Geometry Wars began as a hidden mini-game in Project Gotham Racing 2; a mini-game whose primary function was to pay homage to classic arcade games to the likes of Asteroids. The game's simplicity was its genius and it quickly found a cult following. This following produced the $5 Xbox Live arcade game Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, causing its popularity to soar even further. It was only a matter of time before developer Bizarre Creations decided to capitalize on this popularity and transform the small arcade game into a full blown title - and the result is Geometry Wars: Galaxies.

As I mentioned above, the simplicity of Geometry Wars is its genius. When I heard that Bizarre Creations was releasing Galaxies, I also figured that this would be its curse. I had spent countless hours on the original Geometry Wars because of the simplicity of the original formula and I worried that Bizarre would feel the need to change it, to make it suitable for a standalone title. Thankfully, now that I have played Galaxies, my worries are gone; Bizarre have only minimally changed the original formula and in doing so they have added to it greatly without spoiling its purity in any way.

The original Geometry Wars is a simple 2D arcade game that pits your spaceship against hordes of geometrical shapes. You fly your ship around a box the size of your TV screen, shooting thousands of these shapes while avoiding them at the same time. The more you destroy, the higher your multiplier gets, which then causes your score and the rate it increases, to go up. The more points you get, the more lives and bombs you get. If you die then your multiplier resets. Welcome to Geometry Wars. It's fast, fun and highly addictive. Galaxies hasn't changed a bit.

To answer the question on the forefront of all of your minds, no, Geometry Wars: Galaxies does not have any discernable storyline - you will most likely end up making your own story as you go. I like to think that I am flying my ship to sixty-four different levels in order to decimate thousands of enemies that threaten Earth. I also like to think of the thousands of widows and orphans I'm forced to leave in my wake. But hey, that's just me!

The only real change in the core of the gameplay is the method in which you increase your multiplier. In the original, your multiplier was based on the number of enemies you vanquished without getting taken out, but in Galaxies you increase your multiplier by collecting little yellow geoms that are dropped by most enemies after you shoot them. I personally prefer the classic method of increasing your multiplier, but this new method presents an avenue of depth that is best suited to the collection of geoms. This method's only fault is that it maxes out too early at a 150x multiplier; in many levels I achieved this limit in less than a minute.

The introduction of geoms brings the ability to travel to the sixty-four distinct levels that Galaxies offers. Hoarding more geoms gives you the opportunity to unlock any of the ten different systems on offer and if you want to move onto the next level then you're going to need more geoms. Don't worry though, as getting geoms is extremely easy, so even the most casual Geometry Wars players won't have any trouble collecting enough to unlock a new level. To ensure that the simplistic formula of the game doesn't get repetitive, unique challenges have been added to each level, making the winning of either a bronze, silver, or gold medal that much harder. These challenges have you flying through gravitational fields, avoiding moving blocks, detonating space mines and much more interesting innovations to keep you on the edge of your seat every step of the way. Apart from the new challenges, Galaxies offers the same ten enemies from the original, as well as fourteen new ones, which you will undoubtedly grow to hate. Each shape behaves differently, from the blue diamonds that just float towards you to the pink boxes that spin towards you and split into two mini-boxes when you shoot them and the green boxes that actively veer out of the way of your shots. All of these added features make for a great experience that can be played for hours, particularly if you are gunning for those tough to attain gold medals. One final thing to note on the levels of Galaxies is that if you happen to own a DS then you can sync it up to the Wii and get one additional system of levels to play - a nice touch.

Another added feature that makes the collection of geoms all the more important is the additions of your drone, a small square ship that accompanies you and assists you in your slaughter. With your geoms you can buy eight different patters of drone behavior, each of which can be leveled up a total of ten levels, simply by gaining experience the more you use them. The drone gets significantly better each time it levels up, meaning that a level ten behavior is pretty much unrecognizable from its level one counterpart. For example, setting your drone to defense does little at first, but soon you have a drone that is firing multiple waves of bullets out in two directions, as well as intercepting enemies that are homing in on you. Other behavior patterns include attack, turret (the drone stops in one position and fires out bullets in a circular arc), collect (the drone focuses on collecting geoms) and bait (the drone baits homing enemies away from you). You're certain to find a couple of favorites and certain behavior patterns lend themselves to being of vital assistance in certain levels - now that the playing areas and enemy types vary between levels, it's all about strategy, like surviving for the long haul in a wide, open level or avoiding trouble in confined corridors.

