The old adage says that they just don't make `em like they used to. This tends to be something you hear old folk muttering about anything from automobiles to refrigerators, as well as kids today, of course. But the more sophisticated and flashy videogames become, the more true the old adage seems when applied to our favourite pastime. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but we often crave a hit from those simpler days where controls were tight, plots were simple and graphics weren't the be all and end all.

Thankfully the groovy guys at ChAIR must feel the same way, as their latest game manages to faithfully recreate the feel of the 2D adventures of yesteryear, but with modern sensibilities and gorgeous visuals to boot. Shadow Complex is the name, and a Metroid-style adventure filled with exploration and powerups is the game. The story is tied into the novel Empire by Orson Scott Card, and revolves around a shadowy, massively deranged underground organisation called the Progressive Restoration who are hell-bent on destroying modern-day America and rebuilding it in their own image. This scheming takes place in a massive underground base hidden beneath a lake in the Pacific Northwest, and in addition to numerous evil cackles and invasion plan maps, has also generated a frightening array of advanced weaponry and technology.

Two people who don't have advanced weaponry or technology are Jason Flemming and his girlfriend Claire, who are minding their own business hiking in the mountains when they inadvertently stumble upon the Restoration's shadowy complex. Most people would jump right back in the car and bugger off once they encountered their first heavily armed mountain man in poorly-chosen white uniform (imagine trying to get the blood out of that!), but these two press on and the game, as they say, is afoot.

Afoot indeed, as your adventure will involve an awful lot of walking, running, jumping and climbing, as any platformer worth its salt should. This all takes place in what is best described as 2.5D...the game world itself is three dimensional but Jason can only move on a two-dimensional plane, just like your Metroid and Castlevania games of yore. One of the twists is that the rest of the world isn't limited to action in 2D, so enemies can come at you from outside the 2D plane which is a neat effect, and the game's auto-aim handles this pretty well to allow you to pick enemies off in the 3D distance.

Shadow Complex utilises a twin-stick combat system in the sense that the left thumbstick moves Jason, while the right allows you to aim 360 degrees to engage your foes. This is important because not only is there a lot of foes to engage with, there's also a lot of projectile precision required to blast open grates, vents, doors, and other obstacles standing between you and the game's numerous upgrades. Shadow Complex is all about the sense of progression – when Jason starts out he doesn't even have climbing gear, but by the end of the game he'll have enough of an arsenal and futuristic equipment to make Master Chief feel underdressed.

What makes Shadow Complex so much damn fun is the acquisition of all these goodies. Once you locate a flashlight, shining it on locked doors or impassable objects will reveal a colour-code that gives you a hint as to what you need to do to get past. Those blast doors that shine bright red? Yeah, you're gonna need a rocket launcher. So initially Jason is extremely hampered and it is only through finding new loot that you'll be able to progress.

That may make Shadow Complex sound fairly non-linear, and to an extent it is, but at least initially the game's storyline will drive you to acquire the items you need the most. Even then the sheer size of the Restoration's base might seem a little daunting, but Shadow Complex has a fantastic map that fills itself in as you explore, even taking note of areas where there are power-ups you haven't gotten yet. In addition to this, you can even turn on a guide-line that traces a handy path in blue of the best route from Jason to his current objective.

Of course the helpful blue line doesn't take into account that its path of least resistance is something you don't have the ability to get to or through, or that, well, there might be a lot of resistance! The Restoration's base is swarming with enemies, ranging from your basic grunt soldiers to power armour suits and giant boss enemies. And even as Jason's strength grows, almost any battle has the potential to be his last, so you have to be careful and make use of the save rooms scattered all over the map. These spiffy sanctuaries not only save your progress, they also have a rather large amount of ammo and health on hand to replenish you after a fight. It also doesn't hurt that Jason earns experience as he explores and elminates enemies, and for each level up to 50 you'll unlock some sort of bonus, ranging from better accuracy or longer run speed right up to unlimited supplies of certain items.

So Shadow Complex ticks the "old-school platforming exploration” box nicely, but modern gamers need fancy graphics! How does Shadow Complex stack up? Incredibly well, actually! The game uses the Unreal 3 engine and uses it well, the limited perspective allowing Shadow Complex to look great without any of the texture pop-in problems that plague Gears of War and its sequel, for example. In fact there's little doubt that Shadow Complex is one of the best looking games on the Xbox Live Arcade, and arguably better than a lot of titles released at retail too.

This polish extends to the audio, which boasts solid voice acting, beefy sound effects and a surprisingly great musical score. In fact if it wasn't for the odd niggling bug - like doors refusing to open when they should, necessitating a restart – Shadow Complex would be almost perfect. It is a masterfully crafted game that can take you as little or as long to finish as you want – for example Xbox World Australia's own Karachi King is amongst the best in the world on the Leaderboards for blitzing the game in less than half an hour, while this reviewer took a leisurely nine hours! And if the game itself and its achievements aren't enough to keep you going, it also has not only its own set of in-game challenges to accomplish, but there are three sets of X-Men style danger rooms for you to overcome too.