by Gary Mazo

One of the things I love to do on my Pocket PC is play the games that passed for cutting edge video games in my college days right in my hand - usually with better graphics and sound.

Darklaga is a game that reminds me of two or three of my favorite 80's video games - yet it is more detailed, qicker, more fluid and more fun than the originals. Is this the shoot-em-up you have been looking for? Read more to find out.

The Story Line

Engage pirate raiders aboard your Georoid, vaporize their weapons using your shield technologies, steal their energy to unleash highly potent attacks of your own, cut them in half with ricocheting blades, fire homing napalm missiles and watch them burn, melt them with your laser beams, or turn off all your advanced weaponry and go in with your basic equipment to get the highest score out of it!

Interface

Like other games from int13 productions, the opening, splash screens and game selections screens are intuitive and very nicely done. The game can be configured based on your device and there are three difficulty modes to choose from.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Darklaga is wonderfully smooth. The user can control the game either with the stylus or with the d-pad. The web site says it is a console quality game engine and they are right. There is nothing really innovative about this game - just shoot and destroy and use lots of fun weapons.

Graphics

The graphics are great. The background art is obviously well thought out and carefully presented. The game has a kind of 3-d effect with the ship and weapons seeming like it is well above the background.

There are 15 levels in this game and some secret levels to explore once you get really good. (I, however, don't usually get to see secret levels in games and this one was no exception.) There are seven worlds to explore - each depicted very nicely and various secret unlocks throughout the game.

Bottom line

If you are a fan of 80's style shoot-em-ups, you will like this game.

Pros: Great graphics, smooth gameplay, lots of stuff to unlock

Cons: Repetitive, not very innovative, somewhat grating music