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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Shooter Developer: Namco Publisher: Namco Bandai |
When Namco released the original “Galaga” back in 1981 they probably never had the idea that it would eventually become one of the greatest games of all time. While its colorful two dimensional sprites served their
purpose back when the game was released, but gamers today expect to see a lot more in the year 2008. “Galaga Legions” answers the call with some of the most frantic and psychedelic visuals that challenge those of
“Geometry Wars.” Although the amount of game play value players get in the $10 game might leave players wanting more, there is no doubt that “Galaga Legions” is more proof that classic games can be recharged
without selling users short of taking away too much from the vintage game design.
“Galaga Legions” offers two different modes of play, Championship and Adventure. Through five areas, each of which has five levels with varying difficulty and enemy design, players will have plenty to keep themselves
busy for a while. Each of the areas has a unique visual design, but all of the levels are centered on the player’s ship moving quickly through deep space while fighting waves and waves of enemies. This probably
sounds very familiar to any of those who are veteran players of the “Galaga” of the past, but there have been a few very important changes to the game.
The first thing that many players will notice is that the players can now play two stationary guns around the entire stage, facing one of the four cardinal directions. Unlike the original game, players can now move their
ship off of the bottom of the screen which is a good thing since the waves of enemies will occasionally start approaching the player’s position from both the bottom and top of the screen. Luckily for the players, “Galaga
Legions” has a system in place that plots out the path of the incoming enemies. It is in the few seconds between players seeing the enemy’s path and the enemy descending on their ship that players will need to align
their gun turrets to take out the oncoming enemies. Of course if players don’t position their gun turrets properly, they will have to simply stay attacked to their ship, providing the players with even more overall firepower.
Although there are no bombs in “Galaga Legions,” players are able to activate a black hole that not only sucks in every surrounding enemy, but it also turns all of those enemies into guided insect type things that
demolish everything that stands in their way. It is a great feeling to get into a corner of the screen, turrets positioned strategically in order to take out all of the bad guys that come their way, and players to think that they
are about to die for sure, then a black hole makes its appearance on the screen to save the day. It feels great to be near death and saved at the last second.
For those players that are looking for a more traditional visual design for both the enemies in the game and the player’s ship have three skin options to choose from. First, there is the original which is the original
design pieced together specifically for “Galaga Legions.” The game looks as futuristic as players could expect from a game of this type. Then there is vintage and ancient mode for players the try out, both of which offer
a little bit more of a 1980s visual scheme. The only problem that many players will have with all of the different skins that are available is that they don’t change any elements of the actual game play, which would be very
nice for a game of this type. Players will be left wanting to see varying game play styles based on which skin players will pick with ancient providing players with the classic “Galaga” release.
When it comes to the visuals of the game, players could make the argument that “Galaga Legions” is one of the best looking games on Xbox Live Arcade. The number of enemies on screen at any one point in time is
absolutely amazing and although the frame rate slows down dramatically when it does happen, the action manages to stay very smooth for the most part. The only other down side when it comes to the visuals int eh
game is that there’s almost too much going on at any one point at a time. Players will see scores pop up when each enemy on the screen is eliminated and when the entire screen is filled with waves and waves of bad
guys, the chances are that players will score quite a few unwanted deaths just because of the fact that there is just far too much going on within the screen at one time.
When it comes down to it, there isn’t a whole lot of bad stuff that can be said about the “Galaga” of 1981 and the “Galaga Legions” of 2008. The biggest flaw of the newest release is that there isn’t enough of it to keep
players interested for extended periods of time. With just five stages to play through, two similar modes of play and no multiplayer of any type, players might play through the game a couple of time for the nostalgia of the
game, but it will quickly put to the side for a different, more interesting game. Though this is a great remake of a classic videogame, players will be left wanting more.
purpose back when the game was released, but gamers today expect to see a lot more in the year 2008. “Galaga Legions” answers the call with some of the most frantic and psychedelic visuals that challenge those of
“Geometry Wars.” Although the amount of game play value players get in the $10 game might leave players wanting more, there is no doubt that “Galaga Legions” is more proof that classic games can be recharged
without selling users short of taking away too much from the vintage game design.
“Galaga Legions” offers two different modes of play, Championship and Adventure. Through five areas, each of which has five levels with varying difficulty and enemy design, players will have plenty to keep themselves
busy for a while. Each of the areas has a unique visual design, but all of the levels are centered on the player’s ship moving quickly through deep space while fighting waves and waves of enemies. This probably
sounds very familiar to any of those who are veteran players of the “Galaga” of the past, but there have been a few very important changes to the game.
The first thing that many players will notice is that the players can now play two stationary guns around the entire stage, facing one of the four cardinal directions. Unlike the original game, players can now move their
ship off of the bottom of the screen which is a good thing since the waves of enemies will occasionally start approaching the player’s position from both the bottom and top of the screen. Luckily for the players, “Galaga
Legions” has a system in place that plots out the path of the incoming enemies. It is in the few seconds between players seeing the enemy’s path and the enemy descending on their ship that players will need to align
their gun turrets to take out the oncoming enemies. Of course if players don’t position their gun turrets properly, they will have to simply stay attacked to their ship, providing the players with even more overall firepower.
Although there are no bombs in “Galaga Legions,” players are able to activate a black hole that not only sucks in every surrounding enemy, but it also turns all of those enemies into guided insect type things that
demolish everything that stands in their way. It is a great feeling to get into a corner of the screen, turrets positioned strategically in order to take out all of the bad guys that come their way, and players to think that they
are about to die for sure, then a black hole makes its appearance on the screen to save the day. It feels great to be near death and saved at the last second.
For those players that are looking for a more traditional visual design for both the enemies in the game and the player’s ship have three skin options to choose from. First, there is the original which is the original
design pieced together specifically for “Galaga Legions.” The game looks as futuristic as players could expect from a game of this type. Then there is vintage and ancient mode for players the try out, both of which offer
a little bit more of a 1980s visual scheme. The only problem that many players will have with all of the different skins that are available is that they don’t change any elements of the actual game play, which would be very
nice for a game of this type. Players will be left wanting to see varying game play styles based on which skin players will pick with ancient providing players with the classic “Galaga” release.
When it comes to the visuals of the game, players could make the argument that “Galaga Legions” is one of the best looking games on Xbox Live Arcade. The number of enemies on screen at any one point in time is
absolutely amazing and although the frame rate slows down dramatically when it does happen, the action manages to stay very smooth for the most part. The only other down side when it comes to the visuals int eh
game is that there’s almost too much going on at any one point at a time. Players will see scores pop up when each enemy on the screen is eliminated and when the entire screen is filled with waves and waves of bad
guys, the chances are that players will score quite a few unwanted deaths just because of the fact that there is just far too much going on within the screen at one time.
When it comes down to it, there isn’t a whole lot of bad stuff that can be said about the “Galaga” of 1981 and the “Galaga Legions” of 2008. The biggest flaw of the newest release is that there isn’t enough of it to keep
players interested for extended periods of time. With just five stages to play through, two similar modes of play and no multiplayer of any type, players might play through the game a couple of time for the nostalgia of the
game, but it will quickly put to the side for a different, more interesting game. Though this is a great remake of a classic videogame, players will be left wanting more.
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