Namco's mobile division has a host of legendary properties to draw upon. One such franchise is Xevious, an arcade hit from 1982 that remains one of the best shooters of the era. Namco's done a fine job porting the game, and it's provided control options to compensate for mobile's inadequate keypad.
For the uninitiated, Xevious is a vertically scrolling shooter in which you'll face extraterrestrial forces that attack from both land and air. Fortunately, your trusty ship, Solvalou, can drop bombs as well as fire lasers. You can automate either or both of these functions in the options menu, which is accessible in-game. If you want to play the game at its intended difficulty level, it's suggested that you automate one of these functions.
The mobile Xevious includes easy, normal, and original gameplay options. The variations between the normal and original modes won't be noticeable to series newcomers, but basically, these variations have a lot to do with which enemies appear where. (We found the original version a bit more challenging.) Veterans of the arcade release will appreciate this attention to detail, however.
The mobile Xevious is pretty much a pixel-perfect port of the arcade version. Waves of enemies appear onscreen without so much as a stutter from the LG VX7000. (Of course, since the original game ran on a 3MHz Z80 processor, this may not be such an impressive feat.) Xevious' sound is intact as well. Alien forces will go out with all the blips and blorbs you expect.
Whether you want to reprise your enjoyment of the classic game or are just looking for a good scrolling shooter, Xevious for mobile will serve you well.
