If you're a fan of true shoot-em-ups, Triggerheart Exelica is a good one for Xbox Live Arcade.
Triggerheart Exelica is pretty much a 30 minute game if you want to breeze through the game with unlimited continues. Now that is short considering other games on Xbox Live Arcade, but you are not seeing all that the game throws at you. There are two characters to choose from being Exelica and Crueltear and their difference is basically their way of shooting at enemies while the anchor stays the same (Exelica is spread while Crueltear is straight). From there on is traditional shooter goodness in the five stages being hard at the same time, which is why I called this a true shoot-em-up expecting lots of deaths ahead. While the normal shot and bombs are the basic weapons of the game, the anchor shot differentiates itself from other shumps as it clings on most of the enemies and swing them to throw back at other enemies to get more yellow medals. The yellow medal system is an interesting one because other than gathering points, it decides how many forms of a boss you will face at the end of the stages. Since it is a struggle to stay alive for the duration of the game, it feels almost like a surprise while fighting them. The setback for unlimited continues is that your score will not be accumulated throughout the game, but games like this require precision and memorization especially to get the game's true endings.
The graphics for this version of Triggerheart Exelica remain unchanged from the Dreamcast version, but considering how recent this game was out on Dreamcast, enhanced graphics are not really needed to make the game look better. Being a true shoot-em-up, it looks like one overall with occasional big enemies and bosses, bullets spamming everywhere, and decent looking explosions. Other than playing it on the default vertical way, you have the option to switch to tate mode, or horizontal, and play it that way if that is your preference. The sound also remains unchanged with the characters' barely noticeable voice acting, good music to listen while blasting, and explosions sounding a bit weird at times.
Triggerheart Exelica is a Xbox Live Arcade meant for the hardcore audience and shump experts. Casual gamers may feel this one feels short and overpriced, but 800 Microsoft points seems enough for the challenge. Leaderboards and achievements are there, but the points are not a breeze to get being a shump such as high scores, getting the true endings for both Exelica and Crueltear, and beating the game on hard using one credit. If you're considering trying the trial for this one, it does not offer enough to justify buying if you are not sure since it is a 30 minute game mostly. With better shooters like Omega Five and the upcoming port of Ikaruga, Triggerheart is arguably the weakest of these shumps, but it offers enough for fans of the genre if they want to perfect it to justify the ten dollar purchase.