The enemy types are colour-coded with specific behaviours that never change, and slot neatly together into a kaleidoscope of death. The right analogue stick sends out a steady stream of shots in the direction pressed, and every enemy in the game will be destroyed by a single hit. It feels great to move around, which is why one of GW's very best modes – Pacifism – is constructed around just avoiding enemies. You control a small vaguely U-shaped ship that moves at a constant speed, and has a slight but crucial turning circle – that is, you can't just instantly reverse direction.
The best place to start is with why Geometry Wars works. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions (geddit?) has been a long time coming and adds an adventure mode and online alongside its own 'classic' versions of GW – but is it all a bit much?
Which despite everything is what Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved managed, through leaving the core game well alone and splitting off aspects of its finely-tuned mechanics into their own modes. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved is one of those classic designs that's so lean and simple it's very hard to improve upon.
