After decades of mediocre Space Invaders pseudo sequels, Taito finally created a meaningful spiritual sequel to its 1978 classic with Space Invaders Extreme, which was released in 2008. However, North American players were unable to play the game in its definitive state. With the release of Arkanoid DS in Japan (Taito’s Breakout clone), a paddle controller add-on was also released simultaneously. Reminiscent to the classic paddle controls used in the original Breakout arcade game, the DS paddle add-on uses the DS’ second slot (GBA slot) and is compatible with Arkanoid DS and Space Invaders Extreme.
After months of deliberation, I finally decided to order the paddle controller off of eBay, and was pleasantly surprised at how responsive the add-on is for the two games that it supports. The two games control via a dial-like handle which controls the movement of your arkanoid paddle or space invaders ship. The dial is surprisingly responsive, and has no dead zone; in other words, you can keep spinning it without hitting a threshold.
As far as Arkanoid DS is concerned, the traditional button controls makes the game nearly unplayable. The stylus controls are tolerable, though a bit uncomfortable to utilize after a short period of time. The paddle controls, however, are the ideal way to play the game thanks to the responsive controls. For Space Invaders Extreme, the traditional button controls are fairly good, though the use of paddle controls allows more speed and precision. In other words, it’s what the mouse and keyboard control scheme does for shooters.
Overall, I would only recommend the DS paddle controller to those who are big fans of Arkanoid DS and Space Invaders Extreme, otherwise the controller serves no purpose. I assume that Space Invaders Extreme 2 will support the paddle as well. Due to the DSi’s lack of a GBA slot, the paddle controller is not compatible with the system. It’s one of the few reasons why the DS and DS Lite are still viable.
