Yeah still playing this. It’s been the best 800 points I’ve spent on Xbox Live since Castlevaina: SOTN. Finally unlocked everything last night, including the excellent “Retro Mode” basically a filter to make it look pixelated but it’s a nice little extra.

Really it’s only highscores to beat now (and single credit the game, but I doubt I’ll work towards that) I’ll see if I can top my current feeble highscore of about 2.6 million and maybe move onto playing something else.

First impressions…

The Wiimote control scheme is a bit rubbish – far less precise than the dual stick method. I mean you can get by with it, but soon as things become hectic (and lets face it – this game is all about hectic) it falls down. Thank god for the ability to use the Wii Classic Controller. I read somewhere that Sierra have claimed to get their best scores with the Wiimote control method – I find that very hard to believe.

It also suffers slightly from the lower resolution of the Wii. Part of the appeal of Retro Evolved on the Xbox 360 was the ultra-crisp vector like graphics. Now it all seems a bit of a “smush” at times (again when it gets busy)

But the game is still fun – of course, but overall it feels like the Wii wasn’t the natural home for this. I’d have been much happier to have seen this released on the 360…
Still can’t complain too much for £18.

I’ve picked up a fairly obscure Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) title called Omega Five, and it’s turned out to be a real gem. It’s kind of like a Hi-Def version of Forgotten Worlds (if you are old enough to remember that old Capcom classic) with elements of R-Type, and and a multiplier chucked in.

I like horizontal shooters, having a lot of love for R-Type and Gradius, now I’m not particularly good at them, OK at best but I’m a sucker for bright coloured lasers filling the screen with neon death. Omega Five isn’t a all time classic but for 800 MS points it’s a brilliant little title.

I mean look at the screenshot – what’s not to like!?