INVANOID is the latest in a rapidly spreading library of RCMADIAX published Wii U titles. It’s a micro-game that would be better suited to the 3DS eShop … if the experience wasn’t so elementary, repetitive, and shallow. Even for $1.49 you should expect much better.

INVANOID - 1Appearing at first glance like a budget blend of classics (Space Invaders and Breakout), this game has you bouncing a very slow moving pixel towards a ceaseless waves of enemies for a point each. The alien bot enemies look like square versions of the PIXEL SLIME U creature. If one reaches the bottom of the screen, or if you touch one, you’ll lose a point. That’s it – in a couple of minutes you’ll have seen everything.  A couple minutes more and you’ll inevitably grow sick and tired of it.

The controls are definitely shoddy. You can’t use the control stick or stylus; it’s d-pad only. Pausing won’t even work, unless you bring up the home screen. The character (paddle?) you control for bouncing is oddly small, with very slippery movement and some collision issues. Often you’ll be left watching the pixel languidly move across the screen while having no input, which of course is no fun.

INVANOID - 2The visuals are especially dismal, with just the one enemy type. The backgrounds don’t even change like the last published RCMADIAX game SPLASHY DUCK! There is only a single music track. You can’t mute it without losing the sound effects. Even by budget standards, the aesthetics are terribly weak. Heck, everything is weak.

The price is cheap, but this is a cheap game in all respects. There’s simply no quality here in this hasty port. Some might consider downloading the game … for free on the app store! The fact that the free version looks and plays better speaks volumes. What justification is there for charging money when this port, of an already primitive HTML5 game, is worse than the version being given away? RCMADIAX can do so much better. Please avoid INVANOID.INVANOID - banner