The Refuelled version of the game eliminates the claustrophobic feel of the original by expanding the playing surface and shrinking the size of the enemies and main character a bit. While the enemies are sadly no more intelligent in the new version, there are more of them to clog up your path to your rocket. They also look much better than the brightly colored blobs from the original. The first level's cloudy tentacle-dragging enemies appear inspired by Don Bluth, with subsequent levels adding more varied looks and maneuvers for the baddies.
While the Refuelled version's graphics are a giant leap from the original, which make early NES games look next-gen, they are not quite on par with other Arcade titles; like Small Arms. The cartoon-like look of the enemies and cardboard-cutout backgrounds serve their purpose, but fail to live up to the power of the 360. Thankfully, the game does take advantage of what the 360 does best, online play.
Jetpack Refuelled offers slick Live play in the form of a battle mode, where gamers battle each other to complete ship building and refueling before the other. Sneaky gamers will quickly learn the best way to knock a fuel capsule or ship piece out of their opponent's grasp. Live play is fluid as ever, although a co-op mode would have stretched out the game's value a bit. As an added incentive to heading online with the game, Jetpac features a viral achievement (sadly, worth zero points) that gamers earn by playing over Live against another 'infected' gamer.
Achievement Point junkies beware; you are likely to break a controller before breaking the 200-point mark on Jetpac. While the game is somewhat forgiving by allowing players to start a game from any level where they began building a new rocket, that will only help earn a few of the achievements. The more difficult achievements, like not dying through level ten, will require a great deal of skill in the game; and hours filled with frustration and cursing. After months of retro releases with overly simple achievement points, Jetpac harkens back to Geometry Wars' difficulty level.
For only 400 Microsoft Points, it is hard not to recommend this game; if for no other reason than to support a developer for actually putting in some work in a retro title. Yes, there are far better Live Arcade titles out there, but in the land of 400 point retro titles, Jetpac Refuelled is king.
