Gamers of a certain age will remember when the arcade was king. It was a simpler time for gamers - vector graphics were cutting edge technology, games had no plot and your main goal was to get your initials on the high score leaderboard. It seems Kuju and Bizarre Creations remember these days well, and have created the retro goodness that is Geometry Wars: Galaxies.

The game concept of Geometry Wars originally surfaced as a hidden game in Project Gotham Racing 2 in 2003. It proved so popular that in 2005 a new version titled Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was released as a download for Xbox Live. Now in 2008 Geometry Wars: Galaxies hits the Wii.

The aim of the game is simplicity itself, kill or be killed whilst racking up a huge score. The game comes with the Xbox title Retro Evolved, though this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to content. The "Galaxies" title refers to the 10 galaxies in the game each containing between 5 and 7 planets. To give you some idea of scale, the Xbox title included in the game is the equivalent of just one planet!

There are two main differences between the Galaxies levels and those in Retro Evolved. The first is Geoms, found when killing enemies. They are the games currency and also enable you to multiply your score. Geoms can also be used to upgrade your battle drone which is the second new feature in this game. The battle drone is an autonomous craft which helps you fight your enemies. Geoms allow you to purchase various behaviour types which can be fitted to the drone e.g. attack, defend, collect, snipe, sweep, ram, turret and bait.

Some of the levels have been influenced by other games, the most noticeable of these are the Asteroid themed levels. These levels have larger geometric shapes to break up into smaller pieces allowing massive multipliers. The music sounds like the classic retro title too, and there is even a UFO that occasionally flies around for more points.

The game may have a very retro vector-graphics look, but you will be impressed with the sheer number of enemies, particle effects and the warping grid background which are all displayed with absolutely no slow down whatsoever. This is easily the most hardcore game on the Wii right now and for that reason I'd recommend only playing with a GameCube pad or Classic Controller as there is so much going on that using the Wiimote and Nunchuk will put you at a disadvantage. The game is solely about high scores so it's good to see that there are online leaderboards for every single plant in the game. There is also DS connectivity allowing you to download Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved on to the DS and also to unlock the 10th and final planet on the Wii.

So there you have it, if you're looking for an old-school game packed with features and levels at a budget price then I can heartily recommend it – go on! It's what your classic controller was made for. Scores as always are right below...