Galaga Legions DX wasn’t the best Xbox game on Windows Phone. In fact, I named it as one of the five worst Xbox games of 2012. But still, it was that very rare thing: an exclusive Windows Phone game from a major publisher that never showed up on other mobile platforms (though it originated on Xbox 360). I even managed to get all of Legions DX’s Achievements and write a guide for them.
You’ll notice I speak of Galaga Legions DX entirely in the past tense; that’s because it was delisted from the Windows Phone Store within the last few days. That makes it the fourth Xbox Windows Phone game to disappear this year. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, Tower Bloxx New York, and 3D Brick Breaker Revolution were all delisted in January. Only three new Xbox games have made it to Windows Phone in 2014, so we’re actually one down for the year.
Not the Galaga you were looking for
It would have been great to receive the original Galaga on Windows Phone. That game may be kind of simplistic by modern standards, but it’s also a legitimate arcade classic. Instead we got a port of Galaga Legions DX, the console sequel nobody asked for to the disappointing Galaga Legions.
Though it’s not very Galaga-like, Galaga Legions DX isn’t such a bad game. Sure, it lacks two-thirds of the XBLA game’s content, but enough levels remain for a passable mobile shoot-em-up. With tons of ships on-screen at once and flashy visual effects, it’s actually quite pretty.
The touch screen controls are where things went wrong. Legions DX suffers from literally the worst virtual stick I’ve ever encountered in a phone game. It’s like the developers had never touched a smartphone game before and also forgot to playtest their creation. Check out our review for more details.
Adding insult to injury, the game sold for a whopping $6.99. You don’t charge seven bucks for a below average mobile game and expect it to sell. Shame that Namco Bandai pulled the game instead of fixing its controls. If you’re dying for some Galaga Legions DX, the Xbox 360 version is still available.
We’ve reached out to the publisher about the delisting and will update if they respond.
- Galaga Legions DX – Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 124 MB – Delisted – Store Link
- Galaga Legions DX – Xbox 360 – 126 MB – $9.99 – Xbox.com Link
