Taking the '80s art of 2-D space shooters and melding it with 21st-century technology, Mars Matrix fills the screen with intricate backgrounds, dozens of independently moving objects, and intense arcade action. Your tools in dealing with an onslaught of bullets from all directions are a fairly standard laser gun, a powerful pulse weapon, and a special attack that can allow your spacecraft to inhale incoming fire and return it in a fierce volley. Old-schoolers will be pleased to know they can recover the spoils of defeated enemies in power-up form, and go to a weapons shop where they can upgrade their rigs.