Sometimes a game’s innovation isn’t in doing something that’s never been done before, but in doing things that have never been done together before. “Space Crüesader” is such a game. No, this game is not to Mötley Crüe as arcade light-gun game “Revolution X” was to Aerosmith, it’s a twin-stick shooter that takes the genre in a new direction. Here, staying alive is pretty much irrelevant. I kid you not: you have unlimited lives, and the real challenge lies in saving allied ships throughout the game. You land on them and, if you can stay there long enough, rescue them. Rescue enough, fast enough, and you clear the zone. If you’re the kind of guy who always hates escort missions in games then you might not latch on to this idea, but for 80 Microsoft Points I appreciated its innovation.
Here’s what the developer (Unfinity Games) has to say about the game:
“Space Cruesader takes the classic bedlam of dual-stick Robotron-style shooting action into space and adds nail-biting, scream-at-the-screen twists to challenge you. Fight through six increasingly hectic levels, each with custom music and new enemies, then brace yourself for the 7th circle of bullet hell on the final level as you blast your way to the alien mothership for a showdown to save Earth.”
Writings of Mass Deduction 