Once the definition of saving the world one quarter at a time. by Patrick Evans

Galaga is one of gaming's greatest trailblazers and still gets its fair share of quarters at the local arcade. The opening song is memorized by a generation older than most gamers. It is the generation that made the arcade popular during the late 70's and early 80's. Just ask your mom or dad about Galaga. I'd be willing to bet they have at least one story to tell about the most classic arcade game next to Pac-Man.

Xbox Live subscribers can now download Galaga from the Xbox Live Marketplace for a measly five dollars (400 Microsoft Points). Like many other arcade classics like Frogger and the upcoming Pac-Man release, the old classic is ported directly to the Xbox controller looking like it did the day it debuted some decades ago.

For those people that are reading this review and don't know what Galaga is, slam you head into a wall for ignoring your roots. Back now? Take a couple Advil while I tell you the story. Enemy ships from regions unknown fly onto the screen in groups and settle on the top half of the screen. Your ship is stuck on the very bottom of the screen, only able to move left and right. The objective is to clear the screen of ships while avoiding their fire or kamikaze moves. Sounds simple enough, right?

Galaga is painfully simple, but there are so many nuances that come together to round out the repetitive gameplay. I can remember when my old man told me about the day he figured out how to get the dual-ships. For any of us that have seen it done a number of times growing up, it must have been spectacular to discover that on your own for the first time. More than that is the subtle changes in scoring that you can earn based on when you decide to eliminate the enemy. You can shoot at them as soon as they begin to form up, but waiting for a while for them to form up and come at you can earn big points, especially if you take them down in groups. Of course, if you let them come at you, you risk being destroyed. Such subtlety is rarely seen in any arcade titles since Galaga.

It's only a shame that Namco couldn't give it a proper porting treatment on Xbox Arcade. Sure, the title is only five bucks, but there is absolutely nothing new here besides the ability to continue from your last stage, which is something no self-respecting Galaga player will ever use. Frogger at least got alternating co-op, allowing two players to play online by taking turns as if they were in the same room. Galaga, instead, gets nothing. Sure, you can resize the screen. Oh, and there is an online leaderboard full of scores that you will very likely never even sniff in your lifetime. But those additions do nothing to enhance the actual arcade gameplay, and count for pretty much nothing.

Any self-respecting gamer will be looking forward to the chance to play Galaga at will since machines aren't easy to find anymore. This game is one of the most visible icons of gaming; it was used for the intro to Grandma's Boy, a movie about a game developer. The score that was awarded for this release is solely based on the strength of the original release. I only hope that we get something more with the upcoming release of Pac-Man later this summer.

Features:

• Space pilot: Take control of a fighter space craft and shoot down the invading aliens. Watch out for the swooping motherships, which will try to steal your fighter!
  
• Extra firepower: Rescue captured fighters to double your firepower. Earn Perfect Bonuses as you battle your way through wave after wave in different challenging stages.
  
• Achievements: Boost your Gamerscore as you unlock achievements.
  

By Patrick Evans
CCC Staff Writer

Rating out of 5 Galaga (Xbox 360) 3.8 Graphics Adjusting the screen size without distorting the pixels is a nice option, but the static border on the sides could use some life. 4.1 Control Left, right, shoot. The Xbox controller handles everything well. 2.5 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting You get music for the opening and the end of bonus stages, that's it. 4.0 Play Value Galaga was addictive way back when, and it's addictive now. A little extra content would have gone a long way here, though 3.7 Overall Rating - Good Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.