Titan Attacks 3DS Review • Codec Moments

Titan Attacks is a 2D arcade shooter in the classic style of Space Invaders or Galaxian, from Puppygames, which was brought to PlayStation consoles last year by Curve Digital, who are now proffering the game up for the Nintendo 3DS; so how does it stack up?

Like the aforementioned arcade classics, you are tasked with taking out the Titans as they attack in formation across 100 levels. You’ll encounter waves of alien fighters, bombers and giant boss motherships, as the last surviving tank commander repels the Titan forces from the Earth, the Moon, Mars and Saturn, before taking the fight to Titan itself.

It starts out easily enough, which is good because in the beginning your tank is pretty underwhelming. The Titan’s soon up the ante bombarding you with a multitude of enemies that have different attack patterns including dive-bombing and hefty missiles; not only that but you also have to avoid or destroy crashing ships and attempt to capture Titan pilots parachuting to safety. Thankfully you’ll earn bounty money that you can spend between levels to upgrade your shield and weapon power, purchase smartbombs and even strap on additional weapons that will help you in your clash of the Titans.

It’s a great game… sadly it’s not a great port to the 3DS. The game is not as polished as the PS Vita version, in fact the blocky aesthetic looks as if Minecraft filter has been applied to the game; the colours aren’t as vibrant either leaving the game looking a little bit washed out.

The second screen is underutilised, with touch reserved for the games start and pause menus and it’s only used in game to provides information on score multiplier and shield status, that is displayed using a HUD in other console versions. This is a double edged sword as you have to take your eyes away from the top-screen action to read the information that, ironically, is presented more clearly than in the Vita version. It’s not even used in the shop sections between levels, when it would be ideal for selecting upgrades with a simple tap of the finger. The biggest omission though is the lack of any 3D support whatsoever, which really could have elevated this game above the other versions for me. I wasn’t kidding when I called it a 2D arcade shooter.

As things stand, if you have the choice of buying this game for the 3DS or the Vita, go for the latter with its polished graphics and cross-buy including PS3 and PS4 versions at no extra cost. Platform specific gripes aside, it’s a great game that will test your reflexes and your patience, without ever driving you to throw your shiny New Nintendo 3DS across the room, and I recommend it highly.

A review copy of Titan Attacks for Nintendo 3DS was provided by the Curve PR team, and the game is available now from the eShop for £7.99/$9.99.