XBLA Weekly: ‘Qix++’

Ancient arcade gamers will remember Qix.  It’s nearly 30 years old, first released in 1981, and it’s getting the Xbox LIVE Arcade remake treatment this week (800 MSP).  I was a pretty big fan of the GameBoy version, so I figure I know what’s what when it comes to Qix… ing.

Qix++ continues Taito’s streak of bringing back old arcade games with a bit of remake flavour.  The original game put the player in control of a little diamond marker on the edge of a void, with a screensaver hanging out in the middle.  The player can venture out into the void, leaving a line.  If this line connects with an edge, it turns into a box.  When enough of these boxes cover a certain percentage of the level, the player moves to the next.  Hitting anything else will cost a life.

This stuff is mostly all back.  The game has a new and very plain look.  No one’s going to be impressed by it.  There’s a techno-ish track that plays during every level.  The game offers one single player mode and two level choices.  Each group of levels features four different enemies that repeat twice.  It’s nice to have different screensavers to battle, but there’s only ever one on the screen at a time.

Multiplayer offers Xbox LIVE and local play for up to four players.  There’s one mode with a couple of configurable options, but it ends up being a race to see who can fill in the most of the playfield before a limit is hit.  It’s quite underwhelming and rather irritating to play, since the little pauses that happen whenever a box is formed affect everyone.

It gets worse.  The leaderboards for single player have spots for two more levels that don’t seem to be in the game.  The How To Play section mentions two more single player modes that also don’t seem to be in the game.  I’m assuming these modes and levels have been stripped out, to be offered later as DLC?  Sorry, but that is absolutely unacceptable.

Qix++, pure and simple, is not worth the 800 MSP.  Qix fans can get their fix, but it feels really half-assed, with score attack and dull multiplayer being the only draw.  The gameplay is simpler than the original, it’s too easy, and I saw all the levels in barely half an hour.  I like the direction they took the game with the upgrade system but it came at the cost of anything truly worthwhile and long-term.

The trial download will kill a few minutes, but until the question of where all this stripped-out content has gone and how much we’re getting dinged to make the game full again: Do not purchase.