Like being taken outside and beaten up by a gang of enraged skinheads, Aces of the Galaxy is an o🐽utright assault on your senses of the most unwelcome variety. Like Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon or most recently, Rez, Aces is an on-rails arcade shooter, acꦇcelerated to a speed which makes every stage a dizzying blur of enemies and lasers. From Starfox it lifts the roll-to-evade mechanic and end credits where you get to shoot down the staffer’s names, from Panzer Dragoon it lifts the multi lock-on missiles, and from Afterburner it takes its frantic pace, but it misses the tight pacing and wits of all three.

By making the most of exciting set-pieces and interesting enemy waves, even slower shooters like Rez can st🍸and among th𝐆e best games on Live Arcade. Aces of the Galaxy tosses enemies around like confetti and makes every stage a five-minute mindless bad guy blitzkrieg. Other on-rails shooters are a lesson in design Aces of the Galaxy must have skipped.

Jul 11, 2008