[gameinfo title=”Game Info” game_name=”” developers=”Namco Bandai” publishers=”Namco Bandai” platforms=”” genres=”” release_date=”June 29, 2011″]
Published and developed by Namco Bandai, Galaga Legions DX is the sequel to 2008’s Galaga Legions. The Legions series is Namco’s attempt to reboot Galaga much like they did to the Pac-Man series with the Championship Edition and CE DX titles. Namco took the core gameplay element from Galaga and turned it on its head to modernize the 30 year old title. Is Galaga Legions DX full of magical win sauce that modernizes decade old titles for future generations of gamers or just another retread that fails to capture the said sauce of magical win?
The game consists of nine areas, with each consisting of four regular levels and a fifth level that has unlimited waves. The 5th level is over when the combined time under par from the four previous levels plus 30 seconds is counted down. Also included is Championship Mode, which is the same as an area but is just a tad harder difficulty wise. There is also a Time Trial mode that allows the player to attempt to beat par time on each level from each area. These modes are the extent of the variety being offered, which is hardly any at all.
Each level has the player facing set waves of enemies that are in set patterns. Enemy waves have leaders that when killed destroy the whole wave, and bombs that will take out large portions of enemies. It is possible to cause a chain reaction between multiple bombs and leaders to clear the screen and wave extremely quickly. Once the most effective way to clear a wave and level is found, repeat it anytime the level is replayed. Extra Lives are frequent and anytime the player’s ship is in danger the game goes into slow-mo mode. Slow-Mo makes it incredibly hard to die and even if the player does, they should have plenty of lives stacked up to continue.
Instead of just shooting vertically, the player’s ship also has satellites. These satellites will shoot wherever the right thumbstick is aimed, effectively turning this vertical shooter into a twin stick shooter. With a press of a shoulder button, the player flips between the satellites shooting all together or splitting up and shooting opposite of each other. Shooting opposite is especially effective during waves where enemies are coming at you from two or more directions.
DX gives the player a choice of sprites to be used for the ship and enemies; ranging from modern to retro to ridiculous. Flashy explosions and enemies generate a graphical environment that would give anyone an epileptic fit. Audio was typical in the genre of the game and had a nice effect of mixing in the retro sounds with more modern explosions.
Score: 8/10
Without fear of death and the set patterns, Galaga Legions DX is more about finding the fastest way to clear a level and going for the high score than it is about surviving enemies. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Galaga Legions DX is fun but unless the player is into leaderboards, replay value isn’t the greatest.
