Space Invaders Infinity Gene (iOS, Android)

It is not the strongest
of the species that survives,
nor the most intelligent that survives.

It is the one
that is the most adaptable to change. — Charles Darwin

Space Invaders Infinity Gene is a unique take on the Space Invaders franchise, featuring a minimalistic theme and levels that get graphically more advanced as the player progresses. While these are the most widely known mobile versions, they are actually enhanced ports of the feature phone (BREW/DoJa/J2ME) game of the same name released a year earlier.

Did I mention there's a mode in which you can play with your own songs?

Note: Most of the contents of this page take in consideration the iOS release of the game. Some of it can still be found in the Android release, where it is specified accordingly.

Revisional Differences#

Many updates were released throughout the iOS version's lifespan:

v1.0.0 (July 27, 2009)#

The original release of the game.

v2.0.0 (January 13, 2010)#

This appears to be the version the Android release is based on.

• Ten new EXTRA levels were added. Many of them feature "VER.2" variations of bosses with different attacks:
  • EXTRA 21 GAIN OF FUNCTION
  • EXTRA 22 TELEMORPH
  • EXTRA 23 POINT DELETION
    Features THE MOON VER.2.
  • EXTRA 24 INTERSTITIAL DELETION
    Features THE SUN VER.2.
  • EXTRA 25 TERMINAL DELETION
    Features GIGANTIC-UFO VER.2.
  • EXTRA 26 NUCLEOTIDE DELETION
    Features LADYBUG VER.2.
  • EXTRA 27 GENE DELETION
    Features MANDALA VER.2.
  • EXTRA 28 CHROMOSOMAL DELETION
    Features UNKNOWN VER.2.
  • EXTRA 29 PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH
    A boss rush level featuring all VER.2 bosses.
  • EXTRA 30 LOCUS
    A bonus level with invaders positioned so that it reads "EVOLUTION NEVER ENDS.".
• OpenFeint compatibility was added. This included the addition of 50 achievements, highscore tables for the levels, and share functions to Facebook and Twitter.
• Song and artist titles are now displayed upon starting a level in MUSIC mode.
• MUSIC stages can now be rated up to 5 stars.

v3.0.0 (July 9, 2010)#

• The game can now be played on landscape mode.
• The OPTION weapon was added to the base game.
• Five downloadable weapons were added, alongside six downloadable "CHIMERA" levels:
  • SILVER HAWK
    Based on the player ships from the Darius series. Purchasing it would grant access to CHIMERA 1A CAPTAIN NEO and CHIMERA 1B I CAN NOT APE, which feature the boss King Fossil.
  • INTER GRAY
    Based on the player ship from Night Striker. Purchasing it would grant access to CHIMERA 2A URBAN TRAIL and CHIMERA 2B BURN ALT AIR, which feature the boss Great Destroyer.
  • BLACK FLY
    Based on the player ship from Metal Black. Purchasing it would grant access to CHIMERA 3A BORN TO BE FREE and CHIMERA 3B BEFORE TEN ORB, which feature the boss Apartheid.
  • BOOMERANG
    Obtainable by purchasing one of the DLC ships.
  • R-GRAY2
    Based on one of the ships from RayStorm. Obtainable by purchasing all three DLC ships.
  • The CHIMERA levels feature the respective soundtracks from the games they're based on, or, in the case of the "B" stages, new rearrangements. The boss warning alert sounds, and, in the case of the "A" stages, the boss themes from each game, are also listenable.

v4.0.0 (November 4, 2010)#

• Proper graphical compatibility for the iPad and iPhone 4 were added.
• SURVIVAL mode was added, in which the player must survive a set of 8 EXTRA/CHIMERA stages without continues. The paths are branched, totaling 8 different endings.
• Game Center functionality was added.

v4.0.2 (April 18, 2011)#

Added support to the iPad 2 model.

v4.1.3 (October 19, 2012)#

• Minor bug fixes.

v4.1.4 (December 14, 2012)#

• OpenFeint support was removed, following the platform's discontinuation.

v4.1.5 (July 24, 2013)#

• Support for the iPhone 5 was added.
• Support for the second generation and third generation iPod touch models was removed.

Unused Text#

MUSIC Mode Placeholder#

One of the main features in Space Invaders Infinity Gene is MUSIC mode, in which the player can select any song on their phone to play. Within the executable are placeholder strings for a song title and artist, should the game somehow fail to load a song but still progress through gameplay. Curiously, the strings in v1.0.0 refer to a proper song; The Ink Spots' rendition of I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, released in 1941.

Placeholder EXTRA Stages#

While the original release only had 20 EXTRA stages, placeholder entries from 21 to 36 also exist. The first ten would be used in later revisions, but the last six would be replaced with the CHIMERA stage strings. These can also be found in the Android release.

Executable#

Path: InfinityGene (iOS) / classes.dex (Android)

Localized Strings#

Path: [xx].lproj\Localizable.strings (iOS) / resources.arsc (Android)

Metal Black Boss#

Of the CHIMERA bosses introduced in v3.0.0, the one associated with the levels CHIMERA 3A BORN TO BE FREE and CHIMERA 3B BEFORE TEN ORB, which are renditions of the first stage in Metal Black, is the only one that does not have a warning display before it is reached. However, a string for its name, Apartheid, is present in the executable at offset 0x206C4C (v3.0.0) / 0x298434 (v4.0.2), albeit misspelled.

"APARTHEAD"

References#