits for them to go down, the problem lies in getting a clear shot as they pin you down with overwhelming firepower. If you left any of the standard enemies alive before the battle, it will make that task more difficult as your shots may accidentally hit them instead.
Your four shields really come in handy during these fights to protect yourself against projectiles. The more damage they take however, the smaller they become and in turn, less area they can cover. Occasionally, a UFO will zoom by from the top of the screen shooting a heavy dose of bullets your way. It can be tricky, but if you manage to hit them you will sometimes get a power-up to restore your shield’s strength. Other times you will only get a 50 point pickup, though it is worth the effort of nailing them out of the air nonetheless, as to make boss fights easier.
All it takes is a single shot to do you in. Whether it be from a boss or a regular enemy. You are given three lives and there is no end game. Your overall goal is just to score higher than your previous attempts or those of your friends, for the sake of bragging rights. There are four unique bosses at the end of a wave before they start repeating. After each wave, the next song in the soundtrack will play so you will not get tired of listening to a single tune. They are all quite catchy and upbeat, which matches the feel of the game pretty well.
In order to play this game in fullscreen, you simply need to press F4. It is also worth noting that it is listed as not translated, but everything in it is actually in English. There is no setup or tweaks needed to get it running, it worked right out the gate for Windows 10. Toho Invaders is a nice time waster that mostly stays true to the game it was inspired by, but does add some neat twists to the formula. Trying to take down bullet hell like bosses with your humble amount of firepower, for instance, is a ton of fun. Overall, its nothing to write home about, though it is an enjoyable throwback to Arcade games of yesteryear.
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