Every Extend Extra Extreme - Xbox Live Arcade review

Oct 24, 2007

Trippy almost isn’t a strong enough word to describe Every Extend Extra Extreme. Back when this game was simply known as “E3” on the PSP, it put predecessor Lumines to shame, both visuals-wise and with the way music was integrated into the overall package. Now on Live Arcade, the new "E4" features not only its own wild soundtrack, but the ability to be played to the beat of the player’s favorite tunes as well.

The gameplay is about as simple as can be. You control your little ship in a play field not unlike that of Geometry Wars, maneuvering in and out of various obstacles and avoiding the attacks of enemies that can fire projectiles. Your only recourse? Blow yourself up in the hopes that you take as many of them with you as possible. And the bigger explosive chain reaction you can create, the bigger score you earn.

And that’s the main play mechanic in E4. So yeah, it tends to get a bit boring after a couple of hours. This is exactly the same issue suffered by the original PSP game as well - Every Extend Extra Extreme is a great time-waster, but only the truly hardcore will stick around to earn mega-high scores. Everyone else will likely get as much as they want out of the experience inside of the first week.