Let me just add that I was pretty damn sure that Time Soldiers was the hardest game I’ve ever played. Hands down, it seemed like an impossibility when it came to actually ‘defeating’ the title. Well, I was wrong. The Next Space certainly starts out in the most innocent of manners, as it convinces you that it is a straightforward, top-down shooter. It goes as far as to give you some confidence and allows you to get used to the game and all it’s glory.
Then the game, as Dave Chapelle puts it, ‘Gets Real’.
The Next Space is an intense shooter that sends waves and waves of uncanny, unpredictable enemies at you — non-stop. It’s like watching a Michael Bay movie unfold and the action is just continuous explosions everywhere (minus the Michael Bay storylines — which are horrendous generally). You will start out with enemies that come from the top of the screen shooting projectiles that go everywhere, then more enemies are added while you’re trying to take care of the first set. These enemies come from the sides and swing around in different patterns. Before you realize it, the strategy of moving your ship(s) from left to right now has to change to moving your ships pretty much in sporadic directions that don’t consist of any given pattern.
It’s tough, BUT it’s unique. Generally, I don’t like defending impossible games, but two key factors stand out that force me to defend The Next Space and it’s difficulty. The first, shooters generally are made to be pattern oriented. If you play games like R-Type or Vanguard then you’ll find some sort of pattern to all their madness. They allow you time to think and move. That’s not a bad thing, but it does get repetitive after a while, which causes the game to lose a bit of flavor. With The Next Space, unless you’re an absolute certified genius, like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting, you’re not going to be able to memorize what the hell is coming at you, how it’s moving and what space you should be occupy to avoid getting killed. Simply put, there’s too much here to pin down a pattern. I like that, I want that, you get that with The Next Space. It keeps you on your toes.
The second key factor here is the abundant power-ups that improve your ship’s performance. As I’ve learned from Resident Evil, whenever you find ammo/weapons lying around it’s not because the game is being nice to you; it’s because the game is about to open a can of ungodly worms on you. The never-ending power-ups act as a distraction to your constant barrage of death. They give the ship more interesting firepower, which means you have different ways to defend yourself. Again, it adds flavor to a very difficult game, and it makes it seem less difficult. I like that factor because it doesn’t allow frustration to replace entertainment.
Having said all this, the game is a great trip, especially for gamers who remember arcades. It’s pretty, it’s presented in a very 1989 graphical style and it’s only $2.99. That is worth the trip down memory lane, in my humble opinion. That’s what makes SNK Playmore’s titles worth the price of admission.
Plus, you can joke about how they probably had $5 bill slots on the front of the arcade version of The Next Space — because there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell you’re winning on one quarter.
In all seriousness, it’s a hoot of a game.