I’ve been interested in “I Accidentally…In Space! Ep1” since it was first announced, but in keeping with the Mass Deduction theme had to wait until seemingly no one was talking about it anymore before giving myself the luxury of playing it. It was worth the wait. “I Accidentally…In Space! Ep1” is a fascinating and unexpected mash-up of space invaders and vertically scrolling platformers. Imagine Contra, except all the enemies come from above.
What I love about this game, compared to other new takes on the space invaders theme like “Decimation X3”, “radiangames Crossfire 2”, and “Xenocide”, is the freedom of movement. Most games in this genre only let you move left and right; Crossfire lets you warp back and forth across the screen, but “I Accidentally…In Space! Ep1” has you moving back and forth, jumping up and down, more Bubble Bobble than Space Invaders. But the movement is like Bubble Bobble paired with a vertically scrolling platformer, where you also have the ability to put some distance between you and the enemy wave (even put them right off screen temporarily). This changes the game in ways you might not anticipate, and adds to the strategy in a genre that frankly hasn’t seen a lot in the past.
As much as the speed, neon colours, massive enemy waves, and particle effects of Crossfire, Decimation X, and Xenocide are appreciated and add to the Space Invaders formula, I think that avenue of updating Space Invaders is pretty much tapped out. Full marks to “I Accidentally…In Space! Ep1” for solving a problem I didn’t know existed, and giving us a unique, enjoyable, and creative game for 80 Microsoft Points. Here’s hoping we get an episode 2.
Writings of Mass Deduction 