Tyrian 2K takes on the form of the classic overhead style shooter which can be likened Cannon Spike. Your craft comes fully equipped with back, side, front, and option weapons. As with any shooter, you begin with a basic weapon and acquire more effective weapons along the way. Shooting groups of enemies or special singular foes yields these goods, and there's a lot to go through. Through my playing, I've seen bombs, missiles, spread shots, wave guns, mines, lasers, and other such pummeling devices. Defensively, your ship is enabled with armor and shielding to minimize enemy attacks. Each inflicted hit will reduce your shields; which then will affect your armor upon additional incurred hits. The shields can be recharged, but only while the craft isn't firing. This adds a bit of strategy to the game; learning when to fire off a barrage of shots, when to dodge, and when to cease fire are key elements. As refreshing a take as this is from sub-par shooters, there is a downfall: after getting the feel of when to recharge and when to attack, the game gets pretty easy since the shield will take the brunt of any opposition. Then again, later levels are so packed with enemies and onscreen fire, that it'll be hard to find a time to breath and regain shield strength.

Your game objective is quite simple: blast everything that moves, fight boss, repeat! Unless a player were to select the Story Mode option, Tyrian 2000 is quite linear; deviating only through a generous offering of bonus stages sprinkled throughout the game. Yes, for players looking for require story and level selections in their shooters, XSIV has even incoporated a keen story mode you're bound to enjoy. The theme is certainly familiar at best - 'you versus the entire evil Empire to save the galaxy'. Typical, but then again; you never played shooters for story, did you?

The gameplay is exceptional, possessing an unique concept of shield management. Graphically, Tyrian 2000 takes on the form of an classic 16-bit engine. While that's not necessarily bad, the casual gamer of today is spoiled by the glamour of 3D. Fortunately, because of it's conventional design, Tyrian 2K is universally compatible for any Windows operating system. 3D cards, processor speeds, and all that mumbo-jumbo aren't important since the game isn't visually taxing. Because of the basic graphic elements, it's easy for any player to stay focused on the action; which personally gave me a warm nostalgic. My only complaing was that Tyrian 2000 lacked any degree of parallax and the fact that 99% of onscreen fire looks the same. The latter point proves to be distracting since it becomes difficult to distinguish between enemy/friendly fire.

With the exception of Einhander, I've never given much attention to shooter tunes, but I found those in Tyrian 2K to be quite quite pleasant. While it's nothing I wouldn't head out to purchase the soundtrackf, it holds enough decent melodies that keep the ears busy and the toes tapping. Due to its audio simplicity, every sound effect can clearly be distinguished without conflict; regardless of the aptitude of your sound system. All the sound effects are satisfactory at best, though nothing that's sets new standards.

The biggest highlights about playing Tyrian 2000 was its retro atmosphere and approach. It reminded me of the era when shooters were abundant; which leaves me wondering 'what happened to the shooter genre?' Though Tyrian 2000 may not entice the common gamer, anyone looking to take a trip down memory lane should certainly give this game a chance.

· · · Hero