It’s pretty hard to figure out exactly what’s going on in Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury. With hundreds of robots, missiles, giant ants, lasers, and various fruit flying around the screen at once, you’ll have a tough time tracking your little flying mech, much less keeping him alive. But that’s what makes the game so compelling: it’s all about finding ways to deal with the chaos.

All the insanity means that Bangai-O isn’t exactly beginner-friendly. You’ve got to quickly learn how to use Counter Attacks, Dashes, and Freeze Attacks if you even hope to survive the first level. If you’re not willing to spend a fair amount of time figuring out exactly how each of the 100-plus levels operates — some are mazes, some are arenas — you won’t get far, even with a co-op buddy. But emerging from a cloud of destruction after using a perfectly timed Counter Attack to finish off all the foes in a particular level is one of the most rewarding feelings we’ve had in a shoot-’em-up.

Even with occasional framerate drops (particularly in co-op games), the sheer number of levels plus a deep level editor will keep hardcore shmup fans puzzling their way through for ages. Anyone else, though, will find Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury almost impenetrably difficult.

On Xbox Live Arcade

+ Fast shoot-’em-up action, with an amazing number of enemies and projectiles onscreen at once.

+ Tons of levels, plus even more with the level editor.

- Too difficult for non-hardcore gamers; occasional slowdown.

? Will anyone be able to beat every level? We’re not so sure.

8.0