For those who like a good mashup, Outland does the trick. It finds the surprising middle ground between Arcade favorites Shadow Complex and Ikaruga, delivering a rich, rewarding side-scrolling adventure that blends precise movement with frantic, bullet-dodging intensity.

Wielding light and dark powers, your silent hero fights through a meaty, eight-hour campaign — its five worlds packed with devious platforming tests and aggressive enemies. The easily-toggled powers let you hurt bugs and human foes wielding the opposite power, or safely glide through intimidating, like-colored bullet-hell displays, although the difficulty level can frustrate at times: after just a couple of hours, checkpoints will beckon like glowing beacons of hope in the darkness. Curses and sore digits aside, Outland offers a fulfilling challenge, especially when you topple one of the amazing multi-stage bosses or emerge safely from a gauntlet of alternating energy showers.

The Avatar-meets-Tron aesthetic and tribal tunes impress, even if the minimalist story and similar-looking world designs failed to make much of an impression on us. (In the end, we didn’t feel compelled to go back and sop up hidden upgrades and items.) And with co-op campaign support and other online challenge stages, Outland offers multiple ways to experience the highly refined action held within. Whether you work together or dive in solo, this unique journey is worth taking.

On Xbox Live Arcade

+ Challenging but rewarding side-scrolling adventure.

+ Opposing energy powers create devious combat and platform tests.

- Generic storyline and indistinct stages left us a little cold.

? Will the sequel be named Inland? We’re pulling for it!

8.0