Though made by the same Namco team, Galaga Legions lacks the purity that made Pac-Man Championship Edition so revelatory. As such, it’s likely to confound and confuse those who are expecting the sober presentation and pacing of its inspiration: from the off, Legions throws a dazzling number of fast-moving enemy ships at the player, all displayed against a psychedelic Minter-esque backdrop.

Legions does, however, take some cues from its source’s design. Its ship-capturing mechanic is echoed by the constant presence of two satellites that normally flank your ship but can also be deposited and orientated to shoot up, down, left or right with a flick of the right stick. That mechanic is also mirrored by points in each level at which enemy ships can be recruited to sit in a formation below your own and throw out a storm of fire until they are destroyed by collisions with the enemy. They can also be positioned in a similar manner to your satellites. Finally, the idea of targeting specific enemies in the original is represented in Legions by the ability to instantly wipe out an entire formation by destroying its ‘core’ ship.

That last mechanic lies at the heart of the game. By the second level, formations of enemies come so thick and fast that shooting cores is the only way to survive, and knowing where to position the satellites is of paramount importance. Legions doesn’t quite revolve around pattern learning, however, because of its scoring mechanic. Complex and unintuitive – the very opposite of Ikaruga’s beautiful system – it demands that you gather a score multiplier by constantly shooting enemies before going for cores with unmolested formations for larger bonuses. It means that efficient single-life runs can score significantly lower than those comprising multiple deaths and botched attacks.

The result is a woolliness that’s perhaps acknowledged by the game rewarding extra lives not for score but on passing stage four of each level. Legions is not a beautiful game, nor is it entirely faithful to its name, but it can provide short-term thrills for the visual fireworks on offer. Those looking for a rigorous score-attack challenge should look elsewhere.

6/10