As much as the drone helps you in your victory, it can occasionally lead you to your own demise; I can't count the amount of times I thought the tiny square following behind me was an enemy, only to find myself trying to avoid it and running into a real foe. This isn't too big an issue, but it would have been nice if a less common shape was chosen for your ally, although at least it's white, a colour reserved for your ship and drone. The only real sizable complaint I have about the drone system is at times your drone acts as if it is partially retarded; it occasionally leaves your presence to do its own thing and you will randomly discover that it has gotten stuck in a corner or other weird place.

The largest issue that needs to be discussed when it comes to Galaxies is the aspect of control. For the longest time after all games started to be developed in 3D, no developer would even consider making a 2D game. Geometry Wars is thankfully a sign of the changing times, but what does this have to do with controls? My biggest fear with the Wii is that all games released will have to use the motion sensor wand and that developers will never even touch games that use standard controls. Galaxies only partially alleviates my fears, using the Wiimote and nunchcuck as its primary controls, but this feels more awkward than practical. The only real issue is getting used to using the motion sensor to aim and fire - once you do that, it can be great fun. The game even gives you a nice red line to make aiming easier. The problem that arises from this is the fact the Geometry Wars is a game of mass chaos; there are hundreds of shapes and explosions on screen at any given time. This can make it easy to lose track of that little red line and die. There is a reprise though; if you're a purist and can't handle using the Wiimote, Nintendo have released a Classic Controller peripheral for the Wii - primarily for usage with the retro titles you can pick up on the Virtual Console - which is reasonably cheap and easy to use. I highly recommend this for Galaxies; without it I would have never been able to achieve all the golds, and I commend the developers for offering the option of using it.

The multiplayer in itself is well done and can be fun for a little while, but otherwise adds little depth to the game. You can either play versus or co-op though ten levels in multiplayer using the classic method of killing enemies to increase your multiplier instead of collecting geoms. Past these ten levels though, there isn't much more to do. Nintendo's Wi-Fi leaderboards also make it fun to try to get the top score for certain levels and will surely entertain the hardcore fame seekers.

For what the graphics aim to do in Geometry Wars, they do well. The game has transferred perfectly from the 360 to the Wii - I have not seen a single glitch in the framerate during my extensive playing time. All of the particle effects are beautifully rendered and the background distortions make watching the game mesmerizing. That being said, Geometry Wars is a game based around shooting 2D shapes, so there is not much that could have been done for the graphics, although this is no reason to give it a perfect score either. The graphics do what they aim to do but they won't blow your mind.

The same goes for the sound. You have your typical 'pew pew pew' for shooting your weapon and your typical 'boom' for destroying your enemies. The most defining feature that makes sound so important are the effects used for the spawning of different enemies, which in the end is useful but not essential. Of all the sound in game, the soundtrack is the most disappointing. I know there was much love for the tune that went with the original Geometry Wars, just as I know there will be a lot of love for the retro-style soundtrack of this game, but in reality, most of the songs - if you listen close enough - have only four to ten different notes in them. They become very repetitive very quickly and you will most likely find yourself turning the game music down and your own music up.

Whether or not you're a hardcore gamer or a casual one, you will find some form of entertainment from Geometry Wars: Galaxies. If you're hardcore then you will clearly aim to get all the gold medals and top Nintendo's Wi-Fi charts. If you're a casual gamer then Galaxies is a great pick up and play game. Either way, almost anyone will find some form of entertainment from this amazing game. That being said, if you absolutely hate arcade shooters then you probably should consider renting this game first. As for everyone else, there is definitely something to love about Galaxies and you're sure to find it addicting. Don't walk into the game expecting an amazing story or variety and I'm sure you will love it as much as I do; it offers hours upon hours of gameplay and should be worth a purchase by any means, especially as it's $10 cheaper than all other standard Wii games. Anyway, I've been here long enough - time to get back to conquering the Galaxies…

Reviewed by Andrew Bennett for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).