The great arcade games leave the player saying “just one more level” or “after this stage I’ll shut it off,” and of course an hour or two later they are still saying the same thing. This summer has been filled with great additions to the Xbox Live Arcade with titles such as Geometry Wars 2, Braid, and Bionic Commando: Rearmed that are leaving gamers with the “I gotta play” feeling.. The next in line from the highly anticipated summer list is Galaga Legions, a recreation of a classic arcade game.

Gameplay:

Most old school gamers know the Namco-Bandai classic Galaga in which you pilot a spaceship that must shoot down hordes of bug-like spacecraft which come at you in a swarm of different patterns. Galaga Legions offers a new spin on the game by adding satellites that the player can detach from the ship and place where they are needed or be kept as part of the ship to increase fire power. The great thing about the detachable turrets is that they can be placed in any direction (up, down, left, and right) and any where on the screen. This new feature adds another dimension to the gameplay because now the formations of Galaga come from all sides and not in minimal numbers like they did in the 1981 classic. Although the enemies come in different directions, Galaga Legions has a system in place that allows you to know the shape of the formation and the avenue of their approach. The orange boxes represent the originating point the ships will appear and the curling lines serve as a diagram for their approach. Within each of these fleets lies a detonator, Galaga that when shot down will destroy the rest of that squadron. The controls are very easy to grasp, but take a while to master the challenge the game puts forth. Galaga Legions only has two game modes which include all five levels. The first of these is the adventure mode that pits the player against the Galaga starting at level one and working your way to the final confrontation in level 5. This game type offers no continues, but does reward the player for reaching score levels with extra lives. Challenge mode is the second option and gives the player the choice of which level they wish to start on and conquer. Unfortunately the game doesn’t offer online or offline multiplayer modes which is a real set back considering all the wonderful games on the marketplace that do offer this great feature. The only online interaction that Galaga Legions provides is a global leaderboard.

Graphics:

Galaga Legions offers top notch visuals to go along with the fast paced gameplay. The bright, vibrant colors stand out extremely well against a backdrop that makes the player feel as if they are racing through the depths of space. The only minor draw back would be the clutter caused by the on-screen scoring when you destroy the chains of Galaga that are flying towards the spaceship. Galaga Legions offers the player different skins to choose from that change the visual appearance of the game, but not the gameplay itself.

Sound:

With classic Galaga sounds in mind the creators did a wonderful job crafting the old into something new. The great techno beats add to the frantic play of the game, but stay in the background so they don’t draw your attention away from the task at hand. Galaga Legions could have done without the annoying female voice that repeats herself every level with “New Galaga formation detected.” It was almost as bad as the droning commentary Cris Colinsworth provides for the Madden series.

Longevity:

Although Galaga Legions doesn’t give the player numerous game types or any multiplayer modes, twitch shooter and old school fans will love the challenge presented by the difficult game. The gameplay becomes addicting and a quick time passing gaming session turns into an hour before you know it (even if you can’t get past the 2nd level). The lack of options will make Galaga Legions a “pick up and play” game only, but that fits quite well.

Overall:

Galaga Legions offers an addicting style of play as well as provides a substantial challenge for any high score junkie. The lack of game modes (only two!?) and any semblance of multiplayer is a big strike against fully making this a “must purchase.” Especially since games like Geometry Wars 2 and Ikagrua offer a very similar gaming experience. The superb visuals and thorough sounds don’t disappoint when compared to some of the best games Xbox Live Arcade has to offer. Although 800 Microsoft points seems a bit high priced, Galaga Legions is a solid addition to any games library.