SPACE INVADERS EVOLVE ONTO PSP

Thursday 22 September 2005/... Rising Star Games today announced that the first release in a PSP-bound series of updates to classic gaming franchises will be Space Invaders Evolution, due for release this November.

Space Invaders Evolution inaugurates the Evolution brand, a sister to the Revolution series on the Nintendo DS. With other updates of well-known titles to follow in the new year, Space Invaders Evolution marks Rising Star's first step onto the sensational Sony handheld and will blaze a trail for daring innovation that future Evolution titles will aim to follow.

Space Invaders Evolution encapsulates the Evolution ethos by taking the original concept into entirely new ground with its Future Mode. Here, the basic concept of Taito's iconic shooter is transposed, mutated and evolved into an entirely new game. By combining furious shooting action with multiple viewpoints and incorporating rhythm action elements to add an unexpected edge to the gameplay, Space Invaders Evolution marks a genuine evolution of the game design into a new concept only possible on modern hardware.

The basic premise of repelling an invasion remains the same, only this time the battle is fought in space with the player controlling a mobile cannon moving along an orbital path. The main objective is subtly different as levels are completed by destroying an elusive mothership, rather than simply clearing the screen of enemies. The catch is that this crucially important vessel can only be harmed by executing special attacks fuelled by items harvested from destroying waves of invaders that it constantly seeds.

With an all-new 3D engine providing the most dazzling visuals and pyrotechnics seen in any interpretation of its original concept, Space Invaders Evolution perfectly marries the potential of the PSP hardware with a conceptual collision of old and new, providing all the thrills of the arcade legend in its original form as well as revitalising the franchise with a startlingly original diversion from the well-trodden path of logical, progressive updates. However, there's more to the package as Space Invaders Evolution also features a now-standard classic mode as well as two additional multiplayer game types.

Space Invaders is due for release by Rising Star Games in mid November 2005.