Space Galaga International Edition Review

Developer: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5

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Overall Rating:

A crossover between classic shoot-em-up, Galaga, and the anime series, Space Dandy, there’s at least one clear explanation as to why Space Galaga International Edition is called what it is. It’s still not the Galaga game we’ve all been waiting for, but it’s not bad at all.

At first, you’re going to be slightly overwhelmed by Space Galaga International Edition. While its action is fairly simple, it’s obscured by so many different menus. You can eventually combine various elements of your spaceship to form some powerful and interesting combinations, but it also seems slightly confusing at first.

There’s actually a fair amount of depth here, and you can soon form a craft to your liking. Early on though, it seem more confusing than anything. Fortunately, there’s usually an auto-equip/optimize button to ensure you can get straight into the action. There's a plentiful supply of levels too, to keep you interested.

That action is typical of the genre (even though the genre is amusingly mislabelled as ‘hack n slash shooting’ on the App Store) so it takes seconds to learn. A kind of sliding bar at the bottom of the screen is where you place your finger with that dictating both the direction you take and when you shoot. It’s typical shoot em up action and easy to enjoy, even if it does lack the finesse of classic Galaga.

That’s perhaps the main issue with Space Galaga International Edition. It looks fun and it plays well but yet again, it’s not quite the genuine Galaga experience. It’s more a mixture of a free-to-play shooter and a premium offering, with plenty of vibrant level-up screens and ways to feel like you’re progressing. Space Galaga International Edition shouldn’t need quite so many bells and whistles to grab your attention, but it does.