That’s just Every Extra Extend Extreme in a nutshell though – the game actually features four major game modes, online multiplayer and a bevy of leader boards. E4 is the core gameplay mode explained above, where players need to detonate their ship to cause chain reactions (which produce a percussive beat). It comes in two flavours, unlimited and timed – but the basic premise is to continually trigger large chain reactions in order to gain the largest score. Enhancements from the PSP version are numerous (but will probably be lost on many, since hardly anyone actually played that version) – shield tokens are now available, which extend the player’s shield. Players are no longer limited to six quickens – E4’s maxes out at twenty, but allows players to collect more to increase their multiplier. The biggest change is the addition of the cancel button – by pressing B on the pad, players can cancel their chain, usually in order to collect or prevent the destruction of valued power ups.
Somebody's having an acid flashback
S4 (Sonic DSP Sound Spectrum Synthesiser) is very similar to E4, but allows players to use their custom soundtracks to generate patterns, rather than using the patterns featured in the game. Fancy a bit of destruction while listening to favourites such as Eye of the Tiger by Survivor and Jump by Van Halen? You can do it here (you’ve got shocking taste in music, Keller – Ed.). H4 (Hypersonic High-Speed Head-to-Head) is a head to head mode playable with a friend over Xbox Live.
The final mode, R4 (Rhythmic Rolling Revenge Revolution), breaks away from the pack. Rather than merely reproducing the same gameplay as the other three modes within a new set of guidelines, R4 conforms to the more standardised shooter format. That’s probably selling the mode a little short though – it’s a really impressive shooter quite similar to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, but with a bit more structure. Players are required to destroy a certain number of ships in a level before encountering a boss. Though the game works on the standard one hit method of shoot ‘em ups, R4 allows players three seconds worth of shield for each level that they can trigger at will. It’s a lot more than most games of its ilk early on in the piece, but players will need to work hard to get bigger scores.
Rawr, kill things!
Every Extra Extend Extreme is one of those games that really focuses on gaining high scores, so your mileage may vary as far as long term playability goes. The game’s achievements are on the more difficult side, so players that get them are well and truly entitled to any bragging rights. It is possible for novices to pick up one or two, like the ‘No Shield’ achievement, and some like the ‘30 Minute’ achievement just take time and patience, but good tidings to anyone who gets the ‘2000 Chain Combo’ achievement.
We were always hoping that we’d see more experimental types of games on Xbox Live Arcade, and Every Extra Extend Extreme is certainly that. Fans of Tetsuya Mizguchi’s previous works such as Rez and Lumines really need to check this out, as should anyone else on the lookout for an addictive puzzle game or shoot ‘em up.
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