Like many contemporary 2-D platformers, Outland takes a page from Metroid's playbook, sprawling its adventure across a large, open-ended landscape dotted with collectable abilities that gradually increase your ability to access the world's most far-reaching corners.
Outland
For: Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade) and PS3 (via PlayStation Network)
From: Housemarque/Ubisoft
Rating: Everyone 10+ (fantasy violence)
Price: $US10
But Outland sets itself apart by taking a page from a whole other genre - overhead space shooters, and Ikaruga in particular - and integrating it in a way that never once feels forced or awkward.
As the story explains, Outland pretty quickly gives you the ability to change your energy from light (blue) to dark (red). Red projectiles can hurt you only when you're blue (and vice versa), and while you can hurt enemies of the same colour, you'll do more damage when you switch energies.
The formula allows Outland to assume the traits of a bullet space shooter, flooding levels with red and blue projectiles and asking you to run, jump and slide through mazes of bullets while quickly swapping between energies to stay alive.
It's an extremely clever concept, and because the game's controls and animation are as perfectly fluid as they are, it works unbelievably well in practice.
Outland's visual style - half silhouette, half moving painting - is unique, and between the retail-sized campaign and support for two-player online co-op, it earns its $US10 asking price without breaking a sweat.