Bank shots are even better when you shoot them on purpose!

With Neon Tango, Freeverse conjures up the spirit of classic, vector-line arcade games. This unabashedly retro shooter features typical, blast-anything-that-moves gameplay that would normally cost you an afternoon pumping quarters into a cabinet. And even though Neon Tango never feels completely original, its high standards make for some fun shooting.

Your tiny, triangular ship is stuck moving forward, but you can use keyboard controls to turn, speed up, and strafe sideways. These choices are surprisingly effective, and we piloted our ship through 50 unique levels, hiding behind walls and peeking out around corners. And in the game’s most interesting touch, we banked shots off walls around those turns. Otherwise, we held the spacebar to keep shooting, but different enemies and varying level designs make the game less repetitious. An always-ready super-shot can be charged up every few seconds, and individual power-ups can be gathered and used. All the weapons feel great, shattering neon enemies on impact.

The electronic soundtrack hits a comfortable medium; it’s not too distracting or too bland. We wanted it to be a little more complicated, but settled for turning down the sound effects and letting the musical score wash over us. (Digital Droo, aka Mac|Life contributing editor Andrew Tokuda, created the tracks.)

The bottom line. Neon Tango is no better than any other single game, but every aspect has been honed to make for a sharp shooter.

COMPANY: Freeverse

CONTACT: www.freeverse.com

PRICE: $25

REQUIREMENTS: 800MHz or faster; G4, G5, or Intel processor; Mac OS 10.4 or later; 512MB RAM; 32MB VRAM

Great-looking graphics. Progressive enemies and levels feel different. Entertaining weapons. Effective soundtrack. Universal binary.

Nothing stands out compared to other arcade shooters