5/5

More please!  My only complaint is that there just aren't enough levels to it because it's just so enjoyable.  Overall, the game feels tight and pleasant to play and has a great deal going for it; it's kinda gorgeous to look at and doesn't feel like all the other rhythm games out there and is well worth the $9.99 or equivalent.
The music in Retro/Grade is utterly delicious - so much so that the soundtrack is available alongside the original game release; it's electronic dance-infused and slightly chiptuney and joyously varied throughout the levels of the game that it keeps you happily bopping along and hitting those marks.

In 1080p, it just looks gorgeous with all the particles flowing around and the background 'terrain' such as it is, pulsing to the beat of the music, which I'll discuss next.  It has a real arcadey feel to it so I urge you to turn the sound up, throw some two-penny pieces around the floor and piss in the corner for a more authentic experience.  The game itself does advise you to kick off with the tutorial and that quickly gets you used to the aesthetic of the game so all the various bits heading this way and that do actually make sense.  Graphically, the game is busy - very busy indeed, but it's not overwhelming.   

And after you're done with all the levels, there's replay value in the online leaderboards and the endless struggle to top the charts.  The gameplay gets progressively faster and more complex as you go along, so you may even start breaking out into a sweat - especially if you're using a guitar controller!  It's not like playing Tiny Wings upside-down.  To have the whole thing running backwards is strangely not as alien as you might imagine.  The game feels quite comfortable if you've ever played a Guitar Hero game as it is pretty much just a rhythm-matching game but in space.  Except that really, the track isn't in the background, the music is very much a massive component of this game, but I'll get to that a bit later on.  Other components of the game are long-press plasma beams and missiles, which are short presses, usually matching the hi-hats of the track in the background.  Catching your own laser-bolts as they fly away from exploding ships scores you points and special ones give you a score multiplier.  It's completely in reverse.  Except for one thing.  Retro/Grade is a rather exciting PSN title that brings the scrolling shooter together with the music rhythm game to deliver what might otherwise have been a dull and generic - albeit pretty - little game.

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