by:	July 25, 2006

Without a doubt, the early 1980’s was the Golden-age when it came to genre defining titles, and with that we have games such as Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, and of course the 2D shooter Galaga. Those of you who haven’t already played this on emulators, arcades at that run down pizza shop, cell phones, or aren’t old enough to have experienced the game during it’s prime, here is a quick run down. Basically you command a space fighter jet that from the bottom of the screen, may move left or right, while shooting single shots (A button on the 360 controller), or rapid fire (B button on the 360 controller). You are shooting at various creatures in space, which swoop down to attack you, shoot projectiles, and form lines that you must penetrate and destroy.

As simple as the game sounds, it is still very challenging, and older Xbox Live gamers especially will appreciate the title. As you progress, the best part of the experience is trying to beat your friend’s scores, or even better, the worldwide score to become the top player of the game, bringing that arcade experience from the 1981 classic into your home. You feel just like you did when you would put in a quarter at the local pizza place, beating the score of “ASS or “SEX” there, in order to prove your worth, only to come back and see your score was completely beaten. With that aside, there isn’t much new to expect here. The classic “sideways CRT” angle is still there, with a Galaga wallpaper surrounding the borders to fill up the rest of your television set, complete with the simple pixel graphics, and nostalgia inducing beeps, bombs, and dive sounds.

The achievements for the game is what gives it most of it’s new luster, with achievements such as find the stingray, mosquito, Gal Boss, Get up to stage 10, 20, 30, so on and so forth. As of yet, this is probably also the best arcade conversion yet on Live Arcade, and probably the most fun we will have until later in the coming weeks everyone gets a chance to play Pac-Man, and Street Fighter. Until then, this is a walk down memory lane, or another interesting history lesson for all.

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It is still as fun, and predictably challenging as it was in the past, and is a great buy for anyone who hasn’t played the game in awhile (on a compilation or otherwise), hasn’t played it at all, or simply wants to rack up some Xbox 360 Achievement points. The game’s price is right as well, at only a meager 400 points ($5), it won’t burn a hole into your wallet at all.

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