XBLA IMPRESSIONS: "Galaga Legions DX"

I'm a fan of both oldschool, and new shmup shooters. In my gaming past I've actually played the old Galaga game, and to be honest I enjoyed the newer shmup titles much more. Recently I heard that NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. was going to be releasing a DX version of Galaga in response to their very popular PAC-MAN Championship Ed. DX. I was very excited about the news. I used to own PAC-MAN C.E. DX for the PS3, and I was very impressed with it. Namco really went the extra mile with that game, and I couldn't wait to see what was instore for Galaga. This morning I was checking the latest XBLA game releases out, and noticed Galaga Legions DX was at the front of the list. I didn't hesitate in downloading the trial version to see what it offered.


Galaga Legions DX was an amazing game to say the least. NAMCO kept true to the DX sub-genre it had developed. Like PAC-MAN C.E. DX this game had similar extras. You could choose from 6 different types of ship layouts that effected both the ship you pilot as well as the various types of ships in the game. The trial version only allowed you to choose the newer ship, but at least it let you have a sneak peek at what was available. I found that the slow motion warning feature that was available in PAC-MAN C.E. DX was also made available in this game. I found it to be a very useful tool when being overwhelmed by relentless swarms of enemy spacecraft. The robotic female announcer voice in the game added a unique touch to the game. I kind of felt like I was Master Chief from HALO listening to Cortana speak. The visuals were greatly enhanced. Both the background, and enemy ship details were amazing. The in-game visuals weren't overpowering as in some shmup shooters which was a very good thing. The music in the game had a techno type of sound to it, and really accented the gameplay. I noticed in the main menu that there was a blocked option for Championship, and Time Trial modes.

The controls for Galaga Legions DX weren't complicated at all. The movement, and weapon fire was based on a dual thumbstick setup. Left thumbstick was used for ship movement while the right thumbstick was used to fire. Your ship could also switch polarity/formation to fire different weapon types. You could access this feature by pressing the right shoulder button. I was really impressed with the control scheme the developer chose. It was both simple, and very effective. In the end I found that Galaga Legions DX was a solid XBLA title extremely worth the 800 msp asking price. I may be adding this title to my library very soon!