Cycling between old Hollywood and old game design, the homages to bygone eras in Federation Force fill this appealing, different take on Metroid. Cramped levels and their unsophisticated visual scope recall the simple one room sets of classic cinema. Crumbling planetary ruins mimic 1959’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. Grabbing an idol only to spring a falling rock trap is more obvious still.

Shrinking scale draws from the earliest days of 3D shooters, primarily controlled with one stick and innocent, boxy map layouts. It’s magnetizing in its methods, years after the industry succumbed to open world bloat. Plus, Federation Force acknowledges the portable platform – quick on-the-go levels, bundled with the adventurous sense necessitated by the Metroid series. Pristine, smart, and catchy, hardly worth the idiocy of the anti-Federation Force online petition.

4/5