Geometry Wars Galaxies Review (DS)

The announcement of a new Geometry Wars title was met with mixed feelings from Retro 101. The 360's Retro Evolved is something of a masterpiece, and the formula was pretty much perfect as it was. When Sierra told us it would be coming to Wii and DS we were delighted, but also worried the fine balance achieved by Retro would be ruined.

While Retro Evolved is still available, the new mode offers a series of planets which effectively serve as challenges. Each planet offers medals for high scores. Some may seem beyond reach, others insultingly easy, but it's here the differences between the titles are seen in the different level lay outs and change in score multiplier. You're also aided by a customisable drone. As the progress the drone will level up and become more effective at whichever job you have given it.

The major difference to the DS version is the control system. The touch screen is the control of choice here, the face buttons unable to accurately respond to Geometry Wars' demands. Moving with the d pad and using the touch screen to control direction of fire becomes natural after a few minutes play.

Our first play of Retro Evolved yielded a score of over a million points, a score that would be unthinkable for a novice on 360. The main reason is that when the screen becomes filled with enemies, the slowdown is very noticeable. This makes it a game of patience as you circle around the playfield, dodging enemies with ease and watching your score rack up. Leader boards are also flawed as they only show your placing in the world, and the top ten. You can't view friends' scores, so the chances to gloat are lost.

While we're on the subject of connectivity, Galaxies allows you (in fact, actively encourages you) to connect the Wii and DS versions in order to unlock another galaxy. This galaxy offers some challenging levels, but it's unlikely you would want to spend around forty quid to own both versions of the game.

All this negativity suggests we were less than happy with Galaxies’ performance, and to some extent that would be true. It starts well, and the prospect of Geometry Wars on the move is certainly an enticing one, yet it feels as though the game has been forced onto the DS. The slowdown is the only real problem here, but it's a pretty big one. At £20 however, you could do a lot worse for you money. If you don't own a 360 or Wii, this is still worth picking up. There isn't anything else like it on the DS, and there are various multiplayer modes and plenty of gold medals to earn that should keep you playing for a while.

7/10

Written by Dan Gill

Geometry Wars Galaxies Review (Wii)

Everyone's favourite fake retro shooter Geometry Wars has come a long from being a mini game in Project Gotham Racing 2. When it was released on Xbox Live Arcade is was met with a kind of excited dizziness not normally seen in this day and age. The move to a retail title always raised a few eyebrows but we never really believed it would be allowed to fall short in terms of quality.

For those that don't know, Geometry Wars sets you in an arena into which enemies of different shapes appear and you have to shoot them. It may be simple but then most of the best ideas normally are. While the previous version of the game only had one arena Galaxies has many of all different shapes and sizes. To progress through the game you must play each arena or 'planet' to earn points which are then used to unlock more levels.

Helping you in your shape shooting quest is a drone. This is a small square which can be programmed to do a number of things. For instance you can get it to go and pick up score multipliers, defend your ship or aggressively go after and shoot targets. As you progress you gain experience points for your drone which raise its effectiveness.

There are a whole host of different planets to visit. Some are a different shape, while others contain new enemies, different attack formations or extremes such as meteor showers and moving blocks. The developers really have done an admirable job of keeping the game interesting from start to finish. Control wise the game lets you use, pretty much, whatever you want. For those settling in for the long haul you may want to master the intricacies of the remote. For the rest of us the classic controller's twin stick set up will do just fine.

The key to longevity in Geometry Wars on the Xbox 360 was the live leader boards. Thankfully the Wii has its own set for each level. After each encounter players have the chance to upload their score and see where they stand against the rest of the world. Unfortunately you cannot check how you have done against your friends as you are restricted to looking at the top ten and scores around your own. This is a bit of an over sight as not many people will really care what score some random stranger has posted on level three.

Overall Geometry Wars Galaxies is a tight and fast paced shooter that is guaranteed to get the pulse flowing. The difficulty builds nicely over the different planets and there are so many good ideas that add variety we really didn't expect to see. Galaxies shows that the basic idea of the game is more than strong enough to stand as a retail title and every single Wii owner owes it to themselves to give it go.

8/10