Xbox Live Arcade has a terrific game called Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, which is an old school 2-D shooter game that is reminiscent of Asteroids, Tempest, and all other old school stand up video games of the early eighties. The game won IGN’s Award for Best Xbox Live Arcade Title of the Year, and for good reason.

Computer gaming studio Sierra Entertainment plans to release Geometry Wars: Galaxies to the Ninetndo Wii and DS later this year. Not only will Galaxies include the full version of Bizarre Creation’s Retro Evolved, but has all new battle grids in both single-layer and multiplayer campaigns.

I got a chance to play it at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle at the end of last August. At first I was not at all impressed. After all, Sierra Games has been making complex role-playing games since back in the eighties, and is the creator of such hit titles as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro The Dragon. Geometry Wars: Galaxies looked like some throwback to the eighties, back when we didn’t care about multiple buttons and joysticks. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had played a video game where I played a spaceship whose only goal in life was to shoot things for points.

I was also turned off by the name. I mean, Geometry Wars? That sounds like one of those “fun” and educational activities you did in math class that never really succeeded in helping you learn.

However, as I played Geometry Wars, I couldn’t help but get addicted. The controls and gameplay were a lot more difficult than they looked. I admired how Sierra integrated the motion-sensitive controller and numchuk as an integral part of gameplay. Do you remember games like Asteroids, where you always had to turn the ship around if you wanted to hit the big rock on your six? The motion controller allows for firing on all sides as you can move your firing targets as you move your ship.

Not only that, but you are also able to endow your shooting ship with a special power of some type. However, I found that to be of little help as I went through many levels full of asteroids, ships, comets, black holes, and just about everything that Galaxies wanted to throw at me. All of it came in dazzling color that clearly was not available back in days of Centipede or Qix.

Sure, Geometry Wars: Galaxies is a little old school. However, the old school could never be the old school if it was good in the first place.