Xevious - Xbox Live Arcade review

Grandaddy of the Shooter

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Faithful port

  • +

    Excellent challenge

  • +

    Relatively simple achievements

Cons

  • -

    Game play is ancient

  • -

    Needs more tunes

  • -

    No weapon power ups

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

At 25, Xevious is probably older than a number of the people reading this review. For those of you who don’t know, this 1982 Namco coin-muncher was one of the first vertical scrolling arcade shooters, helping establish the standard for everything that came in its wake. And while the shooter genre has largely come and gone in the annals of gamedom, Xevious remains a very big part of interactive entertainment history.

Butthe problem withporting and releasing downright ancient games like this on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is that no matter how classic or significant they are, they generally just don’t stand the test of time. Xevious is a perfect example of this pitfall.

More info

GenreShooter
DescriptionXevious is an old-school shooter brought back to life on Xbox Live Arcade.
PlatformXbox 360
US censor ratingEveryone
Release date23 May 2007 (US), 23 May 2007 (UK)
More
CATEGORIES
Latest in Action Games
God of War
20 years later, God of War's original monster art has been revealed: behold this army of stick figures slapped on a whiteboard, no clue Kratos is coming for them
Assassin's Creed Shadows Naoe facing off against samurai warrior on red bridge
An Assassin's Creed Shadows fan is showing off some of the RPG's most impressive little details, and it's done more to get me interested than Ubisoft ever did
Assassin's Creed Shadows Yaya shouting at Tetsuo
How to recruit Yaya in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Assassin's Creed Shadows is shown running on a Nintendo 3DS in an impressive bit of fan homebrew
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
Assassin's Creed Shadows hits out at Elon Musk after he criticized the new RPG: "Is that what the guy playing your Path of Exile 2 account told you?"
Yasuke and Naoe ready to fight on the Assassin's Creed Shadows On The Radar thumbnail
On The Radar: Assassin's Creed Shadows coverage hub
Latest in Reviews
Zombicide box featuring stylized art of survivors fighting zombies
Zombicide 2nd Edition review: "Like a zombie flick brought to tabletop"
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% gaming keyboard with purple RGB lighting on a desk setup
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: "a niche luxury"