This isn't the first time Capcom has updated its seminal, early- '80s vertical shoot 'em up for a contemporary audience. But while previous efforts were bombastic reimaginings, this casual-gaming-style remake is, in stark contrast to the spirit of the series, dull.
The use of a 3D engine to paint what's essentially a 2D point of view might have made financial sense but aesthetically it's a mistake. Bland, expressionless backgrounds are punctuated with a too-small selection of enemy ships. Boss ships, while boasting multiple parts that can be destroyed piece by piece, are so uninspired as to be anonymous.
Softening the edges of a notoriously cranky genre might seem like a way to appeal to gaming's newer, less attentive and persistent demographics, but here all it has done is to erase the lines that once defined a classic...
