The remake of the classic nes game has finally arrived and it will most certainly please those who anticipated it.
I confess never having played the original, though I always was a fan of side scrolling action and I didn't even hesitate in getting the game as soon as it was available. It features a great tutorial with the Basic and then Advanced maneuvering skills which is extremely useful even for those who might have played the original even if its just clear the rust after all these years.
For me it was a bit frustrating getting into the action at the beginning, but after the first 30 minutes using the bionic arm is second nature. You can hold from the ceiling while shooting enemies, grab powerups from the distance, avoid enemy bullets by shooting your arm against them, pull barrels...For an arcade game it has a great value, since there are 12 levels that may take a while to explore if you want to hack every computer and know every corner. The bosses are great, and remember me the Megaman bosses, which display a pattern you have to analyse and a weak point you have to find out in order to be successful.
Graphically... it is probably one of the best looking games on the XBLA, with HD support, great lightning, real time shadows, every section of the game has a distinct mood helping to the immersion and mantaining the gameplay fresh as you venture through the levels.
The enemy AI is also worth a mention since is one of the best ever on a game of this kind. The enemies will automatically detect you if you grab to the ground beneath them and run for cover, they will join each other behind crates while one shoots and the other hides and alternate this behaviour between them, they run, crouch, they are hardly predictable but never frustrating.
The sound effects are good, and the soundtrack is really nostalgic, mixing the classic nes music with modern beats and a techno/trippy/8-bit mood.
Besides the single player game there is the option for 2 player co-op and the experience is overhauled and feels more extreme than the single player, the AI is more enhanced, so that the challenge fits the cooperative gameplay so that the two players have to use more tactics and caution while proceeding through the areas. Also the Boss battles are changed so that it is more difficult for only one of the players to do the work by himself so the "Co-Op" expression is taken seriously. There is also a four player mode, compatible with local play and Xbox Live featuring variations of deathmatch and the likes and a original mode where the objective is to shoot the opponent so that he falls to the ground and loses while you have to hold yourself with the grabbing arm, it's called "Don't Touch The Floor".
Also there's a challenge mode featuring a simplistic visual style, almost wireframe like (the Tutorial levels have the same look) without enemies...or may I say, time is your only enemy, it pushes your skills to the max, and can be a bit frustrating, but is a nice bonus.
To sum it up, you get all these features for only 10$/10€/800MP...Are you still reading this?? Make a good use of your hard drive and Arcade points and get this game now!