Evasive Space (Wii)

[aruljothi]

   Release Date: February 2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: Shooter
Publisher: YUKES Company of America
Developer: High Voltage Software


There's one thing you should know about Evasive Space: it's infuriating. No matter how good you are (or think you are), there will be many points where you will be compelled to give up. It requires some hardened gamer skill, a different proposition from the other, mostly soft-boiled WiiWare selections, but, at the same time, it provides a bunch of mindless fun. Basically, you control a small, unarmed spaceship that must zip through levels trying to reach the exit (either going straight to it or collecting a lost Constellation Stone before being able to leave). It's like Asteroids minus the pea shooter, but with a purpose.

The main levels are mazes on planetary surfaces, where you must escape under a certain time -- usually 45 seconds. The mazes are awfully narrow, so if your ship so much as grazes the walls or another obstacle, it's stopped for a couple of seconds, similar to the import-only Game Boy Advance game Kurukuru Kururin. And with only 45 seconds, it's easy to mildly panic and start jetting through in an attempt to acquire more time-extending stones, only to complicate matters and ensure failure. Other levels take place away from the planets, where you float around the atmosphere collecting energy tokens or dragging stranded ships back to space stations. While those levels are easier to manage, it's more important to keep your shields from disintegrating by avoiding asteroids, rather than finishing under a set time.

On the bright -- that is, happier -- side, Evasive Space is fairly short at only 20 levels, and it doesn't take much trial and error to figure out the level layouts. However, nailing a successful run is a different story, especially if you forget where and when an enemy worm is going to pop out of the ground to whack you. And when you think you've escaped the evil of one maze, a later level may take you back to the same area to recover more Constellation Stones, usually down a different, twistier path.

The most positive part of Evasive Space is the easily-understood controls: a cursor dictates the direction of your ship, and you simply push the B button to move forward, and drag the cursor around to turn. But if you jerk the remote too fast in a tight spot, you risk getting out of range of the sensor bar -- messing up your movement, if not outright ceasing it momentarily. Granted, it doesn't happen all the time, but it can be an extra annoyance if you're under that aforementioned mild panic.

There's no doubt that Evasive Space is a clever concept -- a "space" game that's defense-dependent -- and is easy for casual play, since you only use one button most of the time. But get under its surface and you'll see it's more than "casual:" it can be a rage machine for weaker-willed players. It's by no means awful, as it's smartly-designed for what it is, but it asks for a certain amount of dedication that those who don't have an affinity for early '80s arcade hits may not have.