Powered Up for a long time.

The other day I bought Powered Up Forever on XBLA. It's basically a mix between Geometry Wars (control-wise), Schizoid (aesthetically), flOw (thematically).

Even though it's similar to all of those, it does differentiate itself. I like that it's less intense than Geometry Wars, doesn't demand two players like Schizoid, and isn't as brief and abstract as flOw.

Actually, maybe the game it shares most in common with is Spore. At least, the first level of Spore; the cellular stage.

You start out as a tiny ship in an almost petri-dish like atmosphere. As you destroy certain enemies, you enrage the Guardians. Destroy enough, and the Guardians come out to fight you. They are basically just like you; fancier weapons, more complex AI, much more maneuverability than the other obstacles and enemies. Defeat a Gaudian and you gain his power (new weapons, shield, etc) and you morph into a new, larger form.

The camera pulls back and what used to be large enemies become tiny and insignificant, and what was land-mass turns out to be a giant enemies. It's kind of a chill game with peaks of intensity, and I just liked the way it's "survival of the fittest" gameplay all came together.

From what I've seen, I don't think it's getting great reviews, but this is a case where the demo (which I almost just deleted without even trying) did a good job of winning me over.