Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve - Apple Arcade Review

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Genre: Shoot 'Em Up

Developer: Taito Corporation

Publisher: Taito Corporation

Release Date: April 3rd 2025

Available On: iOS, macOS, tvOS

Reviewed On: iOS

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When I was a kid, my favourite arcade game was always Space Invaders. I have nostalgia for games like Donkey Kong and Frogger, but it was Space Invaders that stayed with me throughout the years. The speed, the challenge and the sheer amount of chaos you go through as the player is exhilarating. I leapt up when I found out that Space Invaders was coming to Apple Arcade in the form of Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve. In a way, Infinity Gene Evolve feels like a spiritual descendant of Tetris Effect —a complete reinvention of an arcade classic. After beating the main campaign of Infinity Gene Evolve, I do not doubt in my mind that this is one of the best Apple Arcade games ever made. It takes the core gameplay of the original and adds different ships, hundreds of unlockable upgrades, and provides a philosophical evolution of both the franchise and the video game industry itself. The fantastic, yet simple, controls enhance the gameplay and immersion, thanks to the game’s excellent soundtrack, RPG-style upgrade system, and high difficulty.

Out with the Old, in with the New

The 8-bit graphics of the original Space Invaders had a huge amount of charm. Not to mention the loud and harsh sound effects made the action of shooting down alien spaceships a pure joy. For Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve, the graphics are a perfect blend of retro and modern styles. The early stages of the game feature 2D levels with 8-bit graphics, presented from a top-down perspective. The colour of these levels is also lacking, but it serves as a callback to the original. The further you progress in the game, the more modern it looks graphically. The top-down perspective remains the same for most of the game, but the enemies and spaceships become 3D models. These reworked graphics made the game pop so much more, and when the game occasionally shifts perspectives, the enemy design could be fully appreciated. When the game transitioned from a top-down perspective to first-person or third-person, it was jarring. Still, it was always thrilling, especially considering how far gaming has come and how Space Invaders remains a living and thriving franchise. This is to say that Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve is a beautiful game that manages to pay tribute to its heritage but also has the guts to reinvent itself for a new generation of fans.

Complimenting the different gameplay perspectives and graphics is the game’s soundtrack. Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve has the best soundtrack I have ever heard from an Apple Arcade game. Initially, the music echoes the 8-bit style of the original game; later, it becomes much more ambient and atmospheric, pairing beautifully with the gameplay. During boss fights, the music becomes louder and much more suspenseful. When playing a standard stage, the music is a lot mellower, but it immerses you in a way I did not expect. So far, this game has my favourite video game soundtrack of 2025 because it offers such a wide variety of styles and moods. Every song fits every stage beautifully, and any track can calm you, pump you up, and terrify you within seconds of each other.

If you are familiar with the gameplay of Space Invaders, you will be right at home with Infinity Gene Evolve. In every stage, you begin with your spaceship at the bottom, and you move it around the map to eliminate every enemy on the screen. Upon completing the stage, you will receive a score and an overall ranking of your performance. This is the core of what makes Space Invaders memorable, addictive and fun, but Infinity Gene Evolve adds so much more to make the game feel like a very far cry from the arcade classic.

Evolution

In the original game, you could only move your ship left or right. Infinity Gene Evolve allows you to move your ship freely across the screen. Not only does this give you more options for movement, but it also gives you new opportunities to dodge enemy attacks rather than just moving left or right. You have to pay attention to every enemy on the screen constantly and sometimes dodge your way through dozens of enemies without being hit to keep your combo going. Combos are achieved by regularly killing enemies. If a few seconds pass and you haven’t taken down an enemy, the combo goes back to zero and the score multiplier drops. Maintaining a combo in the game is so satisfying and is essential to getting an S rank on a level.

At first, keeping a combo is simple, and the game casually eases you and lets you learn the ins and outs of its combat. When you take down certain enemy spaceships, they will drop either one of two items: a score multiplier or a power-up. Score multipliers are yellow spheres that give you more points per enemy kill, and the more you collect without taking damage, the more they stack on top of one another. The power-ups appear as colourful atoms which increase the rate of fire of your ship. Once again, if you get a number of power-ups stacked on top of one another, you not only get more power to your ship, but you also unlock a temporary shield. This temporary shield activates whenever you take damage and gives you a burst fire effect for a few seconds. Once the burst fire ends, you must rebuild your power-ups all over again. The power-ups, in particular, are essential to get through most stages of the game because of the one-hit kill system of your ship. Essentially, if you do not have a shield, one hit and you lose a life. This is not an easy game, and the difficulty certainly increases during the final levels. It can be very punishing if you are not paying attention, but it never feels unfair, and every death was my fault. This makes Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve’s gameplay even more engaging and visceral; a single slip of the finger can disrupt your flow.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve has its most significant gameplay mechanic hidden in its title: the evolution system. In its most basic form, these are the permanent upgrades you unlock throughout the game to evolve your ship and make you more powerful. At the end of a particular stage, your points are converted into XP, which fills up the evolution gauge. Once the gauge is full, you unlock a new power-up. However, instead of selecting an upgrade to unlock (like a skill tree), the upgrade you obtain depends on whether you finished the stage on the left side of the screen or the right side. There are no distinct upgrade types assigned to the left or right side of the screen, so each upgrade is a mystery, and the only way to unlock them is to change up your style and pay attention to which side of the screen you finish on. The evolution system is great for replayability because there are over 100 different upgrades to unlock. These upgrades are sometimes as simple as unlocking an extra life during gameplay, and other times, you unlock a brand new ship with a different gameplay style. The upgrade system keeps you on your toes during gameplay, but I do wish there were more distinctions between the upgrades themselves. It would have been better if the type of upgrade were dependent on which side of the screen you finish. For example, if you finish on the right side, you get an attack power-up, and if you finish on the left, you get a defence power-up. This method would have kept me more alert during the closing seconds of a stage.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve Review — Verdict

Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve is undeniable proof that Space Invaders still has a much-deserved spot in today’s gaming culture. The game takes the core elements of what made the original so revolutionary and adds more challenge and variety. The gameplay has been expanded, the graphics are a perfect blend of retro and modern, and the soundtrack is my favourite so far this year. The upgrade system has a lot going for it, even if I wanted more direction and distinction between the upgrades themselves. Despite this, Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve is hands down one of the best Apple Arcade games I've played and is an absolute must-play for anyone who owns a subscription.