Laser Invasion is a game that has contributed nothing truly positive to the industry. It's not that every game out there needs to be a gem to be a worthy contributor, but every video game, in one way or another, for the most part, has something to offer. More often than not I feel that a game from the past has some sort of legacy it leaves behind in your mind, as a fond memory of your childhood - be it a great game like Super Mario Bros. or a mediocre one like The Mafat Conspiracy, just to use them as examples. If that was one of your hobbies growing up, then you have some sort of recollection of that game. I wonder what sort of memories gamers have of Laser Invasion. It's a game I did not own back in the day, but do now, and frankly, it has nothing to offer and will be one I am sure I will soon forget about.

     Perhaps it's not fair to judge the game as I am because I didn't own it back in 1991, though I own it now in 2010, but it is my duty as a critic to review these sort of things for what they are, and were - depending on what I am reviewing. In a nutshell Laser Invasion is a poor game with many rediculous and outrageous elements surrounding it. First off, it is a blatant copy of the game Top Gun for the NES, and I am shocked that the fine company of Konami, with its impressive library of historic games, would rehash an already broken game play mechanic and pass it off as entirely new product.

     It plays almost identically to that of Top Gun, where you fly a plane and shoot down enemy aircraft from the view of the plane's cockpit. Sure, the graphics are much better, but that's it. And even with that said, the graphics aren't great. They have some nice nuaces, but overall, the look is rather bland and uninspired. Especially when flying of course, which is where you'll spend the majority of the game - up in the sky - and it is just boring and repitative. Another annoying aspect is that one shot kills. That's not a gripe that it is too hard, but, if the controls weren't so substandard, it wouldn't be that big of an issue. The aiming reticle moves fairly slowly, and you are quickly overwhelmed by enemy ships, leading to an equally quick demise - it stinks.

     There are many different ways to play this game, which is something to its credit; you can use the NES controller, but it's slow to react. You could also use the NES Zapper (aka the Light Gun), which is alright. But the most rediculous peripheral that this game was known for was the Laserscope. It was this incredibly cheesy pair of headphones with a mouthpiece that you would wear during gameplay to simulate the idea of being a fighter pilot in real-time action. You shout out something into the mouthpiece to fire your plane's weaponry, and there you go, another gadget to play games with. Personally, I have not tried this Laserscope, but it simply looks embarrassing. Sure, kids might get a kick out of using it, but, that is something only a kid in 1991 can remember, and cherish as a memory.

     Essentially, Laser Invasion was a knock-off and a reboot of the frustrating Top Gun game, and was a fad of the times. It remains as a time capsule of the year of which it was made, but leaves nothing indelible and memorable on and for the industry, aside from having the silly Laserscope peripheral attached to its identity. It's the kind of game that aged very poorly, and I'm sure if I had owned it back in 1991, I would have been a ltitle more friendly toward it here in my review, but, owning it today, it offers up nothing, and I love vintage games. If anything, Laser Invasion is a relic, and a shell of its former self, one that will surely fade into obscurity.

-Kurt L.

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