After attending a special demo of Rez HD on Xbox Live Arcade a couple of weeks ago, I can finally talk about the game! Tetsuya Mizuguchi (the game's creator) was on-hand to chat about Rez HD and the future of his development house, Q Entertainment. Like most developers, Mizuguchi was tight-lipped about upcoming projects, but whether that was deliberate obfuscation or simply Mizuguchi's trademark soft-spoken demeanor is still up for debate. Suffice it to say, however, that the man was delighted to show off Rez HD, a game originally released on the Sega Dreamcast and later on the PS2.

I want to say up front that I am a huge fan of Tetsuya Mizuguchi, but not just because he's helmed some amazingly addictive titles (besides Rez, this gentleman also designed Lumines and Space Channel 5 among many others). No, I like Mr. Mizuguchi because of the several times I've met and spoke with him, he has always seemed extremely down-to-earth while still somehow keeping his head in the clouds. What I mean to say is that he's an intensely imaginative individual with very little ego despite his numerous successes in the game industry, which is refreshing when you do what I do for a living. Simply put, the man is a pleasure to chill with and chat about game design.


Maximum Rezolution

Those of you that have already played Rez know what it's all about; the concept behind the gameplay is extraordinarily simple. It's basically a rail-shooter akin to the Panzer Dragoon series except that it focuses on incorporating driving trance anthems into the gameplay so that it kind of does double duty as a rhythm game as well. You play a digital stick figure that is supposed to be an avatar representing your attempt to hack into some kind of computer system, but the "plot" of the game is totally secondary. Of primary importance are the techno beats and near-psychotropic visuals that essentially entrance you, devouring the whole of your consciousness and replacing it with an anthropomorphic drum machine that shoots lasers... what's not to like?

I am pleased to report that Rez HD on Xbox Live Arcade lives up to the original and then some. The move to the 360 and full 1080p support has been a magnificent boon to a title so dedicated to stroboscopic graphics. Of course, if you are feeling seriously nostalgic, you can play the original version of the game in all its jaggy glory, but just know that you're passing up a crazy kaleidoscopic cyber-visionquest in full HD.

For 800 Microsoft points ($10), Rez HD is also a decent deal as you'd be hard pressed to find a PS2 or Dreamcast version available for much less (trust me, I checked ebay and everything!). Okay, so maybe there are a couple available for less than $10, but the PS2 and Dreamcast versions don't even come close to how hot the XBLA version looks.

So, there you go: I like Rez HD on XBLA.