Monday, April 7, 2008

Trigger Heart Exelica Xbox 360 / XBLA review



From Warashi makers of the Shienryu series of games comes Trigger Heart Exelica on Xbox Live Arcade. For those not familiar with shmups then lets get aquainted. Trigger Heart Exelica is a top down vertical scrolling shmup in the same vein as Ikaruga and Raiden. It is a port of the Naomi/Dreamcast original with added HD graphics, leader scoredboard and achievements. Otherwise it is a straight port of the original.
It has the simple straight forward shooting ,bomb mechanic like any other shmup but has a gimmick that makes it stand out. This is the capture mechanism that allows you to grab a enemy ship and then time a swing back towards the group enemies causing larger damage then a normal shot. The first few stages help you get accustomed to using this and in the later stages it is a necessity in order to complete the stage without dying.

I love this port on the XBLA and it is a fair value considering the original sealed DC version sells for over $100 on ebay. I do however find it lacking that there is no 2 player mode or online modes included in any version. However I can overlook this and I consider this game a Above average shmup with great replay value. Overall I give this game a 8/10.

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