Hands on Geometry Wars Galaxies

I’m far from the best Geometry Wars player out there. My skill level is mediocre at best, but I do play the Xbox 360 version from time to time. That is probably the reason why the control scheme in Geometry Wars Galaxies felt awkward when I picked up the remote and nunchuck. You move the isometric ship around with the nunchuck and aim by pointing the remote. A thin red line tells you which direction you are aiming at and you pull the B button to unleash a spray of bullets. Compared to using two analog sticks, aiming with the remote felt inaccurate and there is a definite learning curve before you can translate your skills to the Wii. You can’t slowly turn the stick and precisely aim shots. I found flicking the remote to get it close to where you want to aim worked much better. If you’re like me and used to playing Geometry Wars with dual analog sticks you also have the option to use the classic controller.

Bizarre Creations also has a few tweaks to Geometry Wars Galaxies like different arena shapes and larger enemies that explode into blue diamonds after being shot. One of the neat bonus features is you can wirelessly transmit a DS version of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved from the Wii game. On the DS you move your ship with the d-pad and aim with the stylus. Like other DS downloads, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved stays on your DS until you power it down. You can clamshell your DS, throw it into sleep mode and carry Geometry Wars wherever you go. There is also a DS version and it links up with the Wii game to unlock bonuses. These are some novel ideas that hopefully more developers experiment with in the future.