Good old Zaxxon. It was a groundbreaking game, mostly because of its isometric projection, which is something of a three-quarter viewing perspective. The effect simulated three dimensions from a third-person viewpoint. And in case you are up for another history lesson, Zaxxon was originally released in 1982 by Sega.

And here we are now, 2009. And yet Zaxxon still lives, in the form of Zaxxon Remake. Playing this arcade goodie again was very cool, and it reminded me of the old arcade machines of yore.

While Zaxxon Remake will not likely keep you playing for hours on end, it does do something no other game will. It allows you to play classic Zaxxon, with the great sound effects and very accurate graphics, on your PC. Without an emulator.

Zaxxon Remake's gameplay is simple, fly a fighter craft through a fortress while shooting at different enemies. Your job is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down or running out of fuel. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. Zaxxon Remake keeps to its classic arcade roots. Trying to fly lower, then higher to avoid incoming missiles, all the while shooting at opposing starcrafts is not easy. It all comes down to your hand-eye coordination.

And while Zaxxon Remake might be short, the game isn't about reaching that final level. Instead, it's about racking up points, and finishing on top of the highscore list.

I did notice an error message that will sometimes appear on start-up, but it is nothing, since the game loads fine after that. It might just be my computer.

So if your feeling nostalgic, and want to shoot up some alien starcraft, then download the Zaxxon Remake. And because it's only 1 MB, you have nothing to lose. Enjoy the game earthlings.