What if you took Defender, took out the need to rescue tiny little figures, and stripped it down to its core shooting element? Oh, and added mind-meltingly good graphics that easily rivaled any XBLA release you would care to name. You’d have something like “Orbitron: Revolution”.
This is an interesting beast; it’s actually offering *fewer* features than its retro inspiration, yet somehow manages to feel fresh. It’s a bit like taking the training wheels off a bike: one less feature, yet a sense of finally being free to fly. It’s an impressive effort, gorgeous at every turn, and worth a trial at least. 240 Microsoft Points well spent, in my mind.
Here’s what the developer (firebase) has to say about the game:
“Launch into a relentless battle against a robotic horde bent on the destruction of an Orbital Power Station. Blast your way through three intense game modes with one of two selectable space fighters. Compete against other Xbox Live Gold members for high score bragging rights. Beautiful 3d graphics and a soundtrack by Audio Antics await you in Orbitron: Revolution!”
Writings of Mass Deduction 
WOO HOO DAY 666….good choice on the review for today….love it and buying it! WOOT!!
Thanks for taking the time to commemorate the day, David. How’d you like it once you bought it? :)
Well I remember the days of popping quarters in the Defender machine at the pizza joint (Organ Stop Pizza) that I used to work at (one of my first ever jobs). My boss on some days (I did roll out (prepping the dough for the nights business since we were only open in the evenings roll out was a day job) he would open the game machines (dig dug and defender were the ones I remember playing the most) to get the night before take on quarters and if he was in a good mood he would add 10 or so credits to it and me and him would take turns on our free times doing our jobs trying to get the high score and beat each other’s high scores. So point is I played a lot of defender due to popping quarters in there when there wasn’t already free credits for me to use and I like your comparison to the game. It does give you the 3d perspective which would make sense to the beginning and ending completing a circle. (never gave it much thought back in those days) I am enjoying the game quite well and so glad I don’t have any little guys to try to catch before they go *SPLAT*
FYI…I may not comment as much as I used to but your blogs are a daily stop for me and I enjoy reading your reviews especially when you find me that diamond in the rough. Still can’t believe you been at it as long as you have and I think I’ve been reading them daily for almost a year now. There will be a part of me that misses this if you ever decide to stop a game a day.
I had to add this note because the price has dropped to 80msp for this game. It is a steal at that price. Also as a side note, I need to mention that Firebase just launched what I think is their second game on XBLIG, called Arcadecraft where you run and manage an arcade during the 80’s which is the time frame I was talking about in my previous comment. I promise I have nothing to do with this company. :)