Leveling a city is quite satisfying. However, technological advances have made the humans far more powerful than they were back in the 8-bit days. This makes your task all the more interesting. Along your rampaging path of destruction you’ll face a broad array of resistance. Piddling little tanks, choppers, and mini-turrets are easily dodged or taken out, but massive, building-size battle tanks and armored towers that launch lasers and heat-seeking missiles are far more dangerous. Then there are the hulking boss battles against all manner of mechanized creatures and contraptions.

The control setup for your default ship allows you to move your UFO in any direction using the Nunchuk’s control stick. Tapping Z gives you a boost of speed and the C button calls down the mothership’s rain of fire. At the same time, you can also fire aliens in any direction by pointing the Wii Remote at the target and hitting the A button. You can easily cycle through the different attacks by pressing B. Generally, the controls work well, but they can sometimes feel sluggish when the battle is raging across the entire screen. It also doesn’t help that the onscreen HUD has large elements that tend to obscure some of the action.

Get Even’s presentation just screams retro, right down to the menu interface. It’s graphically on par with a full-blown retail release, which is a nice surprise. The explosions and visual effects are particularly impressive, and there’s a lot of detail packed into each screen. Though the graphics hold a certain amount of charm, the game’s tongue-in-cheek humor greatly adds to the fun. Among other minor gags, you can have your UFO abduct cows from nearby farms for scientific research (and a time boost), and a short landing amidst the mini Stonehenge located in some levels recharges your energy. Also, near-constant radio chatter throughout each level provides often hilarious banter between human forces as you tear them to bits.

10 Lies Gamers Tell

Is Nintendo Abandoning The Console Business?

Hype Is Killing Game Expectations

Why Do We Care About "Fake Girl Gamers?"

Microsoft’s Next Console Is Called Infinity?

10 Characters That Need To Die

Wolfenstein: The New Order Is Already Ruined?

The PS4 Does PC Gaming A Big Favor

10 Current-Gen Games We Won’t Miss

CCC Original - Games of May

Call Of Duty: Ghosts In A Nutshell

GTA V To Have The Best Characters In The Series

More Special Features...

There’s one important thing to note before going into Get Even. While the initial game download is a mere 500 Wii Points, it only contains two areas and a boss battle. To get access to additional areas, you’ll have to shell out 500 additional Wii Points each for three add-on level packs. Each offers a new ship, new objectives, and new levels. Given the amount and quality of the content, $20 isn’t a bad price for all the game has to offer. It’s also cool to be able to buy it in chunks as you go. Once the game gets its hooks into, you’ll probably want to pick up whole thing. Space Invaders: Get Even is a delightful new twist on a classic that mixes addictive gameplay with a lighthearted spirit and plenty of humor to create one of the better WiiWare-only releases we’ve seen in some time. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Staff Contributor