Retrofit:Overload

One of my favorite games in the history of arcade gaming is Galaga. Like all great arcade games of its time, it was easy to understand and play the first couple stages but incredibly difficult after that, and this has kept it loved and played for decades. Over the years, the shooter genre has evolved and changed its form, but developers still come out with games dedicated to the days of 70's and 80's arcade gaming, and XBox Live Indie game Retrofit - Overload is exactly that type of game.

Retrofit - Overload from WAM! Games is a lot like your normal Galaxian or Galaga style arcade game. Enemies fly in from the top or side of the screen, take position near the top, and fly down to shoot or ram your ship at the bottom while you return fire and dodge their attacks. Get rid of all of them, and another wave appears, and then another, and so on and so forth, occasionally breaking up this pattern with a bonus stage or a boss fight. What Overload does differently than that which it's styled after, however, is allow the player to move forward and back, much like another arcade classic Millipede. It also allows the player to activate a limited shield to protect against incoming bullets (or to just ram head first into the enemy, which is WAY too fun), and has a powerup that both gives you an extra hit before you die and adds more firepower. Essentially, Galaga with a shield and some Y-axis movement.

The visuals of Overload are a prime example of what happens when people who know what they're doing go for the "updated retro" look. Enemies have a simple look as colored shapes around a small white shape, and your ship looks like a 'W' trying to flex its muscles, but everything is bright and colorful in addition to having a fast blur on the black screen. In other words, retro without being pixelated, and it looks great. Everything moves at its proper pace, too, with not a hint of slowdown even when the screen is littered with incoming fire and foes. The sound effects are all arcade goodness, though it should be noted that there's no music. I personally don't find that to be a bad thing as that's the way it was with almost all the classic Namco arcade games, but I would've enjoyed a little tune between stages.


Controls are as perfect as they are simple. A or RT fires, left analog or directional pad moves, and "everything else" is shield. Seriously, the only things not listed that don't activate your shield are the right analog and the back/start/guide buttons. Left analog is the preferred method of movement, letting you move in any direction at any speed as opposed to the one-speed eight-way movement of the d-pad, but it's good that it's there for people who like using arcade sticks.

Like most classic games, Overload goes more for quality instead of quantity. There's only one mode, but it's really all the game needs. Friends on the same couch can drop in at any time for co-op action by simply hitting A, and you can continue once you lose all your lives as many times as you want, though (thankfully) your score resets to 0 when you do. Speaking of which, there's a high score leaderboard that shows up to 1,000 of the top scores for the competitive gamer out there. My only complaint with the entire game is that, if you continue at a later level or if a friend joins far into the game, it's a difficult ride. Enemies start needing more and more shots to die, and until you have at least one ship powerup you're in a lot of trouble.

Despite that issue with continuing at the later levels, this is a game that oozes quality, replayability, and that "one more game" addiction only arcade-style gaming can deliver. I don't think there's a single title out there for everyone, but Retrofit - Overload is pretty close, and easily worth your four digital quarters.

I'm a fairly big fan of Galaxians/Space Invaders style games so when I saw the trailers for Retrofit:Overload I was pretty excited. Fortunately, the game does not disappoint. It has a nice speed and feel to the game play. Faster than Space Invaders Extreme on Xbox Live Arcade. Graphically the game is clean and sleek, but with great particle explosions when you destroy the enemies. This makes for a great effect when you kill a lot in the same area at once.

The controls and mechanics are simple but work nicely. Move with the left stick, hold A or RT to shoot and then LT for your shield. The shield is what really makes this game for me. I’m not great at dodging so it is nice to have a short shield that I can use when things get tough. Plus, if you can go without using your shield when you pick up a fresh shield power-up you get a nice point bonus. Each weapon power-up adds one more shot to your ship. So, after 3 or 4 power-ups you’ve got a nice little power house going. However, the enemies take more and more shots to kill as the game progresses. Once you have acquired a weapon power-up instead of dying when you get shot you lose that power-up. This mechanic is genius. Maybe it has been done before but it was new to me in this format and I love it.

Every 5 or so levels you get a challenge level where you are rewarded for killing all the enemies. There are more of them and they don’t stay on the screen long but they also don’t shoot at you. There are also large boss enemies aver 10 waves that when defeated give you bonus and drop a power-up. The leaderboards work well with both the local and Live scores listed on the same screen. There is 2 player local co-op play available but I’ve not had a chance to try it. I would gladly see this game raise the price to $3 (maybe even $5) if it supported co-op play over Xbox Live.

The one issue I have with Retrofit:Overload is that you can’t fly your ship the full width of the screen. You are confined to the center 2/3 of the screen; at least on my HDTV. SD TVs may use the full width. It would be nice to be able to go all the way to the edge of the screen since the enemies do. It is not a huge deal, but still a tad annoying and curious.

Overall if you like this style of shooter I’d highly recommend giving Retrofit:Overload a try. It is a blast to play and it looks great too.