With its potent blend of twin-stick shooting, exploration and customization, Hexodius invites players to explore the vast complex, equip their drone with powerful items and upgrades, and ultimately escape the clutches of the deadly enemy droids in a blaze of laser fire...

Hexodius is a fun little retro arcade shooter that, for gamers of a certain age, is akin to putting on a pair of comfy slippers. The game play is straightforward enough. You control a space craft which you move around the arena with one analogue stick, whilst using the other to fire at any oncoming nasties. Shoot enough alien attackers and you can move on to the next level.

It's bright and fun and, as all good shooters should be, a tad frustrating the deeper and deeper you get into it. In the main story mode, after every arena you are shown a map that allows you to move to the next arena. The map, at points, allows you to take different routes, repair your craft or unlock and equip various weapons.

When fully unlocked you can control four different weapons which range from mines to free standing gun turrets. Eventually you can equip four per level (triggered by the bumper and trigger buttons).

While there are hundreds of games on the market already like this, if you're a fan of the genre you'll get a blast out of it.

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Darren Rea