Game 9: Amoeba Invaders (1987)

Canada/USA
Released 1987
Genre: Arcade
Developer: LateNight Developments Corporation
Date Started: 25 June 2025
Date Ended: 25 June 2025
Total Hours: 0.5
Difficulty: Moderate (2.5/5)
Final Rating: 28

Amoeba Invaders is, as you might have guessed, a clone of Space Invaders. I guess don’t have to explain too much about gameplay. You control a ship at the bottom of the screen and shoot at waves of amoeba-like alien creatures that move across the screen, slowly descending towards you, with some of them shooting back at you.

LateNight’s version isn’t doing anything special with the formula, but it feels like a fairly solid implementation. Graphics and sound are decent, but most of all, it feels smooth and responsive. This is especially true when I compare this to another arcade clone I played recently, Missile Defense, which got choppy as soon as there was more going on on the screen. On to the ratings:

Programming:
Pretty fine for what it is, and most importantly, no slowdowns. 7/10

Controls:
Fine as well, no real complaints. Adding some GUI buttons feels a bit unnecessary (maybe the developer wanted to show off?). Another nice addition that we haven’t seen here before is the option to define your own keys. 7/10

Vibe:
None to speak off, but there is faint hint of an atmosphere, compared to Missile Defense. 1/10

Graphics:
Nothing spectacular, but nice overall with a few animations going on. 4/10

Story:
None. 0/10

Audio:
Unremarkable but does the job and doesn’t annoy (I’m looking at you, Missile Defense). 3/10

Fun:
Surprisingly enjoyable for a rather bland clone, I had some decent fun. 6/10

Final Rating: 28

Overall:
Well, this came out as the highest rated game so far... A space invaders clone of all things. I guess it just underlines what the game managed to avoid: Laggy controls, unresponsive gameplay, and annoying sound. It’s by no means inventive, but it’s a solid implementation of a classic arcade game.

The developer, LateNight Developments Corporation, which essentially was Christopher Halsall, didn’t release any other games that I could find.

The general opinion seems to match mine, it got a 8 out of 10 in the German Joystick magazine in its March issue of 1987, and on Lemon Amiga it has a rating of 4.73 out of 5, with commenters describing it as “competent” and that it “beats many later and/or commercial Space Invaders or Galaga clones, by dint of the responsive controls and pleasingly quaint audiovisuals”. I guess that’s a fair assessment.