Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet

GAME OF THE WEEK:7 cert, Xbox Live Microsoft Studios/Shadow Planet Productions ****

What's so cool about originality anyway? Insanely Twisted Shadow Planetdoesn't break much ground, but the graphics and gameplay are so graceful that it doesn't really matter.

ITSPtakes its premise from 1950s B-movies: you play a bug-eyed alien exploring a hostile planet in a flying saucer. Your vessel can be customised: a grabbing arm here, a laser there, a force field to shield you and even a ray that gives advice on how to pass obstacles.

Most of your duties require you to travel indirectly from A to B, avoiding nasty spores, tentacles and flying aliens. Because much of this travelling takes place underground, falling rocks also pose a problem.

The influence of Metroidand Ecco the Dolphinare here, as well as two of the best Xbox Live games of recent times, Limboand MicroBot. There are also shades of Pixar's Wall-Ein the charming animation of the central spaceship. Whatever you may say about ITSP's lack of originality, at least the developers have good taste.

The gameplay, which mixes exploration, puzzles and multidirectional shooting, has a nice ebb-and-flow to its pace. Some of the puzzles require lateral thinking: block vacuums with rocks, for example. And the game has lovely sound design.

I wish ITSPwere a little longer, but overall this is a class act. Retro-game fans will adore it; for younger gamers, if you're thinking of branching out from marquee games to a lower-key jaunt, this would be a good place to start.