When we reviewed Inkvaders, we found it to be an “extremely polished and fun game”. Not much has changed for the HD version; why break a winning formula? The game looks terrific on the iPad, with all of the graphics now drawn at a higher resolution and of course you get the more intimate gaming experience that the device bestows.

With the resolution upgrade comes a control scheme that has been shifted downwards, to make the buttons easier to press with both your thumbs holding the device in landscape orientation (the game won’t work in portrait, but will flip the screen if you decide to have the headphones in the top right instead of the bottom left). The gameplay hasn’t changed in any way though, but that’s a good thing; Inkvaders is still a great game and stands the test of time well.

Inkvaders HD supports the iPod library access functionality, allowing you to create playlists in-game, but it also lets you know the artist and track name in a transparent overlay that appears for a few seconds when the song changes. We loved this functionality; because the iPad screen is so much bigger you can put more user interface elements onto it without obscuring the gameplay as much as the iPhone, so features like this aren’t as distracting. We think more iPad games should include this feature.

The only real negative we can say about the game is that the developers are charging again without providing a significant advantage to the iPad version, apart from the high-resolution artwork, instead of producing a binary compatible with both devices. Having said that though, the price is very reasonable given that the original only costs 59p. If you haven’t picked up the original game then don’t hesitate to buy Inkvaders HD; it is still a blast of a game.

This review covers content that’s exclusive to the iPad version; you can catch further detail on the gameplay from our initial review.

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Inkvaders, B

Review by Tom Grimes, August 28, 2009

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