Galaga Legions

Overview

Galaga Legions is the most recent evolution in the Galaga series. It takes the basic gameplay of Galaga and the triple-fire of Galaga '88, and updates it with bigger waves of enemies, the ability to move throughout the playing field, and two satellite cannons which can be placed anywhere on the screen to fire in the cardinal directions.  The game costs 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and was released on August 20, 2008 as part of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade program. This game is also included in the Namco Museum: Virtual Arcade compilation as well as the upcoming Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions for the Nintendo 3DS. While the game is similar in concept to Pac-Man Championship Edition in terms of reincarnating the series into something both retro and brand new, it was not as successful. Players found themselves rushed by the legions of enemies, almost similar to the " bullet hell" concept. 
 
The game is displayed in high-definition with rich colors and neon lights. There are different "skins" for the game, which replace the player and enemy ships. These skins include vintage Galaga and Galaxian skins. The game contains 12 achievements worth 200 gamerscore. These achievements involve beating areas in the two game modes, beating a level without deploying a satellite, and beating a level without losing a single ship.

Gameplay

Unlike earlier Galaga incarnations, Legions allows the player to move their ship around the whole screen. In addition to the main ship, the player has two satellite turrets that can be dispatched facing any cardinal direction.  These satellites can be recalled by either pressing a button or flying over them. When these satellites are recalled, it adds more shooting power to the main ship. Galaga Legions also has an auto-shoot mode for beginners, meaning that you don't have to push the right trigger to shoot at the cost of a potentially higher score.
 
Waves of Galaga ships come in from all directions and are predicted with a line which traces the route of the enemies. Waves usually have an enemy that is significantly different, and shooting it will create an explosion that kills all enemies attached. Often times, there are tons of enemies on the screen, which can overwhelm the player. There is no way to have your fighter captured and freed like the original Galaga. Instead, players fire upon a special sphere that gives you control of all Galaga ships on the screen.
 
The game is divided into five areas of increasing difficulty, each with their own enemy patterns. It can be played in one of two modes:

• Adventure Mode - The traditional arcade mode. You must go through each level consecutively. Once you lose all your lives, you must restart from the very beginning.
• Championship Mode - Similar to how Pac-Man Championship Edition works. The player goes through one of the five areas, trying to get the high score for that area.